My dear granddaughter Beatriz:

In due time I have received your two letters of July 23 and October l6, and I didn't answer the first letter earlier because when I received it I was very busy writing the article that was published in El Figaro, which I sent you in October. Yesterday I received your letter of October 16.

I moved from Havana to this town of Guanabacoa the tenth day of October, and here we are better off, happier, more peaceful, and with fewer living expenses. The house is a cottage which occupies a full block, and there is a park with many fruit trees, flowers, and birds. Orange trees, banana trees, apple trees, "guanábano" trees, lemon trees, coffee trees, etc., etc. The house is very beautiful, although a bit run-down, on account of the last war, in which it was inhabited by the Spanish troops; but it is in good condition for living. We occupy it along with another small Cuban family, and we pay only $20 in rent each month. Every half hour the street car going to Regla passes at the corner, and in Regla there is a ferry boat that crosses the bay of Havana. All for ten cents in Spanish silver (six cents in American money). This town of Guanabacoa is four miles from Havana. It is a very old town, very large, nice, but very lonesome, after the. war.

This is a very beautiful day. The clear blue sky hasn't a single cloud. A fresh breath of spring. This country house was built by an American named Mr. Hyatt, who is now mayor of the city. And the entire house is built in the American style. We are taking it for three months, but it is likely that we will continue living in it longer, if we don't have to move to Matanzas.

I am very happy to see that you are so advanced in your typing and shorthand, which are two indispensable aids to writers, journalists, and all types of businessmen.

The weather has changed completely, and there isn't a single case of yellow fever at this time, nor will there be until the spring of 1900. I am glad that you aren't thinking about coming to Havana this fall, because as yet neither the city nor the island offers good living conditions for foreigners and much less for American women who are accustomed to living in the United States, which is the most civilized country in the world. Here everything is afflicted with the backwardness of the Spanish. Thanks to the American intervention, everything in Cuba is changing favorably for the future.

Continue practicing the Spanish language, which will be very useful to you the day that you come to Cuba. The teachers in the American schools who know how to speak Spanish are now much sought after, and they earn at least $100 per month, American money.

I am very sorry that you are so thin that you weighed only 103 pounds in the month of July, because if you came here you wouldn't be able to withstand the hot climate from March until October. One perspires a great deal, night and day, and the people are generally very thin. Most of the women here are broomsticks,

I am sending this letter to you in San Francisco, in accordance with what you say in your letter of October 16, and I will be very happy to know that you have found a good position, that you have concluded your arrangements for your work, and that you are having great success.

Always when you are going to type something in Spanish, first write the material on a sheet of paper with pen and ink. In New York I taught several girl typists to copy my writing in Spanish, and some of them wrote it very well.

I can't get another copy of El Figaro for Edith, because the issue in which my article was published is sold out. It was well received in the entire island, and there are no longer any copies for sale.

Mama is well, and always fat and healthy, and she sends you, Edith, and Susie her affectionate regards; give them mine also.

With fondest love from your dear

Papa

Address

Sr. Juan Bellido de Luna
Soledad 31 = Quinta de Hyatt
Guanabacoa
Havana
Cuba