THE CUBA RE VI E W 



21 



Horse Races a Novelty in Cuba. 



Horse racing in Cuba is passing through 

 an experimental period which indicates that 

 its life will be brief. Americans who have 

 been seeking new places to keep the gaine 

 alive sought Havana as a prospective re- 

 munerative point, but with the sport yet 

 practically a novelty the Cubans have failed 

 to evince, interest in it. 



The meeting at Almendares Park, under 

 the auspices of the Cuban Racing Associa- 

 tion, which opened Dec. 1, attracted only 

 1,200 persons, and the next day's racing 

 brought out 300, with the American con- 

 tingent strongest. While the purses offered 

 are only $200 and $300, the patronage thus 

 far does not justify the belief that the sport 

 will be established on a paying basis. 



One thousand people were present at the 

 races at Almendares Park Dec. 5. 



Gov. Magoon refused a subsidy for racing. 

 He could not encourage in Cuba a sport 

 condemned by the party leaders in the 

 States. A new track is talked of at Palatino 

 Park, Havana. 



The Automobile Races. 



There is a possibility that Cuba may yet 

 be the scene of an international automobile 

 road race, much the same as the recent 

 contest held at Savannah. While the Au- 

 tomobile Club of America has declined the 

 invitation to manage the affair, which was 

 proffered it by the auto racing enthusiasts 

 of Cuba, who are promoting the proposed 

 race, it seems probable that certain individ- 



uals will undertake the affair and endeavor 

 to hold a long-distance race on the island 

 in the latter part of March or April. The 

 proposition has aroused much enthusiasm 

 among the adherents of auto racing in Cuba, 

 says the New York Globe. The general 

 opinion among prominent automobilists is 

 that the race in Cuba would result in an 

 event of considerable international import- 

 ance, for it is thought that many foreign 

 manufacturers would enter cars in such a 

 race. 



Races in Cuba, says the same paper, have 

 always shown a financial loss, and those 

 who took part in the first ventures hace 

 been enthusiastic about repeating them. But 

 there should be no reason why, with the 

 assistance of the City of Havana, a race 

 meet could not be given and be a success, 

 both from a racing and financial standpoint. 



The War Department, on Dec. 11, gave 

 out the first details regarding the with- 

 drawal_ from Cuba of the American army 

 of pacification which has been on duty there 

 since the fall of 1906. The movements of 

 the troops will begin on January 1 and will 

 be completed by April 1. The officers and 

 civilians on duty in connection with the 

 provisional government will sail from Ha- 

 vana the day after the inauguration of 

 President Gomez, and the troops remaining 

 in the island after that date will be with- 

 drawn as rapidly as transportation facilities 

 will permit. 



I'laying baseball in Cuba. 



Playing Baseball in Cuba. 



The Cincinnati Baseball Club is in- 

 vading Cuba and the Isle of Pines and 

 playing the various fast teams in Hav- 

 ana, such as the Cuban Giants, Nacion- 

 als and others. Commenting on this 



the Cincinnati (Ohio) Times-Star says: 

 "Cuba ought to be glad she found 

 us. First we teach her how to hold 

 elections so as .to make them more ex- 

 citing than an insurrection. Then we 

 come along with a baseball team." 



