THE CUBA REVI EW. 



25 



GENERAL NOTES. 



Development in Santa Clara. 



The August number of the magazine is- 

 sued by the International Bureau of Ameri- 

 can Republics in Washington, contained an 

 article on the Cuban development of roads, 

 railroads, etc., written by Edgar W. Denni- 

 son, the Secretary of the Publicity League 

 of Cuba. 



Mr, Dennison says : "Santa Clara Prov- 

 ince has had many miles of new calzadas or 

 highways added to the surrounding coun- 

 try, and these have been a great help to the 

 people, in many cases reducing the cost of 

 living one-half, according to the statements 

 of the natives. A new concrete build- 

 ing in Santa Clara will house the pro- 

 vincial and municipal officers. This 

 building will tend to expedite the transac- 

 tion of all government business on account 

 of the departments being formerly located 

 in half a dozen different buildings in the 

 city. The installation of a new electric 

 light plant, the enlargement of the gas 

 plant, the installation of the ice plant, and 

 the proposed street railway system all tend 

 to brighten up that city." 



He says that the Cuban Central Railway, 

 which operates in the central section of the 

 island, has made more extensive prepara- 

 tions for the handling of the business of 

 this year than ever before in the history of 

 the road. They have planned many exten- 

 sions to near-by sugar mills, and in many 

 cases the lines have been completed. Their 

 new dock facilities at Sagua la Grande, Port 

 Isabella, and at Cienfuegos are now in 

 service. 



Cuban Drug Stores. 



There are two hundred and fifty drug 

 stores in Havana for the 250,000 inhabi- 

 tants, and the same ratio may be ac- 

 cepted for the other cities of Cuba, says 

 the Flemington (N. J.) Advertiser. 

 There are also many organizations and 

 societies which employ doctors and their 

 own pharmacists and dispense medicnie 

 to the society members. Physicians, 

 however, do not often dispense medicine. 

 The average number of prescriptions 

 compounded is less than in the United 

 States. The pharmacist is not permitted 

 by law to prescribe, and the relation be- 

 tween physicians and pharmacists is 

 friendly. Doctors prescribe a great 

 amount of ready made or patented 

 medicine. Prescriptions are the best 

 part of the drug business in Cuba, as 

 pharmacists there sell less of toilet ar- 

 ticles, cigars, etc., than are sold in Amer- 

 ican drug stores. The customer is con- 

 sidered the proprietor of his prescrip- 

 tion, which is returned to him after 

 being entered in the prescription book. 



Pharmacists in the larger Cuban cities 

 fill foreign prescriptions as well, con- 

 sulting the pharmacopoeia of the coun- 

 try from M^hich it comes. Cuban phar- 

 macists generally prepare their own tinc- 

 tures and ointments. 



The pay of good clerks is $25 to $100 

 per month. They are free three times a 

 week after 6 P. M. and also every second 

 Sunday. Pharmacies are open from 6 

 in the morning until 10 or 11 at night, 

 Sunday included. 



How Cubans Sow Tobacco Seed. 



If it is true, that the vegueros in the storm 

 ravaged district of Pinar del Rio have no 

 seed with which to replant the beds, then 

 this visitation should prove a most salutary 

 lesson to them, says La Lucha, of Ha- 

 vana. It should move them to a considera- 

 tion of a more practical method of planting 

 the seed beds and prove to them the fallacy 

 and ill advisedness of the old system of 

 planting these beds. What their grandfath- 

 ers did they continue to follow with blind 

 faith, without ever attempting to' improve 

 on these methods. Tobacco seed is sown, 

 according to grandpa, on virgin ground 

 which must not be burnt over, then the 

 seed is broadcasted over the ground, and 

 when the young plants begin growing and 

 it becomes necessary to worm them, or to 

 gather them, thousands are trampled under 

 foot and others perish for lack of care. 



United Wireless Favored. 



The State Department was officially 

 advised that the President of Cuba issued 

 a decree Sept. 10 extending until August 

 1, 1910, the license of the United Wire- 

 less Telegraph Company. This notice su- 

 persedes the notice which was given to 

 the company on May 22 last that the 

 wireless station which that company op- 

 erated in the Vedada should be disman- 

 tled within a period of three months. 



A Vanishing Naval Station. 



Considerable money has been expend- 

 ed toward the erection of a naval base 

 and dock yard at Guantanamo, in Cuba, 

 with every prospect that the money 

 spent there will be wasted, and the gov- 

 ernment transfer its station to another 

 less vulnerable locality. • — Washington 

 (D. C.) Herald. 



La Discusion, of Havana, recently said 

 that the Cuban government is seeking 

 comi\iercial treaties with Spain, Argen- 

 tina, Uruguay, Chili and Venezuela. Pro- 

 tection is sought for Cuban tobaccos and 

 liquors. 



