THE CUB A R K \ I E \V 



CUBAN GOVERNMENT MATTERS 



ACTIVE WAR PLANS OF CUBA 



AN'ith rnitod States troops shortly to begin 

 a course of winter trainiiifr in Cuba, and with 

 the whole ishviul acclaitninfi; President Men- 

 ocal's generous attitude in turning over to the 

 Federal Shipping Board in Washington, all 

 the German ships which Cuba seized last 

 April, the eyes of the western world are being 

 turned more and more toward "the pearl of 

 the Antilles," and to the work that Cuba is 

 doing as an active ally of the United States 

 in the present war. Some of the lesser activ- 

 ities of the Cuban military and naval forties 

 have, up to this time, escaped notice, although 

 each is important and all combined give a 

 striking illustration of the loyalty and energy 

 of Cuba in her active aUiance with the United 

 States. 



Col. .\Tanuel Coronado, member of the 

 Cuban Senate and editor of the newspaper 

 la Discuiiint, has organized an aviation unit 

 which will be offered to France, with complete 

 equipment, in the near future. It is probable 

 from the enthusiasm shown by its ninety-odd 

 members, that the "Escadrille Cubaine," 

 as the flying unit will be called, will be the 

 first body of fighting men from Cuba to serve 

 on French soil. Col. Coronado's original 

 plans called for a body of twenty-five trained 

 aviators to comprise the escadrille, but 

 already nearly 100 youths, who are repre- 

 sentative of the best families of Cuba, have 

 volimteered to take the prescribed aviation 

 course and individually to bear the expense 

 of their airplanes and equipment. Senator 

 Coronado has just returned from Mew York, 

 where he conferred with officials of the Aero 

 Club of America and airplane manufacturers 

 over the details of the escadrille's organization. 

 Many of the volunteers for the escadrille are 

 graduates of French universities. 



"I believe that the escadrille will be the 

 most practical, and at the same time, the 

 most appropriate, way of showing Cuba's 

 sympathy with the cause of the Alhes," said 

 Col. Coronado. The Colonel has asked the 

 Navy Department in Washington for an 

 arrangement by which the Cuban aviators 

 may undergo their preliminary training at the 

 Navy aviation school at Pensacola, Fla. 



While, for obvious reasons, the details of 

 many of the co-operative war measures of 

 Cuba and the United States are not per- 



mis.sable for publicaticm, substantial pro- 

 gress has been announced officially here in 

 the co-ordinative work of the Cuban and 

 United States army and navy general staffs. 



Three warrant officc^rs have just arrived on 

 the United States gimboat Tallapoosa from 

 the Cruantanamo Naval Station to join the 

 other Ignited States instructors and to give 

 courses in gunnery technique to the non- 

 commissioned officers of the Cuban Navy. 

 Special attention is to be devoted to target 

 practice. The crew of the cruiser Cuba, larg- 

 est vessel of the island navy, will be the first 

 to receive instruction. The ordnance of the 

 Cuba was recently replaced with United 

 States guns in an American port. 



Conferences have just been concluded 

 between Captain Anderson, commanding 

 the American naval forces in Cuban waters; 

 Gen. Edmund Wittenmyer, mihtary attache 

 assigned to the American legation here, who 

 went to New York as an aide to General Bell ; 

 Commander Carlton R. Kear, instructor 

 at the Cuban Naval Academy, representing 

 the United States; and President .Menocal, 

 Secretary of War and .Marine, Jose .Marti, and 

 Chief of Staff, Oscar Fernandez Quevado, 

 of the Cuba Navy. The effect of these 

 interchanges has been to complete all military 

 and naval arrangements between the two 

 countries for their action this winter. 



Cuban military commissioners have jast an- 

 nounced the promotions of 288 officers in 

 the Cuban army, in keeping with the enlarge- 

 ment of the island's active mihtary force 

 for possible duty later in Europe. 



SUGAR CONTROL. 



George .M. Rolph, general manager of the 

 Calif ornia-Haw^aiian Sugar Refining Com- 

 pany, has been appointed by Food Adminis- 

 trator Herbert C. Hoover, as executive head 

 of the Government bureau that will control 

 the distribution and fix the price of sugar. 



CIEGO DE AVILA 



It is reported that the sum of .$70,009 has 

 been appropriated by the Cuban Congress 

 for the purpose of constructing a new modern 

 hospital at Ciego de Avila. It is expected 

 that ground will be broken for the building 

 in the near future. 



