12 THECUBAREVIEW 



LONG DISTANCE TELEPHONE BETWEEN CUBA AND THE UNITED STATES: 

 Plans for tli«' loiij.' distiiiuH> tch'plione wliich has heon projected for some time jiiist be- 

 tween ("ill 'a and the United States seems to he nearins completion and President Belin 

 of the Cnlian Telephone Company has just imhlished a statement to the effect that the 

 telepiion" calls l)et\veen Havana and the principal cities of the United States are to be 

 put on a very low tariff, which will pernnt the telephone to compete successfully with 

 the cal)le companies. If the rate per minute is placed low there is little doubt in our 

 mind that the telephone will enjoy tremendous prosperity, since it is quicker than 

 cahlinj: and tlH> experience of the personal touch will add greatly to its popularity. 



REAL ESTATE ACTIVITIES: Real estate continues to change hands freely and 

 prict>* are being paid which do not indicate that the curtailment of credit on the 

 Island has affected the values in real estate. The Iniilding at Cul)a No. 47, between 

 Obispo and Ohrapia Streets, recently sold for $400 a square meter, which is indeed 

 a splendid ]>rice for this location. The house at Cuba No. 76 and No. 78, located at 

 the corner of ohrapia, containing SOS meters of laud, recently sold for .$r,00,000 cash. 

 The editice on this property is three stories high and of very old construction. It is 

 imderstood that a new l)uilding will be erected on this site, which will accommodate 

 one of the new banks. 



PROLONGATION OF 27th STREET: The Department of Public Works has just 

 paid .$l.">it,7(i2.78 for a piece of land which will be utilized for the prolonging of 27th 

 Street into Marina Street on the waterfront of Havana, thus affording a great con- 

 venience to automobiles and other traffic between Vedado and Havana. 



DECREASE IN CUSTOM HOUSE RECEIPTS: Havana Custom House receipts for the 

 month of August were .$."i,."iS-"'..01!t, whicli is considerable decrease, inasmucli as for 

 the months preceding August the monthly receipts ran up to the four million dollar 

 point. OtHcials lay the lilame for the decrease to the fact that the congestion of the 

 port of Havana has delayed the extraction of goods from the wharves, 



GOVERNMENT MATTERS: President Menocal has named Dr. Mario G. Lebredo 

 to act as delegate of the Cuban Government at the Sixth International Sanitation 

 Conference which will take place in Montevideo, Uruguay, from December 32th to 

 29th of the present year. Dr. Manuel Costales Latatii, surgeon of the National Hos- 

 pital, "Gen. Calixto Garcia," at Havana, has been designated as delegate of the Cuban 

 Dei>artment of Sanitation at the Tenth Aiuiual Congress of Surgeons of North America 

 which will be celebrated in Montreal, Canada, in October next. President Menocal has 

 also named Dr. Mario Alfonso y Caballero, who will attend, in representation of the 

 Cuban Government, the International Postal Congress which will be held in Madrid, 

 Spain, in tin near future. 



STATUE TO BE ERECTED TO FAMOUS CUBAN POETESS: An international con- 

 test has just been opened which has for its purpose the erecting of a statue to the 

 famous Cuban poetess, Gertrudis Gomez de Avellaneda. This statue will be placed 

 in Pablo Trias Plaza in the City of Camaguey, the poetess' birthplace. The artists 

 desiring to submit models for this statue are requested to present them to the Fine 

 Arts School of Havana, at the same time giving notice to the Department of Public 

 Instruction and Fine Arts. The co.st of the statue, which is to be principally of 

 marble, will be .$18,000 and projects may be submitted up to April 10th, 1921, at 

 which time the contest will be held and several prizes of .$.500 will be given to the 

 artists who submit the best models. Persons desiring to enter this contest can 

 procure a booklet containing the basis of the contest and other interesting information 

 from the Department of Public Instruction and Fine Arts, Havana, or upon applica- 

 tion to the diplomatic representatives of Cuba at Washington. Perlin. London, Rome, 

 Paris, etc. 



