THE CUBA REVIEW. 



23 



At the request of the National Board 

 of Sanitation and Major Kean, Governor 

 Magoon granted an appropriation 

 amounting to $60,000 with which the 

 work was commenced and recently a 

 further appropriation of $60,000 was 

 granted for the construction of a laun- 

 dry and electric plant and for the pur- 

 pose of carrying water from Arroyo 

 Apolo to the sanitarium by a modern 

 system of pipes. As the sanitarium 

 stands to-day it is pretty near com- 

 pleted, and the Board of Sanitation will 

 receive it within a few days. A com- 

 plete system of sanitary installation has 

 been installed in the premises. 



The sanitarium is for the poor only. 

 Patients are admitted to it when in the 

 first stages of the disease after ob- 

 taining a certificate from some of the 

 attending physicians of the government 

 dispensaries for the poor and by evi- 

 dence proving that they are without 

 other resources. Already a few patients 

 have been admitted, and the National 

 Board is now preparing to fill all the 

 beds. A treatment ranging from six to 

 eight months is reqviired for a complete 

 cure. 



The sanitaria is at present under the 

 charge of Dr. Juan B. Pons, attached to 

 the Tuberculosis Bureau at the National 



Board of Sanitation. He is a professor 

 of medicine who has devoted many years 

 to study of the disease. 



Cuba sent six delegates to the Tuber- 

 culosis Congress held lately in Wash- 

 ington. One of the principal papers read 

 at this conference was by Dr. Joaquin 

 Jacobsen, of Havana. 



Mercury Cure for Tuberculosis. 



Continued reports of successful treat- 

 ment of pulmonary and other types of 

 tuberculosis by the mercury cure, dis- 

 covered by Surgeon B. L. Wright, U. 

 S. N., are being reported to the Bureau 

 of Medicine and Surgery at Washington. 

 Assistant Surgeon Reynolds Hayden, 

 U. S. N., from Trinidad, Cuba, describes 

 four cases treated by him, the succin- 

 imide of mercury being applied as usual 

 by hypodermic syringe. In his report 

 he says: 



"The results were most gratifying, two 

 cases cured, one very much improved 

 and the other case, after considerable 

 improvement, refused further treatment. 



"One of these cases was treated in a 

 local hospital, but the other three were 

 treated in their homes, showing, in my 

 opinion, that the treatment is available 

 for use by the regular practitioner." 



Portable Houses. 



New York, Nov. 18, 1908. 

 To the Editor of The Cuba Review: 



Dear Sir : As inquiries are still being re- 

 ceived from time to time, it might be well 

 to state that manufacturers of portable 

 houses in the United States, finding that the 

 Cuban customs duty on portable houses im- 

 ported into Cuba was exorbitant, and that 

 it practically prohibited them from export- 

 ing them to Cuba, notified their agents in the 

 island to take the matter up with the Col- 

 lector of Customs, who, after careful investi- 

 gation, referred the matter to the Secretary 

 of the Treasury, who signed the following 

 decree some few months ago : 



Portable houses are appraised in the fol- 

 lowing manner : 



The beams, boards or planks are appraised 

 under paragraph 166-A ; the paned or dove- 

 tailed (with tongue and groove) wood for 

 floors is classified under paragraph 166-B, as 

 also the shingles ; the other parts of the 

 houses, such as columns, cornices, window 

 blinds, etc., are classified under paragraph 

 315. 



Paragraph 166-A pays 40 cts. per cubic 

 meter. 



Paragraph 166-B pays 16 cts. per 100 

 kilos. 



Both paragraphs are subject to a surtax 



of 25% by Decree 44 and a rebate of 20% 

 if they are products of the United States. 



Paragraph 315 pays 25% ad valorem, 

 with a surtax of 30% by virtue of Decree 

 44 and a rebate of 20% if they be products 

 of the United States. — V. H. Barranco, 

 Attache, Consulate General of Cuba, U. S. 

 A. 



The Cuban at Work. 



Ralph Oliver, of the Oliver Construction 

 Co., engaged in the building of macadam- 

 ized roads for the Cuban Government, said 

 re ''ently : 



For a distance of near 200 miles from 

 Havina there will be standard macadam- 

 ized roads, and similar roads are being 

 built over the island. 



Labor conditions in Cuba are much bet- 

 ter than in any of the other foreign coun- 

 tries or islands near the United States. 

 Cubans are fairly good workmen, are rea- 

 sonably quiet and orderly around the camps 

 and but little trouble is experienced by 

 American superintendents. The country is 

 far better policed in the rural districts 

 than any other country in this portion of 

 the world. Patrolmen are paid about $24 

 a month and furnished a horse. It is hard 

 to go a day's journey in any direction with- 

 out meeting at least eight or ten of them. 

 In the smaller towns and on the trains 

 there are always a number of dismounted 



