14 



THECUBA REVIEW 



GENERAL NOTES 



PRISONERS MADE COMFORTABLE 



Principe Prison, or Castillo de Principe, 

 Castle or Port of the Prince, is one of the 

 'historic points in Havana, and its history 

 is closely interwoven with that of the city. 

 It was built by Spain during the reign of 

 Carlos III. Its construction was begun in 

 1774 and completed in 1794 and was then 

 considered one of the strongest fortresses 

 on the Western Hemisphere. 



Of the 1,380 prisoners, 3(5 are politicians 

 who took part in the Estonez negro upris- 

 ing in 1912. There are 2G "lifers" sent up 

 for assassination and highway robbery. The 

 majority are robbers and thieves with a 

 scattering of murderers. The race percent- 

 age is : White, 46 ; black, 37 ; mulatto. 17 

 per cent. 



The prison guard consists of 82 men and 

 a small clerical force in charge of the office. 

 The prisoners are not put in stripes, but 

 instead, wear a cool uniform of white duck, 

 which is changed twice a week. When 

 working they wear a brand of overalls 

 made from palm thatches. 



There has never been an insurrection or 

 mutiny in Principe. In fact scores of pris- 

 "oners when released at the end of their 

 term have asked Col. Garzon to save their 

 "cup and pan," and invariably they return 

 to use them. 



"How do you manage to keep the pris- 

 oners so orderly and apparently well satis- 

 fied?" was asked Gen. Castillo. 



"We try to make them contented," he 

 replied. "We have a band that gives con- 

 certs in the court yard. We let them 

 study, work them, feed them well, keep 

 them sanitary, study each one personally, 

 and let them know they must obey the 

 regulations. Each man knows he will get 

 fair and impartial treatment. If one gets 

 into trouble, and fist fighting is the only 

 trouble w'e have, we simply put him in soli- 

 tary confinement. There is nothing that 

 hurts a Cuban prisoner as badly as to keep 

 him from talking and away from his asso- 

 ciates, and besides, those in solitary con- 

 finement are not allowed tobacco. We never 

 prevent them talking with one another, and, 

 besides, each man gets two months off of 

 each year for good behavior. We hope to 

 put the prison upon a self-supporting basis 

 during the present administration." 



Workmen in the shops are allowed 25 

 cents plata per day, while those outside 

 receive 35 cents. This is also either sent 

 to their families or kept in the release 

 fund. They receive no pay for government 

 work. 



The men in the clothing and shoe shops 

 are worked on contract goods, which are 



sold to Havana mercantile establishments 

 and they also make clothing for the pris- 

 oners. Shoes run in price from $1.10 to $5 

 per pair. Were it not for the heavy import 

 duty on leather, these prices could be nearly 

 cut in half. The higher grades of shoes 

 sell in the retail market for $6 and $7. 

 Clothing is m.ade for from 50 cents to $15 

 a suit. Beautiful white duck and linen and 

 other tropical garments are turned out that 

 look about as well as suits made by many 

 first-class tailoring establishments. There 

 has been some trouble with the labor 

 unions, who complain against competing 

 with "convict labor," but these complaints 

 liave never assumed serious proportions. 



Gen. Castillo, "Governador del Preside 

 de la Republica de Cuba," is a noted soldier 

 of the Cuban War of Independence, and 

 one of the island's foremost men of affairs. 

 He was educated in the United States and 

 later graduated with high honors from the 

 Royal French School of Engineers, and he 

 is what might be termed thoroughly 

 "Americanized" from a modern business 

 point of view. 



HAS WONDERFUL THROWING ABILITY 



Cuba is to send another ball player to the 

 United States in the person of Tommy 

 Romanach, shortstop of the Almandares 

 club. According to reports, Romanach has 

 signed to play with Brooklyn. This player 

 was much in demand. He was sought af- 

 ter by several major league clubs. He is 

 onlv eighteen years old. 



Ball players develop rapidly in Cuba. 

 They start playing while very young and 

 are constantly in harness. Despite the 

 fact that baseball is in vogue in Cuba 

 throughout the year, it does not seem to 

 hurt the participants. 



One peculiar fact has been noticed about 

 the Cuban ball player. This is his wonder- 

 ful ability to throw. All that have come to 

 the States have really remarkable whips. 

 Take, for instance, the two with the Na- 

 tionals last year. Calvo, especially, had a 

 deadly arm, and there are few men in 

 major league baseball to-day who can 

 whip the ball into the infield with greater 

 force. Acosta has a great throwing arm. 

 T^^s is also true of Marsans and Almeida. 

 — Stanley T. Milliken in the Washington 

 Post. 



Havana's Mayor recently vetoed a reso- 

 lution of the city council appropriating $50,- 

 000 to purchase street car tickets to be 

 distributed among the working girls who 

 lived in the suliurbs of Havana because of 

 the low salarv thev receive. 



