THE CUBA REVIEW 



President ]\Ienocal is out- 



Denoiiiiccs spoken in his denunciation 



the of the evils of the lottery; 



Lottery it would never have been 



re-established in Cuba had 



it depended on him. 



In a recent message urging the suppres- 

 sion of this gamble he said : 



"The advantages attributed to it as a 

 financial benefit are really illusionary, be- 

 cause the income accruing to the public 

 treasury is inferior to the levy imposed 

 upon public means, and cannot compensate 

 the disastrous effects of the moral confu- 

 sion which it causes, persuading citizens 

 away from the habit of saving, and inclin- 

 ing them towards license and dissipation. 

 As in gambling, the lottery produces no ad- 

 vantage that is not deceitful." 



He said further : "I believe it my duty to 

 positiveh- declare if it should be possible to 

 supply the deficit which the disappearance 

 of the lottery would cause in the national 

 income, by some means, or a carefully 

 thought out reduction of expenses. Con- 

 gress would confer a great boon upon Cuba 

 by voting the suppression of the lottery : an 

 act of high administrative and social fore- 

 sight which I do not hesitate in recom- 

 mending." 



HAVANA S WATER SUPPLY PERFECT 



With the installation of the new forty- 

 two inch main and its connection with the 

 several distributing mains, Havana has 

 now a most excellent water service which 

 wall be completed and pronounced perfect 

 when the new pumps and several new 

 tanks shall have been installed to replace 

 the present one. 



The improvements which remain to be 

 done consists of the installation of new 

 pumps, the replacing of the water tanks in 

 the different districts and the catching of 

 new springs at the Vento springs. 



SANTIAGO S WATER SUPPLY 



The newest plan to supply the water 

 needs of Santiago is to tap the river Ba- 

 conao at Ramon de las Yaguas, municipal 

 terminal of Cane}-, where a dam can be 

 built and the water sent on through pipes 

 to the city. The distance is 120 kilometers 

 and tlie cost estimated at $3,000,000. 



TEACHERS SHOW APPRECIATION 



The Florida Educational Association has 

 presented a beautiful loving cup to the 

 Cuban Department of Instruction as a 

 token of appreciation for the many cour- 

 tesies shown the Florida teachers upon 

 their visit to Havana in January last. 



The judge of the Cuban 



Extradition court of instruction of the 



Appeal first district has refused the 



Refused appeal for the extradition of 



Messrs. Hugh J. Reilly, 



father and son, and David Broderick, the 



Xew York and Cuban contractors who are 



accused of frauds in connection with the 



Cienfuegos water works contract. 



The request for extradition was made by 

 the Latin-American Contracting Company. 



A PRICE FOR FERRETS 



President ^Menocal has authorized the 

 payment of 25 cents for each pelt of ferret 

 delivered to agents of the Department of 

 Agriculture. A campaign is to be carried 

 on against those animals now infesting the 

 country districts. 



The ferret or mongoose is not a native 

 animal of Cuba. They were imported to 

 the island about twelve years ago to clear 

 out rats and other rodents, but they have 

 multiplied to such an extent that chickens 

 and other domestic fowls are their victims, 

 as well as the rats, and farmers are com- 

 plaining of their existence. 



STRONG MEASURES ADOPTED 



The bubonic plague reappeared in Ha- 

 vana on March 26th when three Spaniards 

 were stricken with the dread disease, one 

 case, that of a boy 12 years of age, termi- 

 nating fatally. 



The health authorities have been inde- 

 fatigable in their efforts to prevent the 

 spread of the plague, and an earnest war- 

 fare is on against fleas and rats. 



On April 13th Dr. Juan Guiteras, the 

 director of sanitation, ordered that twelve 

 blocks of the commercial district of Havana 

 be closed for several days pending fumiga- 

 tion with hydrocyanic acid and a thorough 

 destruction of rats. 



The commercial losses will be enormous, 

 it is believed, but radical methods are con- 

 sidered necessary if the plague is to be 

 rooted out. 



It is said that a million dollars' worth 

 of tobacco in Havana warehouses is en- 

 dangered by the wholesale fumigations. 



A majority of the poor people are being 

 housed at the Triscornia immigration camp. 



Dr. R. H. Creed was recently sent to Ha- 

 vana to report on plague conditions. He 

 has not expressed any opinion publicly, 

 owing to the necessity of first reporting to 

 his superior, Surg. Gen. Blue. He has stated 

 privately that he does not believe, with the 

 present methods of the Cuban Health 

 Board, that there is the slightest likelihood 

 of the disease becoming epidemic. He is 

 apparently pleased with the methods em- 

 ployed to extirpate the disease. 



