12 



THE CUBA REVIEW 



GENERAL NOTES 



THE EARTHQUAKE IN ORIENTE 

 PROVINCE 



Prof. Jover of Santa Clara, the well 

 known meteoroligist, notes in the February 

 2Tth earthquake some unusual features, the 

 chief of which was the severity of the (li:-* 

 tur])ance along the northern coast. In a 

 recent letter to the press he says: 



"The earthquake in the eastern part of 

 Cuba on the 27th ult. was perhaps one of 

 the most notable in character and extent in 

 more than a century. A list of earthquakes 

 in the city of Santiago de Cuba since the 

 sixteenth century has been published, which 

 shows that earthquakes of greater intensity 

 than that of the 27th of last month occurred 

 in less than a century. In order to avoid 

 erroneous interpretation, I would point out 

 that what was notable in character of that 

 of the 27th was not its intensity, even if it 

 had been the greatest in the City of San- 

 tiago where earthquakes are common, but 

 because its greatest force was in the north- 

 ern part of the province. Local earthquakes 

 in the City of Santiago de Cuba occur with 

 great frequency and it would be childish to 

 consider them as unusual. What was nota- 

 ble about the one of the 27th ult. was that 

 its greatest intensity was in the north, being 

 felt in the greater part of the northern sec- 

 tion of the island and with a strength regis- 

 tering between the fifth and' sixth degrees 

 of the JMercalli scale, according to informa- 

 tion from Puerto Padre, one of the north 

 coast towns." 



A full description of the disturbance was 

 given in The Cuba Review for ]\ larch. 



Dr. Lopez del Valle of Havana's board 

 of health says that there are 23 cigar fac- 

 tories in Havana in which women are em- 

 ployed to do the stripping of tobacco and 

 there are about 60 factories employing 5,000 

 women for various purposes, and for whom 

 the owners have made absolutely no pro- 

 vision for their convenience and comfort. 



He is determined that the conditions 

 must be bettered and an inspection has be- 

 gun among the factories. 



TJM-ee and possibly four Cuban warships 

 will be sent next year to the Panama Pa- 

 cific Exposition when President Alenocal 

 will be a visitor to the fair. 



General Loynaz del Castillo is the Cuban 

 commissioner to the exposition. 



BISHOP S DONATION REFUSED 



The Reporters' Association of Havana 

 some time ago was donated a parcel of land 

 at Colon Cemetery near the city by the 

 Bishop of Havana for the construction of a 

 mausoleum for its members. 



Recently, owing to some anti-clerical ex- 

 pressions in the newspapers. Mgr. Gonzalez 

 Estrada, the Bishop, in a letter to the 

 president of the Reporters' Association re- 

 minded the members of the gift, at the 

 same time complaining of the anti-clerical 

 press utterances. 



When this letter was received it was de- 

 cided that terms had been expressed in the 

 message which affected the dignity of the 

 reporters and an answer was at once sent 

 to the Bishop stating that the association 

 would pay for the lands because in no way 

 was it to be understood that the donation 

 represented the purchase of silence on the 

 part of the press. 



A resolution to that eft'ect was passed. 

 The land is valued at $204.00. 



REBUILDING THE NATIONAL THEATRE 



A contract has been signed for rebuilding 

 and refurnishing the National Theatre of 

 Havana, long known as the "Tacon" and 

 which is now a part of the great new build- 

 ing of the Centro Gallego. An illustration 

 and description of this structure was printed 

 in the February issue of The Cuba Review. 



The contract is for $224,000, and includes 

 the rebuilding of the box tiers, family 

 circle, gallery, stage and lobby. It will be 

 made fireproof. Improvements include a 

 double stage and the placing of the orches- 

 tra under the stage. The contract calls for 

 completion by January l.'ith next. 



.-\n association of "Boy Scouts" was re- 

 cently organized in Santiago. It is new in 

 that historic city. 



CONFEDERATE VETERANS TO VISIT CUBA 



Havana will be visited next month by 

 some veteran Confederates accompanied by 

 their daughters and sons. 



General Emilio Nufiez, the Cuban secre- 

 tary of agriculture and president of the 

 Association of Cuban Veterans, will, says 

 the Post, extend the veterans an invitation 

 in the name of the organization of which 

 he is the head. Many Confederate Vet- 

 erans after the civil war played an impor- 

 tant part in the helping of the Cubans in 

 their ten years' war against Spain. One of 

 the most notable was the late General Fitz- 

 hugh Lee, who was for many years United 

 States consul general at Havana and later 

 commanded the Seventh Army Corps sent 

 to Cuba during the Spanish-American War. 



