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THE CUBA REVIEW 



ALL AROUND CUBA 



INTERESTING NEWS NOTES REGARDING VARIOUS MATTERS PERTAINING 



TO THE ISLAND 



CAPABLANCAS GREAT CHESS PLAY 



The final rounds in the chess tournament 

 at St. Petersburg were played off, May 21st 

 and 22d. Capablanca finished in splendid 

 style, defeating Marshall and Alachine, 

 thereby assuring to himself the second place. 



The world's champion, Lasker, by drawing 

 with Tarrasch, and beating Marshall, retained 

 his lead. 



The ournament has proved, that while 

 Lasker is still the strongest living chess 

 player, the young Cuban bids fair to be his 

 successor in the world's championship at 

 some day in the future. 



In coming out second, Capablanca has de- 

 feated such renowned player as Tarrasch, 

 Rubinstein and Marshall and others hardly 

 less famous. 



Admirers of Jose R. Capablanca, Cuba's 

 brilliant young chess champion, who are still 

 firm in the opinion that he is the logical 

 candidate for world's championship honors 

 in spite of the fact that he was placed second 

 to Dr. E. Lasker, the champion, in the inter- 

 national tournament recently concluded at 

 St. Petersburg, will be delighted to learn that 

 the honors of the second game between these 

 great players in that tournament were dis- 

 tinctly with Capablanca. notwithstanding 

 that it ended in a draw, the same result as 

 that of then* fu-st encounter. It was the third 

 game which Dr. Laskar won at a critical stage 

 of the tournament, but, although it counted 

 for much in the score, that defeat must be 

 regarded as having been practically offset by 

 the Cuban's really fine playing in the first 

 and second games of which one has already 

 been published over here, while the other has 

 just been received. 



The second game in question was truly a 

 struggle of the giants and extended to an 

 even hundred moves before Capablanca 

 would abandon his efforts for a win with the 

 superior material at his disposal. The Cuban 

 opened with the Ruy Lopez and the champion 

 followed the same defense Dr. Tarrasch had 

 essayed against himself so successfully, but 

 he advanced his queen's pawn one move 

 earlier. Capablanca's very fine play caused 

 his adversary to defend with the utmost 

 caution so that he did not castle until the 

 twenty-second move. The Cuban gave up 

 his king's pawn, looking a long way ahead to 

 the point where he would recover it. Pressed 

 for time. Dr. Laskar made a wrong move 

 with his rook on the twenty-seventh move, 

 the upshot of which was that he stood to 

 lose his only pawn on the queen's wing. 

 Rather than have this happen, the champion 

 gave up two pieces for a rook. His judgment 

 proved to be sound, for the end-game was 

 such that the rook, with all one side of the 



board to roam in, was strong enough to 

 hamper the action of the white king, bishop 

 and knight. 



The final scores were: 



Won. Lost. 



Lasker 13^ 43/^ 



Capablanca L3 5 



Alechine 10 8 



Tarrasch 8^ 9M 



Marshall 8 10 



MEDICINAL SPRINGS IN CUBA 



The known medicinal springs of the island 



number thirty-nine and are found in the 

 various provinces as follows: 



Pinar del Rio 16 



Havana 13 



Santa Clara 7 



Camaguey 1 



Oriente 2 



Total 39 



They are nearly all of a sulphurous char- 

 acter especially in Pinar del Rio and Havana 

 provinces, which contain 29 of the 39 springs. 

 Others are magnesia, thermal and medicinal. 



A STRANGE CATCH 



A Manatee, or sea cow, was captured 

 recently off Cojimar near Havana, and was 

 estimated to weigh over 1,000 pounds. It 

 was ten feet long and had a nose very much 

 like that of an ox, and two armlike flippers 

 with five fingers. 



This animal is found quite frequently on 

 the south coast of Cuba, but it is said that 

 this is the first time on record of it being 

 found or the north coast. 



The fishermen exhibited their prize and 

 charged an admission fee until it died several 

 days afterward. 



It appears, however, that there is a Cuban 

 law which prohibits the kilUng of a manatee 

 in Cuban waters and which also exacts a 

 fine of $200 for every violation. If this 

 provision is enforced the fishermen's profits 

 will be wiped out. 



GOVERNMENT LOANS 



A movement was started some time ago 

 to provide a more ample endowment for 

 the government pawn-shop in Havana. 



The regular pawn-shops charge as high as 

 12% per month for loans, while the govern- 

 ment office charges 6% per year. The latter 's 

 capital is small and it cannot, on that account, 

 extend the aid needed to all in temporary 

 difficulties. Hence, the agitation for a larger 

 endowment. 



