14 THECUBAREVIEW 



CUBAN CHARACTER IN STAMP MAKING 



EFFICIENCY OF CUBAN AND SPANISH GIRLS COMPARED. HOW "POTE" 



GOT HIS NAME 



Cuba's bureau of engraving and printing, with a force of 100 workers of many nationalities 

 and a maximum output of 2,500,000 stamps a day, was installed by George P. Foster who 

 was for 17 years an employee of the bureau of engraving and printing at Washington. 



He returned from his labors a few weeks ago and tells a most interesting story to the Washing- 

 ton Star, of how American determination, machinery and efficiency overcame, seemingly, 

 endless obstacles which eventually gave Cuba her own stamp-making bureau. Incidentally 

 the success of the plant at Havana has led President Menocal, Mr. Poster says, to urge the 

 Cuban Congress to allow the little republic to make her own paper money. 



The history of the enterprise is as follows: 



In 1911 Jose Lopez Rodriguez, millionaire director of one of the finest publishing houses 

 on the island, secured from the Cuban government the right to engrave and print all stamps 

 which were to be used. Before embarking upon the enterprise, he had decided to expend 

 $300,000 in the construction of the new building which was to be the home of the plant, and 

 to outfit it with the most modern of American engraving and printing machinery. 



Hence Jose Lopez Rodriguez came to his country and traveled far and wide, inspecting 

 the foremost printing houses of the nation. An expert himself, he did not reach a quick 

 conclusion. Eventually his travels brought him to this city, where he was invited to go 

 through the Washington bureau. There he found the perfection he sought. Calhng the 

 director aside he asked him to name some man in this model of efficiency who could copy it 

 on a smaller scale in Cuba. 



"I am satisfied that if this can be done," said Jose Lopez Rodriguez, "my troubles will 

 be at an end." 



From all accounts the word "picturesque" is not misused when appUed to Rodriquez. 

 "Pote" they call him, affectionately, all over the island of Cuba. The word "Pote" means 

 pot. The nickname was derived from Rodriquez's frequent statement that he collected 

 all ideas and "boiled them in a pot." 



Rodriquez had come to Havana from Spain when a boy — a pennliness, friendless, but 

 determined boy — who began his career by selling books on the street. His tremendous 

 imagination — he seemed to possess a second sight — and his steady digging, began to show 

 results. He became several times a milhonaire, and one of the trusted assisstants of all 

 Cuban political factions. The belief in his personal integrity, so Foster says, is boundless. 



So, lock, stock and bottle, the job of starting the new factory was turned over to the young 

 printer. He traveled around purchasing $125,000 worth of machiner}', the exact duplicates 

 of the type to be found in the government's bureau of engraving antl printing in Washington. 

 The paper and gum to be used was also the same. 



In the latter part of 1911, Foster, with five Americans whom he had taken with him, reached 

 Havana, and by November the building had been completed and the machinery installed. 



There was a big celebration attended by President Gomez and his cabinet, buttons were 

 pressed, the machinery started on its trial sjjin, many flowery speeches were made and Havana 

 sat back to see the "Americano" make good. There were three little things that obstructed 

 the road to happiness. They were: — 



No Enghsh-speaking employees. 



An utter lack of mechanical knowledge among the Cubans, to whom this work was as 

 impossible as the solution of a problem in higher mathematics. 



The climate. 



The bureau of engraving and printing, where Director Foster had worked for so many 

 years, was the direct outgrowth of 75 years of experimenting. Girls, who do most of the 

 work, begin when they are yovmg as appentices on the easiest and simplest of work. They 

 are gradually promoted as they become more efficient. Thus, it is easy to see that the force 

 has a never-ending supply from which to draw. 



Not so the Cuban bureau. Here it was necessary to put 80 "green" girls and 20 "green" 

 men to w'ork at once. And as though this were not difficult enought of itself, Du'ector Foster, 

 the only teacher, couldn't speak a word of Spanish. The first thing the director did was to 

 begin a study of the native language. Meanwhile he employed a native interpreter, a girl 

 who was bright, but who could not be expected to grasp the first essentials of machinery. 



Patiently he explained each detail of the work to his class. First he would tell the inter- 

 preter over and over again until she began to see light. Then he would give a personal 

 demonstration of what he was trying to do, working slowly on the machines until the class as 

 a whole began to see light. Then he would repeat his instructions via the English-Spanish 

 route, and finally would start the girls and men to work. 



It was curious to notice the little blunders that kept cropping out. The girls did not see 

 the need of all the trouble with the paper. Paper was paper, w-as it not? Madre Dios, did 

 the senor think the paper was sacred? If the paper was spoiled could he not buy more? 



