22 



THE CUBA REVI E W 



GENERAL NOTES. 



Cubans Opposed to Annexation. 



Dr. J. A. Estopinal, who has represented 

 the Louisiana State Board of Health, with 

 headquarters in Havana, said in a recent 

 interview in the New Orleans Picayune: 

 "The Cubans are bitterly opposed either to 

 annexation or intervention on the part of 

 the United States. The unnaturalized 

 Spaniard, and there are several thousaiid 

 of these in business in Havana and in 

 agricultural pursuits on the island, rather 

 look with favor towards annexation or in- 

 tervention on the part of the United States. 

 They believe it would be for the best in- 

 terests of Cuba financially." 



at Santiago de Cuba against the com- 

 pany in tiie first instance courts, which 

 rendered a judgment making it obliga- 

 tory upon the company to pay the 

 church the sum of $65,000. The experts 

 declared that the collapse of the sanc- 

 tuary is to be blamed on the engineers 

 of the company. 



Tasajo Versus Fresh Meat. 



La Lucha of Havana does not look 

 favorably upon the proposed increase of 

 duties on tasajo, or "jerked beef," the 

 universal food everywhere in Cuba. "The 

 people," it says, " must have something 

 that will fill the mouths and stomachs 

 of their numerous families. Tasajo 

 furnishes the 'stock,' or we might say, 

 the gravy, to accompany other plain 

 foods, such as rice, yucca, sweet potatoes, 

 and such, and its universal use in Cuba 

 shows how satisfying it is. Of course, 

 it may not be used so much on the 

 tables of the legislators, but the people 

 who placed them in office use it, and 

 they are the ones whose desires should 

 be considered." 



Cubans Growing Thrifty. 



Commenting recently upon the financial 

 and industrial situation in Cuba, Mr. W. A. 

 Merchant, vice-president of the National 

 Bank of Cuba, said : 



"One of the most favorable signs of the 

 times in Cuba is that the working classes 

 are slowly acquiring a greater habit of 

 thrift, which is evidenced by the fact that 

 the deposits of the savings department of 

 the National Bank of Cuba have doubled 

 in the last two years. 



"There is ample money in the country 

 to successfully handle the present large 

 crop of sugar, and it is freely predicted 

 that money will be more plentiful in 1910 

 than for a number of years past." 



Mining Company Responsible. 



The Spanish-American Iron Company 

 at El Cobre have been declared respon- 

 sible for the destruction of part of the 

 Church of Our Lady of Cobre, the pat- 

 roness of Cuba. 



The suit was brought by the arch- 

 diocese of the Roman Catholic Church 



Memorial Services in Tampa. 



Tuesday, February 15, the twelfth anni- 

 versary of the destruction of the battle- 

 ship Maine in Havana harbor, which 

 brought death to many brave officers and 

 men, will be a most memorable day in 

 Tampa, Fla., for on that day will be held 

 the first memorial services in memory 

 of the martyrs whose deaths brought 

 liberty to Cuba. The event will be one 

 of national and international importance, 

 with the United States and Cuba joined 

 in paying tribute to the hero dead. 



The programme to be arranged for 

 the occasion will be most impressive in 

 character, and will be participated in by 

 hundreds of men of the army and navy 

 of the United States, who will be in the 

 city throughout the period of celebra- 

 tion. Ainong those will be General Fred. 

 Grant, commander in chief of the army, 

 and commanders of several war vessels 

 which will be in the harbor. 



The Ferryboat Guanabacoa Arrives. 



After a journey lasting just two 

 months and one day and marked by two 

 stormy periods, the new ferryboat, 

 Guanabacoa, belonging to the United 

 Railways of Havana, arrived at Havana 

 December 16. 



The boat came from Liverpool under 

 its own steam by way of the Canary Isl- 

 ands and Saint Thomas. 



In coming from the Canaries to Ha- 

 vana the boat took the windward course 

 and came along the south coast of the 

 island and up around Cape San Antonio 

 on the west, and so to this port. 



The Havana Electric Railway is planning 

 to lay within the next few months about 

 five additional miles of tracks, which will 

 make the whole system sixty-five miles long. 

 The equipment is being added to monthly, 

 both to replace old cars and to provide 

 more adequate facilities for accommoda- 

 ting" the public. Last month's addition was 

 six cars. The track-laj'ing is to be com- 

 menced in the near future, and will take 

 two or three months, possibly longer, for 

 completion. 



