THE CUBA REVIEW 



23 



Preserving Books in the Tropics. 



Mr. H. Maxwell-Lefroy, M.A., F.E.S., 

 F.Z.S., Entomologist to the Government 

 of India, gives, in The Eastern Printers' 

 Yearbook, several precautions against 

 the destruction of books and papers by- 

 insects in the tropics. As some of these 

 are comparatively new, the following ex- 

 tracts are taken from his article: 



"The most destructive insect to books 

 is the book beetle (Sitodrepa panicea). 

 This is a small brown beetle, which is 

 only one stage of this insect's life, the 

 greater part of the destruction being 

 caused by the small white grub, which is 

 one of the earlier stages. The grub 

 eats tunnels in the books, feeding upon 

 the paper or binding, eating straight 

 ahead through the pages, but always 

 keeping inside; naturally it can feed un- 

 disturbed only in a book which is not 

 in use, and it is in books that are left 

 neglected on the shelf that this insect is 

 found. The grub is white, with the head 

 brown, and the body is clothed with 

 short, brown hairs. It hatches from eggs 

 laid by the beetle, and after some weeks 

 of active life, transforms into the dor- 

 mant chrysalis, from which, after a lit- 

 tle time, comes the beetle. It is the bee- 

 tle that starts the mischief, by eating 

 into the book and laying eggs there, the 

 grubs then continuing it. The insect is 

 probably an introduced one, having been 

 brought most likely in books or mer- 

 chandise from Europe; it is common 

 practically all over the world, and feeds 

 not only in books, paper, cardboard and 

 similar materials, but in dry wood, in 

 the cane that furniture is made of, and 

 in dried foodstuffs. 



"Where books and papers are constant- 

 ly in use, or being moved, the insect is not 

 generally found: when it is found, there 

 is only one radical cure, which is to go 

 over all the books or stocks of papers 

 and search out the insects. 



"Another injurious insect is the com- 

 mon cockroach. These have a fondness 

 for the coloring matter of cloth bindings, 

 especially of certain reds and other tints; 

 they feed at night and nibble off the 

 surface of the binding, greatly disfigur- 

 ing the books. The preparation given 

 below is a certain preventive of damage; 

 where cockroaches are. however, very 

 plentiful, a liberal apolication of borax, 

 or the provision of plenty of a mixture 

 of borax (one part) and syrup (two 

 parts), smeared thickly on pieces of card 

 or tin and put under furniture and in 

 dark corners, is a great check on their 

 numbers. Borax is a specific poison to 

 cockroaches and should be used freely." 

 — Barbadoes News. 



Ocean Beach Colony Troubles. 



The troubles of the Canada Colonists 

 at Ocean Beach, Pinar del Rio Province, 

 with the municipalities of Guave and 

 Mantua, each claiming the colony to be 

 within their district and each endeavor- 

 ing to collect taxes from the residents, 

 has already been discribed in the No- 

 vember issue of The Cuba Review. 

 Their condition has now been brought 

 more into public attention in a report 

 made December 27 by E. S. Kirkpatrick, 

 Canadian Agent at Havana, who at the 

 request of the British Minister visited 

 the colony, and he "cannot imagine a 

 picture more desolate or a situation 

 more hopeless." 



The only ray of hope among the peo- 

 ple, he says, is the rumored intention of 

 an American syndicate to buy the whole 

 property. The colony has been swept by 

 three hurricanes within a few months 

 and the trees have been largely de- 

 stroyed. — Ottawa despatch to the New 

 York Sun. 



In a short time, says the Brooklyn (N. 

 Y.) Eagle, it is to be assumed, arrange- 

 ments will be made to take the colonists 

 home. They will not lack employment 

 in the Dominion. 



Havana Homes. 



There is a crooked, narrow street 

 called Inquisidor in the lower part of 

 Havana, so named because at one time 

 a member of the Spanish Inquisition, 

 lived in it. In those days the struc- 

 tures, which have long ago become 

 stores or warehouses, were homes of the 

 wealthv, and chaises and volantes and 

 ambling native ponies were stabled on 

 the lower floors. Recently the inquisi- 

 tor's house was bequeathed to the Span- 

 ish Legation, and now the Minister, 

 Sefior Don Soler, and his wife are busily 

 engaged in remodeling and refitting it. 

 They will not find the situation impos- 

 sible, for so peculiarly is Havana ar- 

 ranged that Senators live above corner 

 groceries, and to reach one well known 

 lawyer's family callers pass through the 

 showroom of a carriage store upward 

 into a delightful home on the roof. 



Cuba Whispers to Massachusetts. 



Cuba came into touch with New Eng- 

 land Christmas eve by means of the 

 wireless telegraph, as reported by Elec- 

 trician Eason, of the navy wireless sta- 

 tion at Highland Light, Mass. 



Eason says that on Dec. 24, he picked 

 up a message which was being flashed 

 from Key West to Cuba. 



