Ill 



THE CUBA REVIEW 



An article l)y Dr. E. Rod- 

 Cuba's riguez Lciuliaii appears in a 

 Manners recent number of the Re- 

 and Customs, y'i^ta de la Facultad de 

 Letras y Ciencias, puljlished 

 by the University of Havana, treating 

 of present and future relations between 

 the United States and Cuba. He believes 

 that the opening of the Panama Canal 

 and the immense commercial develop- 

 ment that will ensue will render Cuba 

 more important than ever before, but 

 this very importance he considers may 

 menace even the independence of the 

 island. He explains as follows: 



A source of grave danger for Cuba is 

 our manners and customs, the idiosyn- 

 crasy of our people, and this may lead 

 to our destruction. I express my thought 

 very frankly. * * * For a century 

 America had grave scruples against seiz- 

 ing the island, even when only opposed 

 by a nation like Spain, weakened by 

 civil and colonial wars, so, at the pres- 

 ent time, the American Government will 

 proceed cautiously, faithful to its policy 

 of respecting the independence of Cuba. 

 -■ * * Thus, although with the open- 

 ing of the Panama Canal the danger 

 increases that Cuba will be absorbed by 

 the United States, because of the re- 

 sulting political and commercial import- 

 ance of the island, this danger could, 

 nevertheless be averted, if the idiosyn- 

 crasy, the manners and customs of our 

 people, were different. For I sincerely 

 believe that the United States Govern- 

 ment will be likely to maintain the policy 

 so far pursued, — one not of annexation, 

 but of recognition of Cuban individu- 

 ality.^o long as we do not make trouble 

 for it, or give a moment for action. 

 * * * The good conduct of the Cu- 

 ban people, respect for the law, honest 

 administration, the maintenance of peace, 

 and an open and ever-increasing demon- 

 stration of progress in all the orders of 

 human activity, can avert the grave 

 danger which menaces cur future, and 

 will spare us the misfortune and humili- 

 ation of not having known, through 

 lack of prejudice and patriotism, how to 

 preserve the independence of our land, 

 so as to transmit it intact to our sons. 



In a consideration of the fa- 



Typhoid talities from typhoid fever in 



Fever Havana, Dr. Domingo dc 



in Cuba. Para, in the bulletin of the 



Health Department of the 



city, calls attention to the fact that the rate 



has been cut in two in the last ten years. 



The period of greatest occurrence in Cuba 



is not m the fall, as is generally the case 



in Europe and the United States, but in 



summer, bet: inning the increase before sum- 

 mer is over. Months of greatest occur- 

 rence of the disease are April, May and 

 July, after which the disease declines with 

 a minor maximum later in the year. The 

 winter count is low with an increase in 

 March, a later decline and a strong rise to 

 the maximum of the year. Dr. de Para 

 calls attention to the fact that the years fol- 

 low one another with a "triennial exascer- 

 bation," the virulence of the bacillus seem- 

 ing to be attenuated during the intervening 

 two years to become more virulent the third, 

 and hopes that this peculiarity may perhaps 

 furnish a means of special study of the 



disease. 



President Gomez on 

 Government March 22 signed a decree 

 Rescinds rescinding the contract or 

 Contract, lease made l>y Miguel Lou- 

 bierre Lavielle, a French 

 citizen of the Calsida-Trinidad Railroad 

 on the ground of failure to carry out the 

 improvements which the lessee was 

 obligated under the contract. Manuel 

 de la J. Carrera was appointed adminis- 

 trator of the road by the Treasury De- 

 partment. Lavielle's bond of $8,000.00 

 has also been forfeited in favor of the 

 state. 



The contract leasing this railroad, one 

 of the two built by the Spanish Govern- 

 ment, and passed on to the Cuban Re- 

 pulilic, was made in 1905 by the Palma 

 administration. The lease was made for 

 a period of 75 3'ears, the lessee to pay 

 the sum of $275,000 per annum as the 

 contract price for the first fifteen years 

 and the sum of $1,000.00 for the remain- 

 ing period of the lease, Lavielle obligat- 

 ing himself to begin the work of recon- 

 structing the line within a period of 

 eighteen months, extend its rails to 

 Placetas del Sur and a branch line from 

 Fernandez to join the Cuba Railroad 

 and to establish a regular passenger and 

 freight service. 



Some of this work has been carried 

 out, but owing to recent complications 

 with a Havana firm which placed an 

 embargo on the road, the government 

 has taken decisive action, although a 

 long and costly legal controversy now is 

 likely to occur. — Post. 



The new, handsome building of N. 

 Gelats & Co., one of the leading bank- 

 ing firms of Havana, was blessed by the 

 Bishop of Havana on March 28. The 

 structure's cost of half a million dollars 

 represents a considerable outlay for a 

 one-story building. The exterior plan 

 is by ^Messrs. Carrere & Hastings, archi- 

 tects, of New York. The designer of 

 the interior was Mr. George W. Cobb, 

 Jr., of Xew York. 



