THE CUBA REVIEW 



ly 



American Officers in Cuba 



That the three army officers of the Unit- 

 ed States who are drilling and instructing 

 the Cuban army are acting with the ap- 

 proval and the encouragement of the War 

 Department, is the gist of the answer made 

 by the department to members of Congress 

 whose talk was that such service by United 

 States officers was contrary to law and a 

 scandal. The War Department stated that 

 all the American instructors get out of the 

 Cuban government are quarters, each one 

 having a house at his disposal, and that 

 this and similar perquisites amount to about 

 $100 a month. These officers are drawing 

 their regular pay from this country's Fed- 

 eral treasury. Also "it was regarded as 

 of the utmost importance, in view of our 

 relations with Cuba, that such instructions 

 should be rendered by officers of our army 

 rather than by officers of some other gov- 

 ernment." 



Army officers in Washington said that, 

 if the United States did not do this work, 

 it would be done by Germany or Great 

 Britain, and this Government does not be- 

 lieve that this would be wise, as it might 

 result in friction between the United States 

 and Cuba. 



Later Secretary of War Dickinson ca- 

 bled the American officers not to receive 

 further compensation from Cuba. 



ward W. Matthews and Lieutenant Clem- 

 ent Godfrey, of the navy, are other Ohio 

 boys who have aided in the upbuilding of 

 'Cuba libre.' " 



Men of Ohio in Cuba 



The Cincinnati (O.) Inquirer finds that 

 Ohio's sons have played a prominent and 

 important part in Cuba's growth and gov- 

 ernment since the Spanish War. It item- 

 izes as follows : 



"About four and a half million dollars 

 of her public highways, bridge and sewer 

 contract work has been successfully dnne 

 by Tillinghast L. Huston, a former Cin- 

 cinnatian and a Captain in the First En- 

 gineers in the Spanish War. 



"Michael O'Neil, of Columbus, and 

 David Meade Massie, of Chillicothe, con- 

 ducted the investigation in Havana of 

 $35,000,000 of Spanish War spoliation 

 claims against the United States. Ja-nes 

 Ferry Wood, of Athens, is chairman of the 

 Spanish Treaty Commission adjudicating 

 the Cuban claims. Francis Key Pendleton, 

 son of the late Senator George H. Pendle- 

 ton, is counsel for several of the largest 

 Cuban claimants against the United States. 



"Captain Cassilly Cook, who was the at- 

 torney for the Cuban Revolutionary Junta 

 in 1907, has also been the representative 

 of the island's large sugar and tobacco in- 

 terests in tariff matters in Washington, 

 D. C. 



"Major Runcie, formerly of Cleveland, 

 is a leading practitioner of the Havana bar. 

 Colonel W. E. Harper and Captain Fred 

 Martin, of the army, and Commander Ed- 



Witchcraft Accessories in Cuba 



The Havana police recently made a raid 

 in Cerro, a suburb of the city, and, says 

 La Lticha, rounded up twenty-four negroes 

 who had assembled to practice the rites of 

 brujoism, or witchcraft. Seventeen of the 

 prisoners were women, and a large quan- 

 tity of "charms" and articles of great sig- 

 nificance in the practice of brujeria were 

 found by the police. In this collection 

 were various shells, pieces of bone, wooden 

 hatchets and knives, one wash basin very 

 fancifully decorated in which red feathers 

 had been placed forming a cross. Another 

 basin filled with pieces of iron chains and 

 the thigh bones of two jutias; a basket 

 filled with fish and bird bones; one fan 

 trimmed with small bells; a tureen con- 

 taining the heart of a goat and a chicken's 

 gizzard; a red cap, a coat fringed with 

 bells, and a lot of other rubbish. 



Regarding Taxes in La Gloria 



We are constantly receiving inquiries 

 from non-resident landowners in regard 

 to taxes. Up to the present time in the 

 Cubitas Valley there have not been any 

 taxes levied on unimproved property. At 

 the present time there is a small tax on 

 La Gloria town (income-producing) prop- 

 erty. 



Two years ago the residents of La Glo- 

 ria resolved to try a plan of raising money 

 for the American school by a voluntary 

 levy, or school tax on all property within 

 a given radius of La Gloria. This "tax" 

 was purely voluntary. The plan did not 

 succeed and has not been tried since. 



This is the extent of taxation in La 

 Gloria. — La Gloria Cuban-Aiiierican. 



The same paper urges every owner of 

 land in Cuba, even if it is only a town lot. 

 should make a will, properly disposing cf 

 his property. It says : "It is not necessary 

 to make the will in Cuba or even reg'steV 

 It here. All that is required is that it 

 should be made in due legal form in the 

 state in which the landowner resides." 



The first lyric scholarship granted from 

 the funds, obtained through the concerts 

 organized by the Chaminade Society in 

 Cuba, was awarded recently to Miss Esther 

 Simons of Camaguey, who was chosen 

 from among five contestants. The schol- 

 arship is for two years in Europe, and 

 Miss Simons is to receive $1,500 a year to 

 defray the cost of a thorough musical edu- 

 cation. 



