22 THECUBAREVIEW 



TUNNEL PLAN ADOPTED FOR HAVANA 



The objections manifested some months back on ihc part of iinpnrlant cummercial 

 bodies of Havana for the disposal of the city'< sewerage were successfnl. for on Septem- 

 ber 3d, President Gomez approved a tunnel plan, and work will begin immediately. Gen- 

 eral discussion favored the tunnel project as most likely to give lasting satisfaction and 

 adequate service for the city's needs, as the population increased. Had the single pipe 

 been laid as was first contemplated, it would have been necessary to have laid another 

 ten years hence, while by building a tunnel there will be no need for this additional work. 

 The tunnel idea is also favored by the Havana press. 



In an interview with David E. IMcComb, chief engineer of the sewering and paving 

 contract, by La Lncha, the following interesting information regarding this great work 

 was secured : 



The system of sewering of Havana i)!anned a pumping station with a cajjacity of thirty 

 millions of gallons per day, called the luncrgency Station, at the end of (icneral Ena 

 Street, in the court of the Caballeria Wharf. 



From this pumping station would issue the iron siphons live feet in diameter, which, 

 crossing under the harbor, emptied into the permanent pumping station at Casa Blanca. 



A formidable risk involved in the placing of a pipe on the harbor's bottom consisted 

 in the possibility of the pipe breaking from the dragging anchors of entering ships, which 

 might easily cause loose joints and consequent leakage cf sewage. 



To avoid this trouble a tunnel was suggested which would occupy the same position in 

 relation to the bay as the siphons, but would be placed twenty feet below the bottom of 

 the harbor, obviating the necessity for the expensive emeigency pumping station, the cost 

 of which was estimated at one hundred thousand dollars. The matter was considered by 

 the chief engineer and submitted for approval to President Gomez, which approval was 

 granted without question, for, besides economizing on the cost of the pum])ing station 

 above mentioned, it was made possible, by means of the power granted the authorities 

 by the sewering contract, to carry out this measure for one- fourth less than the cost of 

 laying the two siphons originally planned. 



The Cuban Engineering and Contracting Company in charge of this work are those 

 who endowed New York, just before coming to Cuba, with the marvelous system of sub- 

 marine and subfluvial tubes which connect Manhattan Island with New Jersey and 

 Brooklyn, and have just formed a contract with the Russian government to construct 

 subterranean tubes in Moscow. 



As construction will have to be carried on through the method of pneumatic "caissons," 

 the contractors are already making investigations for the selection of workmen who are 

 not affected with infirmities of the heart or lungs, for the men must endure an air pressure 

 of eighteen or twenty pounds per square mch, which pressure is necessary to avoid the 

 filtering through of the water. 



Medical opinion indicates that among the working classes of Cuba it is rare to find men 

 suffering from either of the above-mentioned maladies, so that the necessary labor is 

 available. 



Cubans Arrest x\niericans without any guard. When their objection 



to release on bail w-as explained to the 



Eight Americans wert arrested on the judge he agreed to assume the responsibility 

 Isle of Pines August 21st on the charge of of setting them free without bonds on con- 

 homicide and arson. Great excitement dition that they promise to appear in court 

 followed the arrests, the American resi- again in two weeks. 



dents of the Isle of Pines threatening re- The arrival of U. S. Minister Jackson on 

 sistance to the authorities and the forcible the scene prevented what might have be- 

 release of the prisoners who were held come a serious clash with the local author- 

 without bail. ities. He warned the colonists that they 



Upon receiving a telegraphic report of the must abide by the Cuban law and promised 



arrests and the ensuing excitement Acting to take the matter up with Washington. 

 Secretary of the Interior Sanguilly wired The State Department cabled Minister 



the judicial authorities of the island to Jackson to make an immediate investigation 



admit the prisoners to bail for the pur- and to protest against the arrest of the 



pose of calming the threatening attitude of Americans. 



the Americans. On Septemlicr 4th matters were still 



_ The accused men refused to accept their quiet, although several of the Americans 



liberty on bail, and their attorney conducted had stated their determination not to go 



them from the jail to the court room to Havana for trial on any pretext. 



