THE CUBA REVIEW 



T9 



ROAD LEADING INTO THE YUMURI 

 VALLrf. 



The above gentlemen gave 

 me all the encouragement pos- 

 sible and it was Mr. ConiU 

 who was the prime mover of 

 the idea to give Cuba an an- 

 nual winter international road 

 race, such as the Gordon-Ben- 

 nett of Europe and the Van- 

 derbilt Cup afifair of Long 

 Island. The snag was run up 

 against by the International 

 Racing Association of Cuba. 

 Offers of financial support were made, and in some cases made good, but in some 

 cases the would-be donors defaulted, so that it rested with Mr. Conill and his few 

 willing associates to make up the deficiencj-, which is a matter of fact both in 1905 and 

 1906 tournaments. 



Eventually the Secretary of the Board -of Public Works became interested and later 

 on it was suggested to the writer by Mr. E. J. Conill, who was President, and Mr. 

 Mendoza, who was Secretary of the Automobile Association, that I visit Havana and 

 see President Palma, asking for tlxe Government's support and co-operation. 



In company with Mr. S. A. Miles, General Manager of the National Association of 

 Manufacturers, I set sail for Cuba and had an interview with President Palma, who the 

 next day informed me that the Government would grant the use of the road from 



HIGHWAYS LINED WITH ROYAL PALMS. 



