THE CUBA REVIEW And Bulletin. 



17 



ENERGETIC BEGINNINGS OF GOVERNOR MAGOON S 

 NEW ROAD WORK IN CUBA. 



Major Mason M. Patrick, in charge of 

 road building in Pinar del Rio, has sub- 

 mitted a report showing progress of road 

 work in that province. 



The road from Guane to Luis Lazo 

 commences at Guane and passes through 

 a mountainous region in the districts of 

 Portales, Teneria, and Punta de la Sierra, 

 situated in a very fertile region almost ex- 

 clusively devoted to the cultivation of to- 

 bacco. The. rock found at intervals along 

 this road is a hard lim.estone, which is be- 

 lieved to be good material for road build- 

 ing. The soil varies in nature from hard 

 and sticky clay found in the cuts on some 

 of the hills. to a light sand on the plains. 

 At some points the clay has been 

 so hard as to necessitate blasting with 

 dynamite or powder. The officer charged 

 with the local construction of this road is 

 Captain Clark S. Smith, Corps of Engineers, 

 assisted by a detachment of soldiers from 

 Company E. Second Battalion of Engineers. 

 The contractor has 275 men, 47 mules and 

 wagons, plows, carts, scrapers, etc., at work. 

 The road from S'an Juan y Martinez to 

 Punta de Cartas is being built by Lt. of 

 Engineers R. C. Moore, with a detach- 

 ment of Co. G, Second Battalion of Engi- 

 neers. Major Patrick recommends that the 

 road be run so that along the greater part 

 of its length it will benefit both the city 

 of San Juan and the city of San Luis. This 

 reco'mmendation, which was duly approved, 

 involves the necessity of a new bridge over 

 the San Juan river, to replace the old 

 bridge now in existence. 



Bids will be asked for supplying and put- 

 ting in place 130 feet of steel beams, the 

 government constructing the arches. The 

 officer charged with its supervision is Lieu- 

 tenant of Engineers R. C. Moore, with a 

 detachment of Company G, Second Battal- 

 ion of Engineers. 



The road from Pinar del Rio to Vinales 

 starts from the northern end of the bridge 

 over the river Guama, in the outskirts of 

 the city of Pinar del Rio. The work in- 

 cludes the building of a bridge over the 

 river Guama to take the place of the old 

 wooden bridge at present in use. The new 

 bridge will be a steel structure, with a cen- 

 tral span of 130 feet, with spans of 50 feet 

 at either end. The work is being done by 

 Lt. F. B. Downing, Corps of Engineers, 

 with a detachment of Company H of the 

 Second Battalion of Engineers. 



From the foot of the hills outside o'f 

 Pinar del Rio to Vinales the road passed 

 over the mountains to a very rugged region, 

 which rendered the finding of a practicable 

 route difficult. The right-of-way has been 

 conceded by private owners wherever the 

 road passes, except for a short stretch in 

 the vicinity of the new bridge over the 

 Guama river, but this will be obtained 

 when necessary. 



The road from Vinales to San Cayetano 

 extends through a very rugged region. On 

 this road many short cuts will have to be 

 made. They are now working on it some 

 400 men. and it is possible that this number 

 will be increased if laborers can be secured. 

 The officer in charge of this work is Lt. 

 of Engineers W. A. Johnson, with a de- 

 tachment of Company F, Second Battalion 

 of Engineers. 



Orders have been given to finish the 

 cart road from Guanabana to Lagunillas, 

 in Matanzas, and to' build a bridge across 

 the river Guaniciin on the cart road from 

 Cristo to Songo, in Santiago province. This 

 latter will be completed early in November. 

 Another bridge will also be built across 

 the Porkquelo; near Mayari, also n San- 

 tago province, and the Tayaba aqueduct in 

 Trinidad will receive much-needed repairs,- 

 which will cost nearly $3,000. 



The examination of plans for the building 

 of a cart road from Los Arroyas de Man- 

 tua are being made in order to build this 

 road as quickly as possible. 



The plans for the construction of 2,360 

 lineal metres of cart road on the road from 

 Baracoa to Maisi have been approved, and 

 the plans have been approved for a cart 

 road from San Luis to the railway station 

 of the western road. 



NEW POSTOFFICES. 



Two new postoffices are at Salamanca 

 and Jiguani, Santa Clara Province, two 

 more at Bacuranao and Cojimar. The Sala- 

 manca office was on August i made a money 

 order office, and on the same date Itabo was 

 also made a money order office. 



CUSTOMS RULINGS AND RECEIPTS. 



In view of seme doubts in regard to the 

 proper classification of 



POWDERED ASBESTOS. 



which does not appear on any customhouse 

 list, it has been decided to place this article 

 in Class 315. 



FAN PALMS 



will be classified under No. 82 of the regu- 

 lation- now in force, and 



STEEL HOUSES, 



complete or taken apart, for. sugar houses, 

 will be classified under No. 215 in future. 



HAVANA CUSTOMS COLLECTIONS. 



The duties collected in the six months 

 commencing January 2, and ending June 30, 

 1907, as compared with the same period of 

 1906, are as follows : 



Jan. 2 to June 3°, inc., 1907- .$9,831,697-69 

 For the same period in 1906. . . . 9,668,008.69 



Increase 1907 $163,689.00 



For the months of July, 1906 and 1907, 

 the following are the official figures : 



Collections for July, 1907 $1,688,017.90 



Collections for July, 1906 1,587,223.95 



Increase over last year $100,793.15 



