T HE CUBA RE V I E W 



15 



Casanova School 



Innocencio Casanova, a Cuban patriot, 

 who devoted his fortunes and his energies 

 to the cause of Cuba Libre in the rebellion 

 of 1867 against Spanish rule, was recently 

 honored by having his name conferred upon 

 the magnificent new school, Public School 

 62, The Bronx, which stands at the corner 

 of Fox Street and Leggett Avenue in New 

 York City very near the site of the famous 

 Casanova Mansion. 



The Casanova School is the very latest 

 word in modern school construction. It 

 consists of fifty classrooms each contain- 

 ing forty-eight seats. It has four kinder- 

 gardens, two large gymnasiums, a school 

 garden, and enough play space around it to 

 accommodate all of its two thousand pu- 

 pils. There is also a school library, a 

 nature study room, a room for crippled 

 children, an open air class for anaemic 

 children, one for cardiac children and a 

 sight conservation classroom. It has a 

 magnificent auditorium seating six hundred, 

 a school kitchen and lunch room and a 

 medical suite consisting of an eye clinic, 

 a dental clinic, and a nose and throat clinic. 

 The value of the site and the cost of 

 construction amount to over $1,250,000. 



Though the building was occupied by the 

 children on February 14, 1922, the work- 

 men were busy giving the finishing touches 

 for several months later so that the formal 

 opening and dedicatory exercises could not 

 be held until June 6 ,1922. On this evening 

 over a thousand parents and the officials 

 of the Board of Education of the City of 

 New York were welcomed by District Su- 

 perintendent William O'Flaherty who pre- 

 sided at the elaborate entertainment and 

 exercises and turned over the keys of the 

 building to the principal, Thomas H. 

 Hughes. 



Very near this building at the foot of 

 Leggett Avenue out on Oak Point jutting 

 into Long Island Sound stood the old Leg- 

 gett house built in American Revolutionary 

 days. In 1867, after a complete renovation, 

 this was transferred to Innocencio Casa- 

 nova, a Cuban, who was in business in 

 New York. He made his home a meeting- 

 place for all those interested in the cause 

 of Cuban independence and devoted his 

 fortunes and his future to the work of 

 liberty. The great cellars of the house 



became store-places for rifles, cartridges, 

 pistols, machetes and other munitions and 

 supplies. He caused great tunnels to be 

 built from his cellars to the adjacent wa- 

 ters of the Sound and parts of these tun- 

 nels can still be found by the boys of the 

 school. The munitions were carried through 

 the tunnels and smuggled aboard vessels 

 lying in the creeks along the shore. Many 

 famous filibustering expeditions started 

 there and it is said that the ill-fated "Vir- 

 ginius" took on board her unfortunate 

 crew at Casanova House. With the failure 

 of this early struggle for Cuban independ- 

 ence, Casanova left New York and retired, 

 a broken man, to New Orleans. 



"We have selected the name of this 

 forgotten hero," said the principal, Mr. 

 Hughes, "to perpetuate the work of one 

 who struggled in the early days for the 

 cause of Cuban liberty, a struggle which in 

 later years aroused our whole nation to 

 battle. It will be a reminder to our chil- 

 dren of today and of all the days to come 

 that patriotism and self-sacrifice are still 

 glorious and ennobling qualities in men." 



Through the courtesy and interest of the 

 Cuban Consul General in New York, Sefior 

 Felipe Taboada, the Havana Government 

 has been informed of the dedication of 

 this school Casanova. The Consul General 

 hopes that the Cuban Government will 

 find it possible to present to the school a 

 relic of the Cuban Revolution to be in- 

 stalled in the auditorium for the boys and 

 girls of this school to guard and honor, and 

 as a token of appreciation and of the deep 

 friendship and cooperation between Cuba 

 and the United States. 



Emile Bacardi 



Emile Bacardi, under whose manage- 

 ment the distilling company bearing his 

 name made its product known around the 

 world, died on August 28th, aged 70, at 

 his summer home, Cuabitas, near Santiago 

 de Cuba. 



In addition to being Cuba's most noted 

 industrialist, he was known as a philan- 

 thropist. He participated in two revolu- 

 tions against Spanish rule and was the 

 author of "Donar Giomar,"' a widely read 

 book on ancient Cuban Indian customs. 



