T H E C U B A RE V I E W 



11 



Training CuIki's Rural ( iuard 



Capt. Frank Parker of the Eleventh 

 United States Cavalry, and in charge, un- 

 der authority of the War Department, of 

 the training of Cuba's Rural Guard, is en- 

 thusiastic over his work and its results and 

 expects within a short time to have as ex- 

 cellently disciplined and efficient a body of 

 men as can be found anywhere in the 

 world. In fact, the guard, although only 

 a few years old, is now in excellent shape 

 and well officered. 



The life for the officers is stiff and there 

 are no idle moments during the day for 

 them in either winter or summer, but, al- 

 though the Cubans are naturally supposed 

 to be of a lazy disposition, the^- attend to 

 their duties uncomplainingly. 



Captain Parker tinds them a straight, 

 honorable crowd of men, to whom military 

 life means much. They quickly develop 

 into excellent horsemen and are also good 

 behind the rifle and revolver sights. They 

 are fearless and their pride will carry 

 them through anything, death being pre- 

 ferred to disgrace. On the shooting range 

 during the past year some excellent records 

 were made on the targets, which were con- 

 structed at the instance of the United 

 States officer from the useless little forts 

 which abounded in the island at the close 

 of the last revolution. These forts were 

 so constructed that a shell would pass 

 through them and explode, thus killing 

 ever}- one in them and making them more 

 dangerous than an open field. 



The officers are all chosen from the 

 ranks, as there is not yet any military 

 school for making officers, but the ranks 

 are made up of veterans of the war who 

 have good records 'and no one is allowed 

 to enlist who is not known to have a 

 satisfactory record behind him. The pay 

 of the privates is about $25 per month, 

 which is better than that of the United 

 States soldier, but the Cuban hasn't the 

 increase from enlistment to enlistment or 

 the provision made for his retirement. 

 The pay of the uncommissioned officers is 

 the same as that of the United States offi- 

 cers, without the increase for each five 

 years of service. The uniforms are also 

 the same, and the troops are supplied with 

 the latest models of firearms from the 

 United States arsenals. — From an interview 

 with Capt. Parker in the Burlington (la.) 

 Free Press. 



Opposition from Boston 



The campaign against the Monte Carlo 

 bill, which was rejected by the Cuban senate 

 last month, was directed from the Boston 

 Society of Prevention of Cruelty to Ani- 

 mals, the Massachusetts society having sent 

 thousands of circulars calling upon the 

 people of Cuba to defeat the measure. The 

 Boston society was assisted by the Cuban 

 Band of Mercy, which was organized on 

 similar lines to those of the Massachusetts 

 Society. 



Irrigation tanks in a tobacco field. The foreground is filled with young plants. 



