12 



THE CUBA REVIEW 



ALL AROUND CUBA 



INTERESTING NEWS NOTES REGARDING VARIOUS MATTERS PERTAINING 



TO THE ISLAND 



Arturo Betancourt, who about a year and 

 a half ago shot his brother, Roberto Betan- 

 court, general manager of the Camaguey 

 Traction Company, for causes which were 

 never known, was recently released from 

 the Mazorra State Asylum for the Insane 

 in Havana Province, by decision of the 

 audiencia of Santa Clara, rendered on the 

 findings that when the killing occurred Be- 

 tancourt was insane. 



Forty-five workingmen's homes will soon 

 be erected in the city of Pinar del Rio, 

 similar to the fifty homes already com- 

 pleted near Havana. The homes are to be 

 allotted by drawing, and the plans of pay- 

 ment will enable the tenant to own his 

 home in a few years. 



Through the American consul, a claim 

 has been presented against Bango, Ber- 

 diales & Co., of Alatanzas, for $8,000 

 damages in favor of Felix Martinez, an 

 American citizen, who was seriously hurt 

 ■ in a boiler explosion at the refinery owned 

 by the defendants in Matanzas on Decem- 

 ber 3d last. 



The United Fruit Company's wireless 

 station at Cape San Antonio, which was 

 wrecked in the October blow, was on De- 

 cember 30th picking up messages from New 

 Orleans to as far south as Bocas del Toro, 

 and is able to communicate with stations 

 in Central America. It required fully six 

 weeks to properly repair the station. 



An appropriation of $9,000 was made by 

 Havana's city council on January 21st for 

 the musical education of Cesar Berriel in 

 Italy, who is the possessor of a fine tenor 

 voice. 



The examination court investigating the 

 death of Frederic Lehman, owner of the 

 San Pedro mill at Rancho Veloz, Santa 

 Clara Province, who was reported to have 

 been found dead with two bullets in his 

 body, decided that Lehman died a suicide's 

 death. Lehman left a letter in German 

 addressed to his wife, stating that he was 

 taking his life because of bad state of his 

 business. 



Mr. George von L. Meyer, United States 

 secretary of the navy, issued orders re- 

 cently, forbidding the American sailors 

 with the fleet at Guantanamo to purchase 

 food or refreshments from local merchants, 

 in an effort to guard the men from the 

 evils of some unwholesome foods. 



This so stirred the Cuban community that 

 the Santiago chamber of commerce, wired 

 to President Gomez, asking him to prevail 

 on the secretary to withdraw the order. 



The death of Leandro Rodriguez oc- 

 curred in Guines, Flavana Province, Janu- 

 ary 2Sth. Fie was one of the Cuban pa- 

 triots who organized the ten-year war in 

 1868, because an officer was captured by 

 the Spaniards and was imprisoned. When 

 the war ended he came to New York and 

 engaged in the cigar and tobacco business. 

 He declared he would never return to Cuba 

 until the Spanish regime had been driven 

 from the island. He had to wait thirty-one 

 3'ears for this. 



Baldero Menendez, alias Manuel Alva- 

 rez, a Cuban, was sentenced in General 

 Sessions of New York, January 11th, to 

 Sing Sing for not less than three and a 

 half years nor more than nine and a half 

 for forgery in the second degree. Me- 

 nendez declared that he was the representa- 

 tive of a revolutionary party in Cuba and 

 gave worthless drafts on a Cuban bank. 



The proposed granting of a large tract 

 of land, measuring one and a half square 

 kilometers on the hill of Cabanas, for the 

 construction of a town at the other end of 

 the proposed bridge across the bay of Ha- 

 vana, is meeting with some objections from 

 the military authorities, on the ground that 

 the grant if made would necessitate the re- 

 moval of the army target grounds, which 

 are at present fully equipped with latest 

 modern appliances. 



The public sale, to satisfy a judgment 

 rendered in favor of the firm of Vasquez 

 and Companj^ of the city against the San 

 Ramon sugar mill at Campechuela was ad- 

 vertised in jNIanzanillo on January 25th. 

 The judgment is against the San Ramon, 

 S. A., owners of the mill, and with costs 

 and interest amounts to $445,078.72. 



The sale includes the mill property and 

 lands covering one thousand and fifty hec- 

 tares, appraised at $600,000. The produc- 

 tion of the San Manuel averages about 

 60,000 bags per crop. 



The mayor of Havana, Julio de Carde- 

 nas, was thrown from an automobile Jan- 

 uar}^ 15th, fracturing his right arm. The 

 mayor is 65 years of age, which makes the 

 injury serious. He was operated upon the 

 next evening at the Havana Hospital. 



W. Morgan Schuster has been made the 

 head of the American commission charged 

 with reforming the finances of Persia. 



The new appointee was formerly well 

 known in Havana, for during the first in- 

 tervention of the United States he was chief 

 of a division in the Havana customs house. 



