THE CUBA R E \' I E W 



RAISING THE "MAINE" 



"Xo such cofferdam as is proposed." 

 says the Engiuccriug Xezvs, "in such a 

 depth of water on such a bottom, has 

 ever been built an_\"where. The problem 

 is to surround the wreck of the vessel 

 about 325 feet in length, lying in thirty- 

 seven feet of water, with a dam which 

 shall be tight enough and strong enough 

 to enable work to be safely carried on 

 under its protection. This dam must be 

 self-sustaining. There is no way of brac- 

 ing it to resist the water pressure be- 

 hind it by struts against its interior. For 

 a depth of eighteen to twenty feet the 

 harbor of Havana is soft semi-liquid mud. 

 Below that, for some twent\--iive or thirtj- 

 feet, it is soft blue cla}-. The building 

 of a dam on such a foundation which will 

 withstand a head of thirt>"-seven feet of 

 water is so tmprecedented a task that it 

 fairh- may excite the interest of the en- 

 gineering world. It must, moreover, be 

 able to support loads. Upon it must be 

 built some sort of working platform, from 

 which can be carried on the w"ork of vm.- 

 watering the area which it incloses, and 

 from which afterward men and materials 

 can be transferred to the interior for work 

 upon tlie wreck."' 



The plan is to sink around the wreck 

 a series of large cvlinders of interlocking 



steel sheet piling. These cylinders are 

 to be fifty feet iff diameter along the sides 

 of the wreck and forty feet at the bow 

 and stern. The sheet pile cylinders are to 

 be sunk to a depth of seventy feet from 

 the surface, which means that their lower 

 ends will penetrate about 33 feet into the 

 soft bottom. After these cylinders have 

 been sunk a dredge will dig clay from 

 shoals in the harbor and deposit it in 

 scows. 



These scows will be towed over to the 

 cofferdam and their load of claj' will be 

 deposited in the cvlinders until thev are 

 full. 



Patriotic societies in the United States 

 are besieging the board of engineers to do- 

 nate parts of the wrecked "Maine"' as me- 

 morials. Scores of letters are being re- 

 ceived almost daily containing such re- 

 quests. 



Col. Patrick says that nothing will be 

 given awa}- until congress decides what is 

 to be done with the sunken mass of iron. 



The rate of speed with which the steel 

 pilings are being driven into the harbor 

 bottom for the cylinders is averaging about 

 thirt}" even,- twent\--four hours. At that 

 rate the engineers believe thev can sink the 

 three thousand pilings inside of one hun- 

 dred davs. 



The national chess masters' tournament in 

 Xew York closed Februan,- 3d, leaving 

 Frank J. Marshall, the United States cham- 

 pion, the winner by a score of 10 points out 

 of a possible 12. Jose R. Capablanca, cham- 

 pion of Cuba, made a magniiicent finish and 

 jumped into second place by winning his 

 final game from Paul Johner. After the 

 fifth round Capablanca Iiad 2^2 losses 

 charged against him. He finished with a 

 score of 9^2 to 2^2 in consequence of scor- 

 ing seven wins one after the other. His de- 

 feat at the hands of R. T. Black of Brook- 

 h-n in the fourth round practical!}- cost 

 him the tournament. 



The bill increasing the dut\- on automatic 

 lighters was amended in the senate. By 

 the terms of the new bill the importation 

 of automatic lighters is absolutely prohib- 

 ited in Cuba. This bill was approved. 



The production of matches in Cuba 

 amounts approximately to 400,000 gross 

 boxes per month. 



The Havana custom-house collections for 

 the month of December and compared with 

 previous years are as follows : 



1910 1909 1905 1907 



$1,597,255 Sl,506,0S5 $1,409,794 $1,658,207 



Santiago will have a new aqueduct from 

 the Canto River, IS miles distant. Two 



million dollars have been asked to defray 

 the cost of the work. If there are no funds 

 available, 4^2 per cent bonds against the in- 

 terior credit will be issued. A bill is now 

 before congress. 



Havana's chief of poHce had large pla- 

 cards placed recently on the street corners, 

 instructing pedestrians as follows : "Keep 

 to A'our right. Persons carr\-ing bundles 

 and street vendors are barred from side- 

 walks. And : Don't tarr\- on the sidewalk 

 where you obstruct the way of the other 

 pedestrians."" 



A presidential decree of Februarj- 4th 

 authorized a warrant of $50,000 for the 

 construction of the aqueduct of the town 

 of Cabaiias, Pinar del Rio Province. The 

 plans are ready, the appropriation granted 

 bj- congress, and the bids are asked for. 



A military- academ}-, the first in Cuba, 

 and established for the instruction of ca- 

 dets at Cabaiias fortress, will be inaugu- 

 rated February 24th. 



According to recent examinations there 

 are about a hundred sunken vessels in Ha- 

 vana harbor. 



President Gomez has expressed his in- 

 tention to organize an aviation corps as 

 an adjunct to the Cuban army signal serv- 

 ice. 



