16 



THE CUBA REVIEW 



RAISING THE MAINE 



The last steel pile was driven into the 

 immense cofferdam enclosing the sunken 

 battleship "Maine" March 2oth, and the 

 V, ork of filling the twent}' caissons form- 

 ing the walled structure began imme- 

 diate!}'. 



It required nearly a hundred days to 

 drive the piling into the harbor bottom. 

 The filling of the cylinders will be finished 

 inside of a month's time ,and the "Maine" 

 should be uncovered by the middle of ->Iay. 



As soon as the w^reck is fully exposed, the 

 work of exploration in search of human 

 remains will take precedence of every other 

 consideration. It is practically certain that 

 w'hen this stage of the work is reached, a 

 United States man-of-war will be ordered 

 to Havana and will be close to the w-reck 

 to receive the bodies as fast as they are re- 

 covered and transport them to their final 

 resting place. 



In the terminology of the law books there 

 is no case exactly on a parallel with that 

 of raising the torn and twisted "jNIaine." 

 All the work being done there proceeds 

 upon the assumption that there is a large 

 part of the hull of the ship in practically as 

 good condition as it was before the explo- 

 sion. If it is not, then there is no telHng 

 ho\r much more work, than anybody has 

 ever estimated, there is to be done. 



The idea, based upon that assumption, is, 

 that when the cofferdam has been built, a 

 portion can be fitted at the forward end of 

 the good section, the badly shattered end 

 cut away, the water pumped out of the sec- 

 tion back of the partition, the space within 

 the coft'erdam flooded, and then the good 

 section will float. But no one knows that 

 there is a section of the hull large enough 

 to be -treated in that way. 



This cofferdam that is being built around 

 the wreck is simply a fence to keep the wa- 

 ter away from the w^reck. After it is built, 

 powerful pumps will be set to work taking 

 out the water inside the inclosure. That 

 will be a ticklish operation. First, there is 

 the question as to whether the piling, of 

 which the cofferdam is built, v/ill withstand 

 the pressure of the w-ater from the outside. 

 Each stick of the fence is about sixty feet 

 long. A thirty-five or thirty-eight foot sec- 

 tion of each pile is driven into the mud 

 of the bay. If each pile stands up, very 

 well. 



Then comes another question : Will the 

 piling be able to keep out the surrounding 

 water ; that is, will the pumps be able to 

 take out more water than forces its way be- 

 tween the piles and possibly up under them? 

 The impression is that they will do all that 

 is expected of them. 



While the simple pumping out of the 

 basin presents no more difficulty than the 

 emptying of an ordinary dry dock, the pe- 

 culiar conditions of the work make neces- 



sary the exercise of extraordinary precau- 

 tions, which will probably prolong the oper- 

 ation for many days. While Captain Fer- 

 guson, the United States Army engineer of- 

 ficer in immediate direction of the opera- 

 tions, has the fullest confidence in the 

 strength of the caissons and their capacity 

 to resist the inflow of water, he is deter- 

 mined to take no chances, and as the water 

 level in the basin sinks lower and lower, 

 pumping will be suspended from time to 

 time to permit of careful examination of 

 each caisson. 



SECRET AGREEMENT REPORTED 



The department of public works has writ- 

 ten a letter to the president of the Compa- 

 nia de Puertos, which obtained the conces- 

 sion for the tonnage fees in exchange for 

 port improvement, concerning a certain re- 

 bate reported made to the McGivney & 

 Rokeby Company. 



The Compahia del Puerto under their 

 concession is to get the gross receipts of 

 all the tonnage fees which w^ere increased by 

 the law granting the concession, and the re- 

 ports reaching the department of public 

 works are to the effect that the ^IcGivney 

 and Rokeby Company obtained from the 

 port improvement company a rebate w^hich 

 ■will permit them to import all their paving 

 material for the present Havana paving 

 contract at the old duty. 



Settlement w'ork, a day nurser}^ and the 

 opening of a clubroom where working girls 

 of Havana may find recreation and comfort 

 in their spare time, are three important de- 

 partures now^ under discussion in Havana 

 by the Women's Club of that city. 



The settlement w'ork will be carried on 

 along lines laid down by Jane Addams. 



President Gomez has appointed the en- 

 gineers David Henry, American ; J. H. 

 Whigam, English, and Eduardo A. Giberga 

 y Gali, Cuban, to study the problem of irri- 

 gation in Pinar del Rio Province and to 

 submit plans for the same to the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture. 



Action has been taken by the department 

 of the interior to stop taking of sand from 

 the Alarianao Beach, owing to the fact that 

 inroads have been made on the shore line, 

 w^hich are considered dangerous to the 

 safety of those residing near the beach. 



]\Ir. Adam Gray of Cincinnati, Ohio, has 

 installed an extensive irrigation plant at his 

 orange groves at Rancho Boyero, Havana 

 Province. 



Mrs. Lucia Lacoste. widow of the late 

 Perfecto Lacoste, former mayor of Havana 

 and sugar mill owner, died in that city 

 March ISth. 



