THE CUB A R E V 1 E W 



TO PREX'ENT ANNUAL 0\ERFLOWS 



The necessary machinery equipment to 

 begin the work of ending the inundations 

 in the Roque \'alley in Matanzas Province 

 has been delivered and a channel will be 

 opened to Cardenas Bay to dispose of the 

 tloods that annually inundate these sections 

 in the rainy season. A part of the work 

 will be the deepening of the channels of 

 the Cochino and the Bermejo rivers. Con- 

 gress has already voted the $1,. 300.000 re- 

 quired and the contract was let to Cham- 

 pion & Pascual of Havana. 



The conditions in this section during 

 the rainy season has annually caused con- 

 siderable loss to plantation owners, settlers 

 and the United Railways, as some 57,000 

 acres of land are inundated. 



The cause of these floods is due to the 

 fact that in the large water shed extending 

 from the district east of Palmillas west- 

 ward through to Santa Rita and north- 

 ward through Roque to the bay of Car- 

 denas there is not a continuous river to 

 drain it to the sea. There is the Palmillas 

 River which with a more or less definite 

 channel runs westward past the town of 

 its name and only as far as some caves 

 in the vicinity of Santa Rita. From this 

 point to beyond Roque the flow line of 

 the valley is interrupted by a chain of 

 closed basins. The subsoil of this water- 

 shed is a lime formation so porous and 

 fissured that in normal years all the rain 

 is absorbed by it without causing any ap- 

 nreciable damage, the contrary happening 

 in vears of continuous rains. 



ELECTRIC POWER CONCESSION 



By the act authorizing the Cienfuegos, 

 Palmira and Cruces Electric Railway and 

 Power Compan\- to construct certain 

 electric lines in connection with those al- 

 ready existing in Santa Clara Province*, 

 the right is given to the company in ques- 

 tion to utilize the waters of the Hana- 

 banilla and Xegro rivers and their tribu- 

 taries for its power plant, and the com- 

 pany waives all claim to subvention or 

 other benefit except what is conceded by 

 the law itself. The company is to be 

 permitted to import free of duty, "within 

 the limits allowed by treaties," the ma- 

 chinery, rails, engines, tools, and rolling 

 stock, under appropriate restrictions, which 

 will be required for the construction and 

 operation of its plant and railway lines. 

 It is stated that all of this material will 

 be purchased in the United States. 



CUBAN CENTRAL TROUBLES 



I he judge of instruction of Sagua la 

 Crande. to whom a complaint has been 

 made that the Cuban Central Railroad 

 was employing contract labor, entered the 

 oftices of the road on July 15th and seized 

 twenty-one alleged contracts as evidence. 



Xative employees of the road have com- 

 l)Iained for some time that the road has 

 given preference to English employees 

 instead of native labor and charges were 

 made that nearly all of the employees 

 were employed in England for a niunber 

 of 3'ears and brought to Cuba. 



The company held that the contracts 

 were for professional men and not la- 

 borers, and that therefore they were not 

 violating the law. 



After investigation the judge returned 

 all the contracts, finding no violation. 



An explosion of a bomb on July 27th 

 under the house of Henry Schweip, 

 secretary of the Cuban Central Railway 

 and living in Sagua la Grande, did little 

 damage beyond destroying some furniture, 

 but another one under a labor club build- 

 ing cracked the walls. 



Opinion is divided regarding the crimes. 

 The general idea is that the outrages are 

 an outgrowth of the feeling against the 

 railroad. Others suggest personal ven- 

 geance. 



For some time native employees of the 

 railroad have been incensed against the 

 company owing to the importation from 

 England of the principal employees. As 

 an outgrowth of this feeling a case was 

 started against the railroad, charging the 

 breaking of the contract labor law. but it 

 was thrown out of court. 



* .\ map showing the region to be traversed by 

 the new road was printed in the July issue of 

 Thf Cib.^ Review. 



An illustration on page 40 shows the location 

 of the power-house. 



PLANNING WINTER RACING 



An American company has recently se- 

 cured a fine site for a first-class race track 

 on the seashore at the mouth of the Al- 

 mendares River, distant from the centre 

 of the city only twenty minutes by the 

 electric cars, and work has been begun, 

 with the assurance that the track and all 

 its apjpurtenances will be ready by the 

 end of the year. 



The new plant at Cuba will be ready for 

 the opening on Thanksgiving Day, No- 

 vember 2.3d, and there is sure to be a 

 hundred or more days' racing. There will 

 be two stakes run each week, the niinimum 

 purse being S.jOO. There will l)e one purse 

 of $^1,000, one of $800, one of $700 and 

 three of $500 for each afternoon, on which 

 stakes are not run. The plant, when com- 

 pleted, will be one of the most up-to-date 

 that has ever been built on this continent. 



