10 



THE CUBA REVIEW 



President Jose Miguel Go- 

 A Great mez started one of the 

 Work greatest engineering works 

 Begun in the history of Cuba 



August 13th when, by op- 

 erating a dredge he dug the first bucket 

 of earth in the Roque Canal, near Maximo 

 Gomez. 



The president was accorded a most en- 

 thusiastic welcome at the several stopping 

 places along the journey. 



The work will continue day and night 

 for two and a half years at a cost of 

 $1,629,724. When completed it will pre- 

 vent the annual floods of Roque, and re- 

 claim thousands of acres of land. 



It begins at a pond at Carsaca, near the 

 Santa Rita Sugar Mill, crosses the terri- 

 tory embraced within the municipality of 

 Colon, through the Roque Valley follow- 

 ing the course of the inundations and 

 thence to the north coast by way of the 

 river Anton. While the length of the 



canal will be 50 kilometers, 41 will be 

 excavated, the rivers supply the remaining 

 nine kilometers. 



The inundations of the Roque date back 

 a century, and in 1906 when the worst flood 

 of all was experienced, there arose such 

 a clamor from residents of the immediated 

 portion of Matanzas Province and from 

 the general press without political distinc- 

 tion for government relief, that Aniceto 

 G. Menocal, a Cuban engineer, was ap- 

 pointed to make a survey of the region 

 and to draw up plans to provide for the 

 drainage of the country affected. The 

 study went on for a year, and the plans 

 drawn by Sr. Menocal are those now be- 

 ing worked out. The works begin at 

 the Santa Isabel farm at Recreo and it 

 was at this place that President Gomez 

 inaugurated the great work, which will 

 take three years to complete. The canal 

 will be from 25 to 60 meters and in depth 

 from V-2 to five meters. 



El General Jose Miguel Gomez y acompahantes en el acta de la inanguracion de las 



ehras del Roque 

 President Gomez and members of his cabinet at the inauguration of the work of 

 digging the Rogue canal, August, 1911. 



