14 



THE CUBA REVIEW 



The plans of ^Messrs. Reyneri for the con- 

 struction of the proposed presidential 

 palace to be erected on the grounds of 

 the old Villanueva railroad station in 

 Havana have been accepted by the presi- 

 dent. The sum of $985,000 has already 

 been appropriated for the construction of 

 the building. 



Dr. Mario Garcia Kohly, secretary of 

 public instruction, has succeeded in his 

 endeavor to have the government con- 

 serve the old Chorrera watch tower facing 

 the gulf at Vedado, east of Havana. It 

 was built in 1646 to guard against pirates, 

 and on that account is often called the 

 Buccaneers" Fort. 



Immigrants may soon be allowed to 

 make a sworn declaration instead of 

 being required to have a certificate from 

 the mayor of the town where they may be 

 employed. 



This action will be taken at the request 

 of the charge of the British legation in 

 Cuba. He recently informed the govern- 

 ment that the mayors were collecting $2 

 for the certificates given to the working- 

 men and that this was an unnecessary 

 hardship. 



A bill was introduced in the Cuban 

 Senate during the last session to regulate 

 the display of the national flag upon pubHc 

 and private buildings and to prohibit the 

 use of that flag for advertising purposes. 

 The bill further provides that when any 

 foreign flag is displayed over any other 

 building than the office or residence of a 

 minister plenipotentiary or consular official, 

 the Cuban flag shall be displayed at the 

 same time upon a separate staff. 



Havana's City Council has passed a mo- 

 tion to provide for accident insurance for 

 all employees of the city. A committee 

 was appointed to draft a plan. 



Cuba will estabhsh a quarantine against 

 Mexican ports. Two cases of yellow 

 fever which have developed in Merida, 

 Yucatan, are the cause of this step. 



Havana will have a motor-boat race and 

 an aeroplane flight from Key West, in 

 January, if the plans of the citizens of Key 

 West materialize. 



On August 13th the captain of the port 

 gave owners of sunken wrecks in Havana 

 Ijarbor ten days to claim their property, 

 and twenty days more to extract and re- 

 move it from the bay. All wrecks in 

 the harbor will be removed by the Ports 

 Dredging Company. 



Efforts are being made by the Havana 

 police to run down persons, who arpuse 

 themselves by insulting persons over the 

 automatic telephone. 



Cuban nurses are not afraid of cholera. 

 Recently when an official visit was made 

 to Mercedes Hospital in Havana, an effort 

 was made to ascertain how many of the 

 nurses could be depended upon to work at 

 the quarantine station if cholera appeared. 

 There are fifty nurses at the hospital, and 

 every one volunteered to go at a moment's 

 notice. There have been no cases as yet 

 of the dreaded disease, and the govern- 

 ment is taking the most comprehensive 

 precautions. 



Because the military hospital service in 

 Cuba is inadequate for the needs of the 

 army. Dr. Jose Pereda, chief surgeon of 

 the army of Cuba, is inspecting all the 

 great hospitals of America and Europe. 

 There are only three army hospitals in 

 Cuba, at Camp Columbia, near Havana, 

 Cabanas fortress on the Havana harbor, 

 and at Santiago. These are insufficient 

 for the army's needs. "Cuba will build 

 one," said Dr. Pereda recently, "which 

 will combine all the best points of the in- 

 stitutions I study. The equipment and 

 supplies will be the best obtainable." 



Albert Hardwick, 24 years old, of 

 Detroit, Mich., wire chief of the Cuban 

 Telephone Company, died August 14th in 

 Havana. The remains were shipped 

 north. 



Charles M. Schwab, the great steel 

 manufacturer, recently stated before the 

 United States congressional investigation 

 committee that this company had pur- 

 chased in Cuba a deposit of iron ore con- 

 taining 500,000,000 tons. 



United States Secretary of War Henry 

 L. Stimson, on his return from Cuba early 

 in August, said, regarding the island, that 

 he found Cuba prosperous and well gov- 

 erned. 



A plan for a wholesale jail delivery, 

 which included the killing of the judges 

 when they visited the jail, was discovered 

 and frustrated at Santiago de Cuba August 

 17th. 



The government will offer a reward of 

 $30 each for every deserter from the Cuban 

 army when caught. The decree provides 

 that if the deserter has due him enough 

 money to pay the reward, it shall be paid 

 from his salary, but if not, that it shall 

 be deducted from the regular army ex- 

 penses. 



Secretary of Sanitation Varona Suarez 

 has made a round of inspection throughout 

 the island. He found most of the places 

 satisfactory, but Antilla, he said, was a 

 focus of malaria, and in Camaguey he 

 found conditions which reflected upon the 

 labors of the local health officers. Re- 

 forms will be adopted. 



