26 



THE CUBA REVIEW 



A HORSE NOT AN ARTICLE 



An important decision has been rendered 

 by the comptroller of the United States 

 treasury in the claim of Captain Frank 

 Parker, Eleventh Cavalry, for the loss of 

 a horse which he valued at $450, the pur- 

 chase price. Captain Parker was detailed 

 to Cuba as an instructor of the rural 

 guard and while on such duty returned to 

 the United States by order of the president 

 of Cuba to buy horses for the Cuban 

 arm3^ He purchased in Missouri a horse 

 for which he paid the sum named and 

 he took the animal to Cuba along with the 

 other horses purchased by him, it being 

 alleged that his horse died, within three 

 weeks after its arrival, of pneumonia con- 

 tracted while enroute by sea to Cuba. The 

 question involved was as to the act of 

 March 3, 1885, which makes the govern- 

 ment liable for the value of lost "articles 

 of personal property," such as the secre- 

 tary of war shall decide to be reasonable, 

 useful, necessary and proper for an officer 

 or soldier while in quarters, engaged in 

 public service, in line of duty. The 

 comptroller does not believe that a horse 

 could be classed as an "article" and he 

 decided that "the act does not include 

 horses and that the accounting officers 

 are without jurisdiction to consider a 

 claim made for the loss of a horse." The 

 assistant secretary of war had previously 

 certified that the animal was reasonable, 

 useful, etc., within the provision of the 

 law of 1885. It was reported to the 

 comptroller by the paymaster-general of 

 the army that Captain Parker received 10 

 per cent increase of pay for service in 

 Cuba and pay for two mounts from Sep- 

 tember to December, 1909; on this subject 

 the comptroller points out that if an 

 officer furnished his mount at his own ex- 

 pense and his horse should continue in 

 the service six or seven years, the in- 

 creased pay may operate as a compensation, 

 although, he adds, "I do not think it was 

 so intended."- — Omaha (Neb.) Bee. 



LOTTERY CREATING GREAT DISTRESS 



The lottery is a profitable scheme in 

 Cuba and the returns to the War Depart- 

 ment show- that last year the Cuban gov- 

 ernment received from this source $3,300,- 

 000 profit, which represents 10 per cent of 

 the entire annual receipts from all sources. 

 These official advices illustrated the tre- 

 mendous odds against the buyer of a lot- 

 tery ticket. Tickets to the value of $500,000 

 remained unsold last year and these, of 

 course, were regarded as government 

 holdings and the government was conse- 

 quently entitled to any prizes drawn- by 

 the numbers on that hst. Out of the 



$500,000 worth of tickets the government 

 drew down $200,000 in prizes. 



But despite this revenue the Cuban gov- 

 ernment is seriously contemplating gradual 

 abolition of the lottery in view of the 

 enormous weight of evidence to show that 

 it is impoverishing the laboring classes and 

 creating great distress generally. 



ADVICE FROM FRANCE 



Nice, August 14, 1911. 



To the Editor of The Cuba Review. 



Dear Sir: 



With reference to the dreadful disease 

 that is kilHng the cocoanut trees in Cuba, 

 I suggest that you would be so kind as 

 to advise the planters in Cuba to try the 

 nicotine or concentrated juice of tobacco 

 as it is prepared by the French govern- 

 ment and which is so efficacious in de- 

 stroying all kinds of parasites of plants. 

 I suggest this remedy because I tried it 

 in a palm tree (a canarientes) which had 

 a black rot in the inner leaves and very 

 deep in, and I applied a solution of 15 

 grams to one litre of water three times, 

 and the tree was cured. Why should not 

 the cocoanut also be cured, as it is a power- 

 ful caustic without any harm to the plant. 

 The addition of a solution of black soap 

 is even better. 



Hoping you will have it tried, I am, 

 Sir, your obedient servant, 



L. Garcia, par Magnan, Nice. 



WORTHY OF PRAISE 



We have received The Cuba Review, 

 a monthly publication, edited in New York 

 with the object of making known the nat- 

 ural resources of our country. 



The pages of The Cuba Review are 

 enriched by a great number of engravings 

 on Cuban industries and subjects, and the 

 work accomplished in our favor by this 

 publication is worthy of praise. — La Inde- 

 pendencia, Colon, Cuba. 



One hundred thousand pineapple slips 

 are being shipped from Cuba to Florida in 

 an effort to reclaim and rebuild thousands 

 of acres of worn out plantations, a notice- 

 able deterioration having been in evidence 

 for several years. The slips will be dis- 

 tributed among the growers. Seventy-five 

 thousand slips have just been shipped from 

 Cuba also for the same purpose among the 

 Bahama Island plantations. 



Havana policemen are to be taught 

 English and French. Beginning with 

 September 15th, they will have three les- 

 sons weekly in each language. The six- 

 months course will cost the officers nothing. 



