10 



THE CUBA REVIEW 



Julio Morales Coello, com- 



American mander of the Cuban navy. 



Sailors chief of staff and son-in-law 



Wanted of President Gomez, was in 



New ^'ork earh^ in October, 



and was preseiat at the launching in the 



Cramp Yards. Philadelphia, of the Cuban 



navy's new boats, the "Cuba" and the 



"Patria." 



In the course of a newspaper interview 

 regarding the needs of Cuba's nav}^ he 

 said: 



, "Cuba would like to have American 

 fighting men in her navy. We alread}^ 

 have American officers. The country re- 

 quires that only her citizens hold com- 

 missions, but in the making of the law 

 she provided an outlet to meet just such 

 emergencies as at present. It is provided 

 that when necessity demands, appointments 

 can be made bj' the president. Where 

 men enlist in the navy and are not citizens 

 of the country, a simple declaration of 

 intention to become citizens is sufficient. 

 Permission to recruit foreign help can be 

 done through executive orders, and it is 

 probable that President Gomez will draft 

 a measure asking for foreign help in the 

 naval branch of the service. Our present 

 navy numbers about three hundred enlisted 

 men. We are going to double that num- 

 ber. We have twenty-five line officers, 

 three engineers and two naval surgeons. 

 This number must, be increased. Now 

 there is an urgent need of coal passers, 

 firemen and carpenters. These men can 

 attain the position of chief boatswain and 

 then the way is open to a commission 

 through appointment by the president. 

 Cuba is offering a chance for intelligent 

 strong men to win their way upward in 

 the service of a country which w-ill not 

 prove ungrateful. 



"The Cuban navy now consists of eight 

 vessels in actual service — the "Baire," a 

 gunboat built by Harlan & Wolff, Belfast: 

 the coast defence boats "Scorpion," 

 "Alacran" and "Bayamo" ; the president's 

 yacht "Hatney," formerly the American 

 yacht - "Pamtooset," and revenue cutters. 

 The vessels building are "10 de Octubre" 

 and "24 de Febrero," gunboats, being built 

 in England and soon to be delivered to 

 Cuba, and the "Patria" and "Cuba," build- 

 ing here. The latter will be the school- 

 ship of the navy." 



Dr. Manuel Secades, con- 



Annullment suiting attorney for the 



Legal Department of the Interior, 



has decided that the decree 

 issued by the secretary of the interior an- 

 nulling the concession, granted in 1909 to 

 Guillermo Toro to install automatic fire 

 alarms of obligatory use for all stores and 

 public buildings in Havana, was rssued in 

 accordance with the law. 



This decision was rendered in connection 

 with the claim filed by A. Robin Mayo, 

 representative of the Cuban-American Fire 

 Alarm Company, which acquired the 

 rights of Sr. Toro, and who has presented 

 a claim for the annullment of the decree, 

 claiming $300,000 indemnit}'. 



On September 25th the Cu- 



Further ban government arrested 



Deportations and deported the editors of 



two Havana labor papers. 

 With four Spanish socialists they were 

 placed on board a Hamburg-American liner 

 and were not permitted to communicate 

 even with their families before the vessel 

 sailed for Spain, neither were they allowed 

 to provide themselves with warm clothing. 

 The explanation given by the government 

 is "that they are socialists and have been 

 fomenting recent strikes." It was added 

 that they were expelled as pernicious 

 foreigners. 



Sr. Fernando Vallin, the 

 Must Spanish minister, has called 



Pay Old the attention of the Cuban 

 Obligations government to the fact that 

 thirteen years have elapsed 

 since the cessation of Spain's government 

 in Cuba, and that various municipal obli- 

 gations were left unpaid and are still open. 

 Secretary Machado of the Cuban Depart- 

 ment of Government has accordingly is- 

 sued a circular to all the municipal govern- 

 ments of the republic ordering them to 

 pay the obligations left unpaid. 



These debts aggregate $1,000,000 and in- 

 clude unpaid salaries to Spanish employees, 

 and debts to contractors who furnished 

 hospitals and public institutions generally 

 with supplies. 



Members of the Cuban Na 

 Aqnarium tional Board of Fisheries 

 for want President Gomez to 



Haz'ana give them authority to con- 

 vert the Chorrera fort into 

 an aquarium. The Chorrera fort, which 

 has for years been leased to private parties 

 for a nominal rent, will not be rented any 

 longer by the Treasury Department, as the 

 result of objections made on the part of 

 the Department of Public Instruction, 

 which urged that the fort should be pre- 

 served as a specimen of what Cuba had 

 in the colonial davs. 



What is now the largest steel bridge in 

 Cuba is now completed and open for 

 traffic. It spans the Zaza River in Santa 

 Clara Province on the road from Sancti 

 Spiritus to Jibaro. Including its small 

 spans and two central spans it is 750 feet 



