American Progress in Habana 



97 



2Sth of August, very thankful to have 

 escaped so easily, and found all in good 

 order. After necessary rest the whole 

 caravan continued its way in a south- 

 wester^ direction, determined to keep 

 on their course until stopped again by 

 the Tibetans. This happened in a short 

 time, on the east side of the Naaksang- 

 Tfo Lake, where an embassy from 

 Lhasa stopped them. It was 300 riders 

 strong, heavily armed with guns, swords, 

 and pikes. He asked them what would 

 happen if in spite of their command he 

 insisted on pushing to the south. ' ' We 

 will fire upon the caravan," was the 

 steady reply. He attempted to make it 

 clear to the good people that each of his 

 forces could easily dispose of at least 



36 Tibetans, and that their fire would 

 be of no great danger to them. The 

 chief considered on this argument that 

 it would be as well for both parties to 

 attempt to come to some understanding 

 without shooting. Hedin then con- 

 tinued on the march in a westerly direc- 

 tion, being accompanied in good-fellow- 

 ship by the Tibetan guard. Near 

 Tyargutso the troops were augmented 

 by 500 riders, and it was not for several 

 weeks that they became convinced that 

 Hedin and his party did not intend to 

 profane their hoi}' city, and the stately 

 cavalcade left them to pursue their way 

 alone to Panggongand Leh, where they 

 arrived in good condition on the morn- 

 ing of the 20th of December, 1901. 



AMERICAN PROGRESS IN HABANA 



THE city of Habana has so long 

 been considered as a sort of nurs- 

 ery of diseases for the United 

 States that the average American cit- 

 izen finds it hard to realize that today 

 Habana is clear and pure, more healthy 

 than Washington and many cities on 

 the American continent. Unenviable 

 has been the record of the Cuban cap- 

 ital ; yellow fever, typhoid fever, and 

 filth diseases have found a luxurious 

 home there for one hundred 3'ears. In 

 1896 1,262 deaths from yellow fever 

 alone were reported by the city govern- 

 ment. In 1899, the year of least yellow 

 fever during eleven years, 1889-1899, 

 101 persons died in Habana with the 

 dreaded pest. The average for the 

 eleven years was 440 fatal cases. In 

 1901, for the first time in the history of 

 the city, the yellow fever season — April 

 1 to January 1 — has passed with only 

 five fatal cases of the disease occurring. 

 October, November, and December, 1901 , 

 the months during which the fever was 

 wont to play the fastest, each came and 

 went without a single case. 



The wise, conscientious, persistent 

 measures which for three years the 

 United States officers have been enforc- 

 ing throughout Habana, despite the op- 

 position and dislike of the Cubans, have 

 delivered the city of its old foes — filth 

 and filth diseases. 



The illustrations that accompany this 

 brief paper show strikingly the contrast 

 between Habana of the past and Ha- 

 bana of today. The pictures were 

 loaned to this Magazine by Major Wm. 

 M. Black, of the Engineer Corps of the 

 U. S. Army. On the United States oc- 

 cupation of Habana, January, 1899, to 

 Major Black was given charge of the 

 engineering work of the city, and to 

 him are due in large measure the splen- 

 did results that have been achieved. 

 His courageous and broad-minded en- 

 thusiasm overcame prejudice and oppo- 

 sition and found inexpensive methods 

 of accomplishing tasks which were 

 thought impracticable because of their 

 supposed cost. 



By the end of the second year of 

 American occupation every house in 



