06 The National- Geographic Magazine 



Black counted 2,371 vehicles passing 

 one point ; during the busiest part of 

 the day 324 passed in a single hour. 

 On another street, 6 meters wide, 2,500 

 vehicles passed a certain point in one 

 working day. 



The streets were washed as thor- 

 oughly as the houses, 33,000 gallons of 

 electrozone often being used in one day 

 for this purpose. This electrozone 

 proved very effective, and is a compara- 

 tively new idea in street cleaning. It 

 had been used in New York previoush- 

 with partial success. Major Black 

 heard of it and succeeded in introduc- 

 ing it into Cuba. Electrozone costs 

 very little, as it is made by the electrol- 

 ysis of sea water bj- the cheap process 

 discovered by an American several 3'ears 

 ago. Two strengths were used : one, of 

 a very strong quality, for a disinfect- 



ant, and the other, of a weak quality, 

 for a deodorizer. 



The magnificent sea wall and prom- 

 enade shown in picture No. 9 was built 

 under Major Black's personal direction. 

 The promenade is placed at the end of 

 the Prado, the wide avenue which is a, 

 favorite drive of the inhabitants. For- 

 merly the beach was the dumping ground 

 of everything offensive to the nose and 

 eye. The stones in front of the wall 

 are designed to break the force of the 

 surf. When the plan of building this 

 wall was announced a great outcry arose 

 about American extravagance, and the 

 government was charged with scheming 

 to squander a quarter of a million dol- 

 lars of the people's money. 



As a matter of fact, the wall cost 

 about $10,000. Its cheapness has been 

 a wonder to the citizens of the town, 



No. 9. The Sea Wall Built at the End of the Prado Promenade by 



Major Black 



