Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1907-05-23
CUBA'S GOOD ROADS.
TOPOGRAPHY OF THE ISLAND.
Complete Map Made BY Engineers And
Signal Corps Shows Points of
0ffense And Defense.
ITs USE FOR EMERGENcIEs.

/ is thoroughly familiar with Such
| work, having been engaged in SINH
lar capacity at Fort Sheridan. Every
thing at Camp Columbia is kept in
| splendid condition.
| The roadway in front of Officers
/ Row. is sprinkled every day, and
| although seven miles from Havana,
the sprinkling cart comes out every
| day, watering. the punIic road and
| 'Haying the DUST There had been
/ no rain TO speak of fol three months
/ when we left Cuba, and the dust was
/ thick everywhere. The cactus hedges
| were white with dust and the palms
/ and babmoo trees were thickly coated.
| The long drouth did much damage TO
| the crops on the Island throughout
| the interior.
The United States Army of Cuban
| Pacification is encamped at twenty
| four different points in Cuba. Besides
| being moral force and an object les
/ son on the island, it must net be
| thought that the officers and men have
not been busy. They have made topo-
| graphical surveys and have recently
/ completed a map of the island of
| Cuba, for use in case it ever becomes
necessary for the American govern
| ment to occupy the country by force.
| The engineer corps of the army has
| been deyoting most of its attention to
/ the undertaking since last fall, two of
| the three battalions having been at
/ work on the island in the last half
| of the period. Not nook or corner,
| not a travelled road or an obscure
| trail, has escaped the map. makers.
| From Havana to Santiago, into every
/ province, off and on the railway lines,
the engineers or representatives of the
/ singal corps impressed for special SER
vice have taken their surveying in
| struments. A pleasing feature is that
! the Cuban government had aided the
/ WORK in every way it could, giving
orders to the rural guards and local
officers in far away towns to facilitate
| the engineers operations whenever
possible.
| on the map every roadway and trail
or pathway; every we'll, stream or
| spring; every place favorable for de-
| fense and oifense, every ground suit
! able for camping or pasture for horses,
every source of supplies, and any
| such information that will be of value
/ to military forces should necessity
| require, is laid down on this map. The
| plan is the same as that adopted in
| Manchuria by the Japanese for nine
| years before war with Russia was de-
clared.
| Realizing that struggle between
| the two nations was inevitable, the
| general staff at Toxic sent out its
| ablest men, who made a thorough
survey of the future battle-ground
and located every point of import
ance and interest. They went still
| farther by preparing biogragraphical
| dictionary of all Inhabitants of Man
| churia, to show who were friendly to
+! the Japanese. Under the direction of
! Colonel. Gaillard, of the Engineer
| Corps, who has since been ordered TO
i Panama, says William T.. Curtis, the
representatives of the bureau of mill
| tary intelligence have prepared sim
| liar card index of the principal men
| in every district in Cuba. 1t will fur
| nish a basis for who's Who'' di-
| rectory of that island in case any body
| is enterprising enough to take it up.
| They have the name, the residence,
| the business or profession, the ante
| cedents, the record, the political
| opinion and associations of every per-
/ son of importance, including several
| thousand men in the different prov
| inces, so that in case of trouble in
| the future the officers of our army
may know whom they can depend
L H..
| will be made whenever necessary. In
the meantime the card will be filed
in the bureau of military intelligence
at Washington.
The greatest difficulty experienced
by the Spaniards in fighting the revo-
| lutionists was their ignorance of the
| country. Both the officers and men
of that army were strangers in the is
land, and the absence of roads and
| bridges and their ignorance of the
| trails through the woods and across the
savannahs made it impossible for them
| to pursue the insurgents, who would
| make dash in the dark and vanish; !;
| carried ON exasperating guerrilla cam
paigns; appearing and disappearing
at the most unexpected times and
| places.
In the interior Cuba is not we'll
| watered. There are no lakes, few
streams and few springs; much of the
| we'll water is brackish and in many
places the population is dependent en-
| tiraly upon the contents of their cis-
terms, W hich are filled during the rainy
season and should contain enough
water to last through the season.. This
was a great embarrassment to the
Spaniards also, but in case we are
Il
down there our officers will know
the location of every cistern and the
quality and quantity of water it con-
tains.
| Information has been received at
the bureau of insular affairs of the
War Department that Governor Magoon
is making plans to carry out contracts
for extensive road improvements in
Cuba. The Cuban congress passed a
bill authorizing the expenditure of
So, 600, 600 for this work. Governor
Magoon has reduced this sum to ST.
600, 600 and will begin the work in
the province of Pinar del Rio which
is the pincipal tobacco region. The
governor also plans expenditures for
buildings for the government service.
There. is about $16. 600, 900 now lying
idle in the Cuban treasury. The
Cuban banks are so prosperous that
they do not care to take this money,
and. therefore, it is regarded as econ
omy to carry on the projected inn
provements at this time. The govern
ment income at the present time is
about $500. 900 in excess Of tie e-.pen-
ditures. ard The surplus is piIing ur
Mt 4 s.ose rapid rate than II did under
the Palma administration.
Until now the topographic of Cuba