Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-01-30

For the first time in its national ex-
istence Cuba has a monetary system of
its own and the United
New Cuban States has furnished it in
r.; more ways than one.
ooAn"se' More than $12.00o.O00 in
the new metal coinage is now in cir
culation in the island republic, and
every penny of it has been turned out
from the same minis and even from
the same machines that are used in
making our own coins.
The United States mint has long held
itself out as maker Of coins for the
various republics of the western hemi-
sphere, few of which are provided with
minting facilities of their own, but this
eminent has built the coinage system
from the ground up on such a large
scale. The work of striking off the
Cuban coins was begun at the Phila-
has occupied large part of the oper-
ating time of that establishment since.
1t is not only in the work of minting,
however. that the United States has
coinage scheme has been followed al
most in detail the metallic fineness is
the same, and the new system is,
therefore. on an exact parity with our
Uncle Sam has even exported for the
use of the Cubans the dollar sign.
which is reputed to have originated
from the monogram of U and S.
In spite of the fact that the Cuban
metal has the same fineness as that in
coins of the United States the mint
found 1T necessary to calculate differ
ent weights and sizes for some coins;
for. because of differing conditions in
the two countries. the Cuban govern
ment called for a special division of
the dollar There are one and five
cent pieces and dimes in the two sys-
TENS that exactly correspond. but the
CubanS have no quarters" or halves"
Instead there are 20 and 40 cent pieces.
The Cuban coinage also has a two-cent
piece, which. like the one-cent coin, is
of nickel.
The new coinage has recently been
decreed by executive order to be the
only money that may be circulated
in the republic-with one exception,
United States money. For many years
money of France, Spain and the United
States, and even of other countries, has
circulated in Cuba side by side and
tically all of the foreign coins were
presented for redemption in the last
few months of 1915 and are now being
melted down, brought to standard fine-
ness and recast in the United States
under the new Cuban design.
This is a day of germicides. Hundreds
of different kinds may be bought at the
corner drug store at SO
Sunlight as much per bottle-usu-
ally a co g. d cradle
amount per bottle when
cost of ingredients and potency of the
mixture are considered. Uncle Sam, as
well as his individual citizen, has need to
bring about the death of germs. and buys
for use in various ways. But he recog-
nizes that sunshine is the Oldest, and in
many cases the most potent. of all germi-
cides, and through the Department of
Agriculture he has recently sought to
bring especially to the attention of farm
ers and farmers wives the great advan-
tage of letting the sun keep utensils
sweet and clean.
Thousands of rural housekeepers. as
we'll as those in cities. more or less in
stinctively put their pots and kettles and
pans, their bedding and rugs and other
household articles out for a periodical
summing, but many do not thus take adj
vantage of natures agencies. the depart
ment finds. 1t has therefore recently cir
culated an announcement Of the results
Of some interesting tests of the power of
the SUMS rays to put an end to the
dangerous activities of virulent micro
organisms.
The most significant of the tests was
with the germ that the average person
considers as dangerous, perhaps. as any
that stalks abroad in the country-that
of tuberculosis. A sticky mass of ma
terial containing countless millions of the
virulent bacilli was taken from
tuberculous COW, and was spread thinly
on small pieces of wood and on scraps of
cloth. Some of the prepared objects were
set in direct sunlight and others were
placed in a dark room. At the end of
thirty minutes not single living bacillus
could be found in the samples placed in
the sun At the end of thirty days, on
the other hand. many of the bacilli were
still alive in the sample placed in the
dark, and could still transmit tuberculosis
If they found favorable Judgment. The
tests were carried further by exposing
large. dense Jumps of tuberculous ma
terial to sunlight. It was found that the
wonderfully germicidal rays of sunlight
penetrated even these masses of bacilli
and killed them in less than sixteen hours.
The department draws the conclusion
that as most varieties of disease germs
are more easily destroyed than tubercle
bacilli sunlight should be accorded an inn
portant place in general sanitation. and
special care should be taken in the con
struction of all dwellings, stables and
other structures for the housing of
humans or animals to permit an album
dance OF sunlight to reach their interiors.
1t also suggests that utensils, especially
those used in handling milk, and wear
ing apparel and household fabrics should
be given sun baths regularly.