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alone is for census purposes a family, and an unoccupied place of habitation is not a dwelling. As certain dwellings contain two or more families, the number of census families must exceed the number of dwellings. The figures for Cuba, compared with those for the United States and Porto Rico, are given below:

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From these figures it appears that there were more families to 100 dwellings in Cuba than in either Porto Rico or the United States. In the following table the figures are given separately for each province and for the city of Habana:

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The families to 100 dwellings in Cuba, outside the city of Habana, were 114, or slightly less than in Porto Rico, but rather more than in the United States. Habana city had more than 2 families to each dwelling, a relation which held in the United States only for New York, Brooklyn, and Fall River among the fifty largest cities of the country.

SOURCE OF WATER SUPPLY IN CUBA.

The original source of water supply in Cuba, as elsewhere, is rainfall. This rain may fall on a building and be guided into and stored in a cistern, or may fall on and percolate through the ground either under or upon the surface. Flowing water may be obtained for human use as it comes to the surface either in a natural spring or an artificial well. Or it may be obtained as it flows over the surface either in a natural water course or in an artificial water course or aqueduct. Accordingly the census recognizes four sources of water supply, as follows:

1. Cistern for rain water.

2. Spring or well for ground water.

3. Water from a natural stream.

4. Water from an artificial aqueduct.

As many homes in Cuban cities take water from street vendors, the answers given to the enumerators at the houses regarding the source from which the vendors obtain it may be open to some slight question, but there seems little reason to deny the substantial correctness of the returns.

These four sources are drawn upon for a water supply in the following proportions:

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Nearly half the dwellings in Cuba got water from cisterns and more than one-fourth from streams, or three-fourths from these two sources. The proportion using each of these four sources in each province is shown in the following table:

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Cisterns were used least in the capital, but with that exception were least common in the two provinces at the ends of the island, where one-sixth (Santiago) or one-third (Pinar del Rio) of the houses derived water from this source. The other four provinces fall into two groups, an eastern, Puerto Principe and Santa Clara, in which one-half of the houses used cisterns, and a western, Habana outside the city and Matanzas, in which nearly four-fifths of the houses relied on cisterns. Where cisterns were most used streams were least used for water. In the provinces at the ends of Cuba about three-fifths of the houses relied on streams; in the east central group one-fifth, and in the west central group less than one-tenth. About five-sixths of the houses in Habana city derived water from an aqueduct. In Matanzas and Santiago the proportion was about one-seventh, elsewhere less than one-tenth.

In the following tables the per cent of dwellings using these several

sources of water supply is given for each of the fourteen cities separately reported and then for the districts outside those cities by provinces.

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The most incomplete returns under this head were from the cities in Habana province. The seven cities which apparently had a municipal water supply stand out sharply in the first column, and in the order of the proportion of houses supplied with water through an aqueduct they rank as follows: Santiago, Habana, Sancti Spiritus, Matanzas, Sagua la Grande, Cienfuegos, and Cardenas.

The following notes regarding the water supply of these cities have been derived from various sources:

CARDENAS.

Since 1872, Cardenas has had an aqueduct which supplies water from a subterranean river one mile distant from the town, which furnishes an abundant supply at a cost of about $3 gold per month for each faucet. The well water and that from underground cisterns is brackish and not potable, so that, as a rule, the poor purchase water from the street carriers. (Military Notes on Cuba.)

CIENFUEGOS.

The commencement of a waterworks system has been made, and the water tower, standing at an elevation of over 100 feet above the harbor level, is one of the striking features of the landscape; but at last accounts the company had not begun to furnish water, and the sole source of supply was from underground cisterns, the owners of which derive a handsome revenue from selling water to their less fortunate neighbors. (Clark.)

The supply of water is absolutely inadequate to the demands of the city. The hotels and a few residences have cement cisterns built in the ground and use rain water; but the chief supply comes from a small stream, the Jicotea River, a small branch of the Cannan. The water is pumped into two aqueducts. The principal one, which is called after the Jicotea River, holds 400,000 liters; a smaller one, the Bouffartique, holds 300,000 liters. Pipes from these two aqueducts run through a few of the streets above ground alongside the curbing. The gates are open only two hours daily. The hospitals use this water after boiling. As a remedy for this condition, I am told there was a project to bring water from a point 20 miles distant from

the falls of the Havabanilla River, 1,200 feet above the sea. Absolute freedom from pollution was claimed. It was abandoned on account of the war. The estimated cost of this work was $1,000,000. The Jicotea aqueduct is simply a large open cistern built of rocks and cement. There are about 200 wells in the city, but infected.

(United States Sanitary Inspector D. E. Dudley, quoted by R. P. Porter.)

HABANA.

The present water supply of Habana is excellent, being derived from the pure and extensive springs of Vento, about 9 miles distant from the city. The present aqueduct, completed in 1893 or 1894, was begun in 1861, and is known as El Canal de Albear. At the source of supply there is a large stone basin into which the springs or, more properly, subterranean streams bubble. At one side is a magnificent gatehouse. From this runs the aqueduct, which is an egg-shaped brick tunnel, generally under ground, but marked at frequent intervals along its route by turrets of brick and stone. The present water supply enters the city through the suburb of Cerro, which formerly had few, if any, connections with it, the population of this suburb purchasing their water from the street carriers. There is an old aqueduct also running into the city, built as early as 1597, known as the Zanja. The source of this water supply was, or is, the Almendares River, only about 2 miles away, the water of which was unquestionably impure. There are but few wells and cisterns in the city, and to-day nearly all of the water used is pure. It should perhaps be said that the waterworks enterprise is a municipal affair. (Clark.)

The present water supply of Habana is excellent, although it is used by only a portion of the population. It comes from the enormous springs on the banks of the Almendares River, about 8 miles due south of the city. These springs are inclosed in a masonry structure about 150 feet in diameter at its base and 250 feet at the top and 60 feet deep. Masonry drains are laid around the upper surface to prevent any surface water from washing into the spring. At the base of this spring the water is constantly bubbling up and appears to be of remarkable purity. The supply is so large that it more than fills all the present requirements, and a large portion of it runs to waste. From the spring the water is conveyed under the Almendares River by pipes situated in a tunnel, and from the north side of the river the water is conveyed in a masonry tunnel or aqueduct for a distance of about 6 miles, where it discharges into a receiving reservoir, the altitude of which is 35 meters, or about 108 feet, above the sea level. From the distributing reservoir the water is carried into the city by gravity in pipes, the highest point in the thickly populated portion of the city being 68 feet. The pipes in the streets are said to be small, and there is not sufficient pressure to carry the water to the upper stories of the small number of buildings which exceed one story in height. In these buildings pumping is necessary. There are said to be about 18,000 houses in the city, and from a report made by the municipality in 1897 it appears that the number of houses directly connected with the water pipes is 9,233. The poorer houses, which are not thus connected, obtain water either by purchase from the street vendors or by getting it from public taps, of which there are a certain number scattered throughout the city. (General Greene, quoted by R. P. Porter.)

MATANZAS.

Since 1872 it has had a fine water supply, though only about half the houses are connected with the water system, and many of the people still buy water of street vendors without knowledge as to the source of supply or purity of the water. (Porter.)

SANTIAGO.

The city has a good water supply furnished through an aqueduct named El Paso de la Virgen. (Clark.)

There is no city in which one-third of the houses obtain water directly from a natural stream, and in more than half of the cities this source of supply is not recognized. The only cities in which it is important are Manzanillo, Sancti Spiritus, and Trinidad.

MANZANILLO.

Manzanillo lies on the coast of Santiago, about three-quarters of a mile from the mouth of the Yara. "The water supply formerly came from the river Yara, but proved to be so unhealthy that now the inhabitants rely entirely upon cisterns." (Clark.) In the light of the preceding figures this is evidently a statement of what should be rather than what is.

SANCTI SPIRITUS.

"Sancti Spiritus is situated on both banks of the Yayabo, which flows 54 miles to empty into the Zaza at a point about 20 miles from the sea." (Military Notes on Cuba.)

TRINIDAD.

"The course of the river Guaurabo lies within half a mile of Trinidad." (Clark.)

Regarding the water supply of the other five cities, Guanabacoa, Pinar del Rio, Puerto Principe, Regla, and Santa Clara, the following notes are submitted:

GUANABACOA.

"Guanabacoa is noted for its numerous springs and wells and for the excellence and abundance of its drinking water." (Military Notes on Cuba.)

PINAR DEL RIO.

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"The river on the outskirts has good water.' (Military Notes.) "The river which skirts the town could be utilized as a source for a pure water supply." (Clark.)

PUERTO PRINCIPE.

"A small river runs through the town." (Military Notes.)

The following table shows by provinces the per cent of all dwellings in the districts outside the fourteen cities supplied with water in the manner specified:

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A small number of dwellings in rural Cuba are reported to derive

water from an aqueduct. The municipal districts containing as many

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