modern military tactics, which had been brought out by the war, and
Senator Manuel Coronado patriotically gave a sum sufficient for the
building of a number of airplanes, to be used by Cuban aviators.
Volunteers for this division were easily secured and the instruction
began under the direction of Cuban aviators who had been in the service
of France. The War Department of the United States notified the Republic
of Cuba that owing to the severe exposure of the men to the freezing
water and mud of the trenches of Belgium and France, it was doubtful
whether soldiers of tropical countries could withstand the strain upon
their health necessarily endured during the winter campaign in Europe,
intimating that their services would be far more useful in taking the
place of other troops stationed in warmer climates, as the Porto Ricans
were taking the place of the marines that were stationed in the Panama
Canal Zone. This was a rather severe disappointment to General Pujol and
the other officers, who were very anxious to take their places in the
line of fire.

Noteworthy and most admirable were the achievements of Cuba in the
financial operations of the war. Subscriptions were eagerly made to
every one of the Liberty Loans, and to the final Victory Loan, with the
result that in every case the amount allotted to Cuba was far exceeded.
The quota for the third loan was subscribed twice over within five days.
In this work not only did banks and commercial houses take part, as a
matter of business, but also many private citizens volunteered as
canvassers; though indeed the eagerness of people to subscribe made
canvassing perfunctory and urging superfluous.

[Illustration: SENORA MENOCAL

It is not alone through the felicitous circumstance of her being the
wife of President Mario G. Menocal that Senora Marienita Seva de Menocal
is entitled to the distinction--never more appropriate than in her
case--of being the "first lady of the land." Her title rests equally
upon personal charm, the graces of social hospitality, and womanly
leadership of the most efficient kind in philanthropic and patriotic
endeavor for the advancement of the public welfare and the confirmation
of the integrity and promotion of the prosperity of the Republic; while
her indefatigable labors in the great war invested her name with
affectionate and grateful distinction in the camps and among the peoples
of the Allied nations.]

A similar interest was manifested in