During the regime of General Leonard Wood, through an official decree of that most competent commander, three public buildings were added to the capital of the Republic, each now bearing his name in an appropriate placque or tablet in the wall. The first of these was a Bacteriological Laboratory, now known as the General Wood Laboratory, located on Carlos Tercero Street in front of the Botanical Gardens. Bacteriological experiments, which up to that time had been conspicuous by their absence, have since been carried on faithfully in Havana under the direction of the celebrated expert in that science, Dr. Aristides Agramonte. Next in order was a handsome three-story stone building, located on Belascoain a block from the corner of Carlos Tercero Street, dedicated to the school of Industrial Arts and Sciences. The instruction given in this Institution since its foundation in 1901, has been efficient, and of excellent service to the youth of Havana, many of whom have taken very kindly to this much needed innovation. The third of these institutions fathered by General Wood is the Academy of Sciences and Fine Arts, located on Cuba Street near Amargura Street. This institution has been a boon and a blessing to the intellectual life of Havana, since for the first time suitable quarters were offered to celebrated lecturers, artists and musicians, who find in Havana appreciative audiences, and where, since the founding of the Academy, local talent had a fitting theatre in which to display its merit. Since the beginning of the Republic in 1902, under President Estrada Palma, the old Governor General’s Palace was found rather limited in its accommodations. Not only was it compelled to shelter the President and his family, together with the many offices belonging to the Executive Department, but it also shared its accommodations with the City Council, and many of the dependencies of that Institution. With the rapid growth of the City, and the unavoidable increase in the work of all departments, consequent on the development of commerce and trade with the outside world, these quarters, each year, have been found increasingly cramped and unsatisfactory. During the regime of President José Miguel Gomez, a new Presidential palace was planned, and work was begun on it on the site formerly occupied by the Villa Nueva Station, belonging to the United Railways of Havana. This ample space, facing for several blocks on the Prado and Colon Park, was exchanged, by an Act of Congress, for the old Arsenal Grounds on the water front, desired by the railways for a Grand Central Station, for which they were excellently adapted. The plans of this structure, as well as the beginning of the work, were found to be most unsuited to a Presidential Palace, and by order of President Menocal, at the suggestion of the Secretary of Public Works, work was discontinued and abandoned for other plans and better construction.