No account of the Cuba Railroad would, however, be complete which failed to make mention of the part played in its construction and initial organization by Mr. R. G. Ward, of New York City, whose energy and industry, first as manager of construction and later as manager of operation, combined with the character of the men by whom he surrounded himself are generally recognized as having been potent if not dominant factors in determining the rapidity with which the original main line of that railroad, extending from Santa Clara to Santiago, was built, and the promptness and thoroughness with which it was put into operation. The importance of this achievement is emphasized, when it is taken into consideration that the entire line was located and built without the right of eminent domain, which necessitated the acquisition of practically the whole of the right of way through private negotiation. It is stated that the cross-ties and rails were placed by track-laying machines of his devising, which, with crews of less than one hundred men, could, and often did, lay down three miles of full-tied, full-spiked and full-bolted track per day per machine. He also is credited with having inaugurated the policy of employing Cubans or residents of Cuba, whenever it was possible to obtain them to do the work required. Rather than import telegraph operators needed to run the newly constructed railroad, he opened and operated, free of all cost or expense to the students, a School of Telegraphy, under the direction of Horace H. McGinty, through whose administration nearly one hundred operators were qualified for positions in less than six months. Sir William Van Horne, who himself was an expert railroad telegraph operator, regarded this as a “marvelous achievement, creditable alike to Mr. Ward, to Mr. McGinty, and to the character and capacity of the young Cuban students;” many of whom have since held good positions in Cuba, in Mexico and in the Argentine Republic. The Cuba Central Road of the Province of Santa Clara occupies third place in commercial importance among Cuba’s system of railroads. This Company’s lines were built largely for the benefit of the older sugar estates of Santa Clara, located around Sagua la Grande, Remedios, Caribarien, Cienfuentes, Isabel de las Lajas, etc. The main line of the Cuba Central extends from Isabel de Sagua, a port on the north coast, almost due north to Cruces, a junction on the Cuba Road midway between Santa Clara and Cienfuegos. Another important division of the line runs from Sagua east to the seaport of Caibarien, passing through Camajuani and Remedios. The Cuba Central lines, while public highways in every sense of the word, may be classed among the roads dedicated largely to the service of the sugar planters of Santa Clara.