File No. 811.304M28/30.
Minister Jackson to the Secretary of State.
Habana, September 9, 1910.
Sir: Referring to previous correspondence in regard to raising the Maine, I have the honor to report that Col. William M. Black, Corps of Engineers, United States Army, arrived in Habana on the 7th instant and called at the legation the same morning, and that in the afternoon Col. Black and I called on Mr. Sanguily, the Cuban secretary of state, and at the Department of Public Works. This morning I presented the colonel to President Gomez at an audience granted for the purpose. Everywhere Col. Black was most cordially received, [Page 419] and the assurance was repeated to him which had been given me last June (dispatch No. 127), that the Cuban Government was prepared to do everything possible to facilitate the work in contemplation. Col. Black will return to Washington in a few days and will report in person to the appropriate authorities in regard to details. Capt. H. B. Ferguson, Corps of Engineers, who arrived in Habana this morning and who was also presented to the President, and Assistant Engineer A. C. Harper expect to remain here for the present.
There is a general feeling of satisfaction that the work is actually about to begin.
I have, etc.,