HS CUBA AND PORTO RICO 



The public railways of Cuba aggregate about one thou- 

 sand miles, a larger part of which is comprised in the 

 United System of Havana, extending from thai city west 

 and east through the tobacco and sugar districts of the 

 Vuelta Arriba and Vuelta Abajo, and connecting it within 

 a day's ride with the principal cities west of Oienfuegos 

 and Sauna la Grande. The western terminus of this sys- 

 tem is Pinar del Rio, one hundred and six miles from 

 Havana ; the eastern terminus, Villa Clara, is about one 

 hundred and fifty miles distant. One of the lines of this 

 system runs due south across the island from Havana to 

 Batabano, for the purpose of making connections with the 

 south-coast steamers at that point. Other short lines run 

 to Marianao and Las Playas, eight miles west, and to Gua- 

 na jay. 



There are practically two parallel lines from Havana to 

 Colon and Matanzas. The more northern is used for through 

 passenger service. The southern line serves the important 

 towns in the southern sugar district, such as Bejucal, San 

 Felipe, Guines, La Catalina, La Union, and Corral Falso. 

 Lines also extend southward from Matanzas to La Union, 

 and from Cardenas to Murga; from Cardenas to Yagua 

 Ramas ; from La Isabella, at the mouth of the Rio Sagua la 

 Grande, by way of the town of Sagua la Grande to Santo 

 Domingo and Cruces, and from Palmira to Cienfuegos. 



Another east-and-west system, nearly one hundred miles 

 in extent, runs from Caibarien to Cifuentas, within ten 

 miles of the Sagua la Grande branch of the United Sys- 

 tem of Havana. If this gap were closed the total east- 

 ward extension of railways from Havana would be nearly 

 two hundred and fifty miles. 



In the portion of the island east of a line drawn from 

 Sagua la Grande to Cienfuegos are numerous short, inde- 

 pendent lines running from seaports to the interior. The 

 largest of these is the Caibarien system above enumerated, 

 which has many small branches. On the opposite or south 

 coast another short road of less than twenty miles runs 



