10 . THECUBAREVIEW 



Mr. Morgan, the official representative of the United States Food Administration and of 

 the War Trade Board, has been holding almost daily conferences with the National Defense 

 Council, and on his recent return from his trip to Washington to confer with the authorities 

 there, he announced that the United States would see that Cuba was supplied with the neces- 

 sary foodstuffs, but that the flour shipments would necessarily have to be considerably less 

 than in ordinary times, which is also the case in the North. It will probably be necessary for 

 the Government to increase the number of wheatless days, as is being done in the United 

 States. 



The consumption of flour in Cuba is not nearly so large as that of a great many other 

 countries, but on the other hand, Cuba is undoubtedly one of the greatest consumers per 

 capita of lard in the world. Statistics compiled here show that this amounts per year to 25 

 lbs. per head. On the other hand, the amount of butter used is small, being only jo lb. per 

 person per year, as against a per capita consumption in the United States of 16 lbs. 



Imports of coal in cargo lots during January were 24,000 tons, which is considerably less 

 than half the monthly amount which came in prior to the shortage of coal in the United States 

 and restrictions put upon its exportation. Hence, as a result of no cargo shipments whatever 

 being received from Jan. 1st to Jan. 19th, some industries have been forced to shut down and 

 others to curtail their production. 



Work still continues on the well-driving for crude oil, but without any particular develop- 

 ments, except that the Union Oil Co. has brought in a small flowing well. 



The City of Havana has given a concession to Francisco Mestre to establish an autobus 

 service covering eight different routes, the fare to be 5c. The Havana Electric Railway Light 

 & Power Co. operate an omnibus service in connection with their street cars, and also operated 

 an electric bus service, but this latter has recently been discontinued. 



The newspapers report that papers were drawn up on Jan. 15 organizing a new railroad 

 company called the "Ferrocarril Interprovincial Habana Pinar del Rio," to operate from 

 Havana along the north coast of Cuba through Mariel, Cabanas and Bahia Honda. 



In view of the record-breaking cold weather experienced in the North, it is interesting to 

 note that the coldest ever reported by the weather bureau in Havana occurred on Jan. 11th, 

 when the thermometer marked 49 degrees Fahrenheit. 



It was announced recently that the Ward Line had signed a contract with the American- 

 Cuban Estates Corporation, a recently organized company, to handle a part of the San Jos6 

 wharves and warehouses, with a 30 years lease of wharves, No. 1, 2 and 3 and part of No. 4. 

 It is also stated that these docks and warehouses will be remodeled for the Ward Line's use 

 and modern machinery installed for the loading and discharging of ships. The Ward Line 

 freight steamers have been discharging their cargoes there, and after improvements have been 

 made, their passenger boats will also dock at these piers. 



On Jan. 12, the P. & O. steamer Olivet'.e went aground during a dense fog on the coast 

 east of Cojimar, a small port a few miles from Havana. The passengers, baggage and mail 

 were safely removed and efforts have since been made, but without .success, to save the vessel 

 itself. The Olivette is very well known in this port, as she has been running in the trade 

 between Tampa, Key West and Havana for many years. The loss of this ship compels the re- 

 arrangement of the schedules of the P. & O. S. S. Co., which is the official mail route between 

 Havana and the United States, and they have announced that they will keep one steamer 

 exclusively in the service between Havana and Key West and another between Tampa and 

 Key West. 



While it was hoped there might Vje a fair tourist movement this season, same has not 

 developed on account of the passport restrictions in the North. 



According to various statistics of the Immigration Dept. during 1917, 81,138 passengers 

 entered Havana, of which 30,846 w^ere transients, 31,573 were immigrants and 18,719 residents 

 of Cuba. Of the immigrants the majority came from Spain, there being 26,897. 



Arrangements have been completed between Cuban and American commissioners in 

 connection with the purchase and payment of the present sugar crop, and it is hoped that same 

 will not only total more than ever before, but that final figures will surpass the calculations 

 previously made of 3,500,000 tons. Sailing vessels continue to arrive from India with cargoes 

 of gunnies and rice. 



The manufacturers of cigars and cigarettes in Cuba are experiencing hard times on account 

 of the fact that many of their foreign markets are shut off due to the war, and also because of 

 the high price of production here. It is stated that there is a possibility of the cigarette fac- 

 tories having to shut down for lack of cigarette paper which comes from Spain, whose steam- 

 ship service to Cuba has been uncertain recently and would have been discontinued had not the 

 Spanish steamship lines received assurances of being provided with coal to permit them to make 

 their return trip. 



During 1917 statistics show there were exported 111,909,685 cigars via Havana, whereas 

 the previous year there were 121,663,309 or some 10 million cigars more. The two principal 

 markets for these cigars are the United States and England, which experienced a considerable 

 falling off in consumption. The exportation to the United States for 1917 was 44,446,020 

 cigars as against 49,452,058 in 1916. In 1917 the exports to England were 30,646,522 as 

 against 38,792,565 the previous year. On the other hand, shipments to Spain have increased, 

 being 8,063,145 for 1917, whereas the 1916 figures were 5,107,996. While the quantity of 



