THE CUBA REVIEW 11 



merits have appeared in the papers soliciting information as to houses for rent and 

 in some cases a reward has been offered to anyone who will put the applicant in touch 

 with a suitable house which may be rented. 



OIL WELLS. — Very little interest appears to be manifested in the various com- 

 panies at present drilling for oil here. There have been no new wells brought in so far 

 as we have been able to learn and those that have been producing are giving greatly 

 reduced quantities, the result being that quotations for oil stocks are now far lower 

 than they have ever been before. 



ENEMY TRADING LIST FOR CUBA.— Since our last advices the American 

 Minister has advised the following changes: 

 To be added: 



Juan Batallan, 



Calle Oficios No. 88-A, Havana. 

 To be removed: 



J. Garcia More, Havana. 

 SHIPPING ITEMS. — There is no particular news to report in shipping circles 

 other than that of the sinking of the Cuban steamer "Chaparra" last month, which 

 occurred off the New Jersey coast while Northbound with a cargo of some 14,000 sacks 

 sugar from a Cuban port to the United States. This vessel struck a mine and sank in 

 a very few minutes with a loss of a few members of her crew. 



NEW WHARF. — A new concrete wharf, some 120 meters long, constructed for Sr. 

 Jose Lopez Rodriguez, the multi-millionaire merchant and sugar mill owner, has just 

 been completed. The wharf is built on the water front in Havana Bay belonging to the 

 slaughter and packing house company known as the "Matadero Industrial", and the 

 pier is called the "Muelle del Matadero". 



HARBOR STRIKE. — The long threatened strike of the various unions of bay 

 workmen in Havana took place on Nov. 11th. Pending an adjustment of their de- 

 mands for increased pay, etc., work has been carried on, so far as the stevedores are 

 concerned, by use of several hundred prisoners who have been brought from Principe 

 jail daily under guard of Cuban soldiers. They are employed on day work only and 

 seem to be working very satisfactorily. The strike so far has been a peaceful one, 

 but on account of the arrest and detention by the Government on November 9th of 

 the leaders of the various striking harbor unions, a general strike was declared on 

 November 13th which included many other unions such as street car operators, truck- 

 men, etc. 



This lasted only that one day as the Government finally decided to release the 

 imprisoned men. During the past week many meetings have been held between the 

 Government, shipping people and the strikers, and an arbitration committee has also 

 been appointed but definite settlement has not been reached. However, the steve- 

 dores, as a result of a lengthy meeting held yesterday, have gone back to work to-day 

 on the old basis until the arbitration committee can make a final report. 



SHORTAGE OF FLOUR AND BREAD.— We mentioned in our last letter that 

 there was a considerable scarcity of flour in Havana with a corresponding shortage of 

 bread. Flour arrivals since then have not been able to take care of the demand for 

 bread and this situation has been made even more acute by the strike of the harbor 

 workmen, which prevented the unloading of what flour was being received. As a re- 

 sult, Havana is experiencing another season of practically wheatless days due to this 

 shortage of flour. 



HORSE RACES.— Race horses and the accompanying personnel are constantly 

 arriving for the meet at Oriental Park, Marianao, opening on Thanksgiving Day, No- 

 vember 28th, and continuing for one hundred or more race days. The race track man- 

 agement appear to expect this to be the best season they have had, particularly if 

 the matter of passport regulations eases up, and they announce that the purses for the 

 present meet will be both more numerous and larger than ever before. 



