THE CUBA REVIEW 



25 



THE SUGAR INDUSTRY 



REDUCTION IN NATION'S SUGAR COST 



While practically every other article of 

 food, clothing and industrial materials 

 increased in price during the year 1917- 

 18, sugar is the one outstanding example, 

 which not only did not increase (per 

 capita) but actually showed a reduction — 

 due, of course, to the stringent regula- 

 tions preventing waste and unnecessary 

 purchases. According to the official 

 tabulations made by the Government for 

 the 2d quarter of 1917 and the 2d quarter 

 of 1918, the American people spent $2,- 

 563,600,004 for all food, during the se- 

 cond quarter of 1917 and $2,693,751,871 

 during the corresponding quarter of 1918, 

 representing an increase of more than 

 130,000,000 dollars. The per capita cost, 

 during the same period, rose from $24.- 

 7353 to $25.5919— an increase of 3.5%. 



Among the various foods, fish and 

 sugar showed reductions. Sugar reached 

 the total of $200,674,663 in the second 

 quarter of 1917, but dropped to $188,723,- 

 860 in the second quarter of 1918 — a de- 

 crease of 7.4%. 



LARGE DOMINICAN SUGAR FACTORY 

 NEARING COMPLETION 



Reference has occasionally been made 

 in reports from this office concerning the 

 large sugar estate at La Romana in the 

 Santo Domingo consular district and 

 known as "Central Romana." Central 

 Romana is a corporation organized under 

 the laws of Connecticut, and since 1911 

 has been developing its properties sit- 

 uated in the Comun of La Romana, 

 Seybo Province, Dominican Republic. 

 About 12,000 acres of land have been 

 cleared and planted with sugar cane. 

 The company has a well-constructed rail- 

 road line of standard gauge which ex- 

 tends from the port of La Romana north- 

 ward to the cane fields, a distance of 30 

 kilometers, or about 18 miles. 



At present at La Romana a modern 

 2,000 ton factory is being constructed, 

 and indications are that the factory will 

 be completed in time to grind the 1918-19 

 crop. The factory will be electrically 



driven and modern in every way. The 

 electric plant will have two 1,000 kilowatt 

 turbo-generators. Such accessory build- 

 ings as storehouse, sugar deposit, 750,000- 

 gallon molasses tank, machine shop, and 

 other buildings have already been con- 

 structed. There have also been com- 

 pleted two radial brick chimneys, each 

 200 feet high and one chimney 100 feet 

 high to take care of dead-season require- 

 ments. A water pumping station is be- 

 ing constructed on the seacoast in order 

 to utilize sea water in the boiling-house 

 condensers, the water being returned to 

 the sea by means of a canal. 



Company Looks after Welfare of 

 Employees. 



The company has constructed for its 

 employees several substantial residences 

 of native stone and over 1,000 wooden 

 buildings for the occupation of its labor- 

 ers free of charge. A handsome stone 

 schoolhouse has also been erected on the 

 estate and is, in fact, the first American 

 school in Santo Domingo. 



In addition the company has a modern 

 2-story stone hospital, clubhouse, restau- 

 rant, and motion-picture theater for its 

 employees. There are in operation 

 restaurants for the laborers, where three 

 meals a day may be obtained by them for 

 30 cents. The company has also a large 

 general store at La Romana and nice 

 branch stores at various points on the 

 estate, where provisions and supplies 

 may be purchased at reasonable figures. 

 The company has a stock farm on which 

 there are about 1,250 oxen, 400 horses 

 and mules, and a selected herd of 40 

 Zibu cattle. 



It is estimated that about 200,000 tons 

 of cane will be harvested this crop, all of 

 which is being shipped to Porto Rico, 

 where it is ground. For the transporta- 

 tion of this cane the company has under 

 charter four steamships, two of which 

 leave La Romana daily. Each ship car- 

 ries an average of 1,000 tons of cane. — 

 Consul Clement S. Edwards, Santo Do- 

 mingo. 



