20 



THE CUBA REVIEW 



CUBAN COMMERCIAL MATTERS 



AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 



At the call of United States Minister 

 William E. Gonzales, two hundred and 

 fifty American business men of the city 

 of Havana met at the American legation 

 on July 15th to consider the advisability 

 of forming an American Chamber of 

 Commerce. It was unanimously agreed 

 that such an association should be formed 

 and a committee was appointed to draw 

 up plans for the organization. 



Frank Steinhart was appointed tem- 

 porary chairman and expressed the opin- 

 ion that such an organization as that 

 contemplated was greatly needed in 

 Havana. Vice Consul General Harris men- 

 tioned similar organizations of Americans 

 which exist in London, Paris, Brussels, 

 and, before the war, in Berlin. 



It was decided to appoint a committee 

 of fifteen, including the chairman, to 

 complete the plans of organization. Upon 

 suggestions, Chairman Steinhart ap- 

 pointed the following : Charles Williams, 

 president of the American Club; Col. 

 Sosthenes Behn, president of the Cuba 

 Telephone Co. ; John M. Draper, Cuban 

 representative of Borden & Co. ; William 

 Harry Smith, agent of the Ward Line; 

 Ricardo E. Ulbricht, comptroller of the 

 National Bank of Cuba ; William P. Field, 

 of Field & Co.; William M. Whitner, of 

 the Trust Company of Cuba ; E. F. Curry, 

 of the Pan-American Express Co. ; A. C. 

 Gahan, the local attorney ; Halsey B. 

 Leavitt, business manager of the Havana 

 Post: John Z. Horter. of Horter & Co.: 

 Lawrence B. Ross, representative in Cuba 

 of the Ford Motor Co., and E. G. Harris, 

 of the Harris Bros. Co. 



A meeting was held at the American 

 Club on August 1st and the permanent 

 organization of the American Chamber of 

 Commerce of Cuba was effected. 



Temporary headquarters of the associa- 

 tion will be at the Trust Company of 

 Cuba, Obispo 53, Havana. 



here, in particular, is excellent. Sales 

 depend solely on prices, terms and qual- 

 ity. Phonographs are selling in the local 

 retail stores from $5 to $181. The niosl 

 popular are those selling from $20 to $30. 

 — Consul V. H. Winans, Cienfuegos. 



MANUFACTURE OF ALCOHOL 

 Due to the enormous production of 

 sugar in Cuba, the manufacture of alcohol 

 from molasses promises to be one of the 

 principal industries of the Island, accord- 

 ing to the "Bulletin of the Pan American 

 Union." 



In the manufacture of a ton of sugar 

 forty gallons of molasses are produced, 

 out of which sixteen gallons of alcohol 

 can be distilled. As the present crop of 

 sugar is estimated at 4,000,000 tons, the 

 importance of this industry will be at 

 once seen. 



A considerable part of Cuban molasses 

 is exported, but at the present time steps 

 are being taken to establish ten new dis- 

 tilleries on the Island in order to <li still 

 the alcohol from a larger quantity of the 

 molasses produced. The exports of al- 

 cohol from Cuba during the last few years 

 were as follows : In 1912, 200,518 gallons, 

 valued at $50,130; in 1913, 229,478 gal- 

 lons, valued at $52,871: in 1914, 173,!»41 

 gallons, valued at $31,684; in 1915, 418.- 

 523 gallons, valued at $193,053, and in 

 1910, 2,570,329 gallons, valued at $1,800,- 

 535. 



MARKET FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS 



The Cuban people are very fond of 

 music, and the market for phonographs 



TRADE WITH UNITED KINGDOM 

 The value of the imports from Cuba 

 into the United Kingdom during January- 

 March. 1918 and 1919, was (conversion 

 from sterling to American currency has 

 been at the normal rate of $4.8065) : 



January-March 



1918 1919 



$5,218,698 $15,S36,112 



Exports to Cuba are shown in the fol- 

 lowing table : 



January-March 



1918 1919 



$2,533,077 $2,062,462 



