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THE CUBA REVIEW 



THE SUGAR INDUSTRY 



AMERICAS FIRST SUGAR MILL 



What is claimed to be the oldest sugar 

 mill in the Western Hemisphere and one 

 of the oldest existing relics of European 

 settlement in the New World as well, is 

 located at Atlacomulco, near Cuernavaca, 

 in the State of Morelos, Mexico. It is 

 probably not only the oldest American 

 sugar mill but the first to be erected by 

 European colonists, since according to the 

 old Spanish records it was built in 1535 

 by Hernando Cortes, the conqueror of 

 Mexico. 



More remarkable than the fact that a 

 sugar mill built nearly 400 years ago 

 should be standing in America, however, 

 is the fact that it is still in active opera- 

 tion, according to report brought by an 

 American traveller who recently visited 

 the place and who states that at the time 

 of his visit (in the spring of 1919) the 

 mill had just finished a run of several 

 weeks. 



The building is described as being a low 

 structure of stone and sun-dried bricks, 

 and as being in a good state of preserva- 

 tion. The original equipment used by 

 Cortes, whom tradition represents as hav- 

 ing personally superintended the mill and 

 the adjacent sugar plantation, has nat- 

 urally disappeared, although the present 

 equipment is reported as of a sufficiently 

 primitive type, being like that of most 

 of the small Mexican mills. 



If the old records and traditions are 

 to be accepted as trustworthy, it appears 

 that Cortes was thus not only a soldier 

 and statesman, but a good business man 

 as well, since he appreciated at that early 

 date the value of the sugar industry in 

 the tropical lands of the New World and 

 was, indeed, perhaps the pioneer planter 

 of Mexico. The good judgment shown in 

 the choice of a location for his mill is 

 evident from the fact that Morelos has 

 ever since been one of the main seats of 

 the Mexican sugar industry. 



In the days when Mexican conditions 

 Were more settled many tourists visited 

 the little pueblo where the mill is located. 



attracted by its historic interest as the 

 seat of the beginning of the sugar indus- 

 try in civilized America as well as by its 

 association with the famous conquistador. 

 — Fuels About Sugar. 



SETTLEMENT BETWEEN MILLS AND 

 COLONOS OF GUANTANAMO 



Sugar mill owners and colonos of the 

 Guantanamo district have reached an 

 agreement in regard to the prices the 

 colonos are to he paid for their sugar. 



The colonos named the President as 

 arbitrator and President Menocal turned 

 the matter over to the Department of Agri- 

 culture for a solution. The Department 

 has fixed a price of 3.93 cents a pound for 

 the 1917 and 191S sugars and 4.85 cents 

 a pound for 1918 to 1919 sugars. These 

 prices have been accepted by colonos. 



COOPERATIVE PLAN OF BELGIUM SUGAR 

 MANUFACTURERS 



The principal sugar manufacturers of 

 Belgium have recently formed a coopera- 

 tive association, the offices of which are 

 located at 21 Rue Hydraulique, Saint- 

 Josse-ten-Noode, Brussels. 



The object of this organization is to 

 group all the manufacturers of sugar to- 

 gether and to work together for the build- 

 ing up of the sugar industry in Belgium. 

 A capital of 00,000 francs ($11,580) has 

 been subscribed for expense. New mem- 

 bers can be taken in at any time with the 

 approval of the board of directors. — 

 Consul Chdrles Roy Nasmith, Brussels. 



NEW PHILIPPINE COMPANY 

 The incorporation at Manila of the 

 Cadiz Sugar Central Company, Inc.. 

 with a capitalization of .$1,000,000, is 

 reported by the Revista de la Camara de 

 Comerico of the Philippine Islands. The 

 company was formed for the purpose of 

 erecting a modern sugar central and 

 carrying on the manufacture of sugar. 



