24 



THE CUBA REVIEW 



CUBAN COMMERCIAL MATTERS 



PURCHASE OF HOTEL SEVILLA 

 The Bowman-Woods interests, control- 

 ling the Biltmore, Manhattan, Behnont, 

 Commodore and Murray Hill hotels in 

 New York, have purchased the Hotel 

 Sevilla in Havana. Mr. Bowman, accom- 

 panied by a representative of Warren & 

 Wetmore, architects, made a trip to Ha- 

 vana where plans were completed for 

 turning the Sevilla into a modern hotel 

 in every respect. It will he renovated and 

 refurnished at a cost of $500,000 and is 

 expected to be ready for occupancy in 

 time for the coming tourist season. 



CONSUMPTION OF FISH 

 Figures of the Board of Fisheries of 

 the Department of Agriculture show that 

 11,701,253 pounds of fish were consumed 

 in Havana during the period from June 

 1, 1918, to June 30, 1919. This represents 

 a value of 1,941,863 pesos, which, added 

 to the value of shellfish, turtles and mol- 

 lusca, amounts to a total of 1,041,031 

 pesos. This was a decrease in value of 

 138,276 pesos, compared with the con- 

 sumption of the preceding year. During 

 this period 92,725 pounds of frozen hake, 

 cod and mackerel were imported direct 

 from New York for Havana hotels. 



REGULATION OF DRUG AND MEDICINE 

 TRADE 

 The "Gaceta Ofieial" of July 2Sth con- 

 tains a law to regulate the importation 

 into, and production and sale in, Cuba of 

 alkaloid products. The law provides that 

 only legally established pharmacists and 

 druggists attached to a hospital, clinic or 

 similar institution may import or produce 

 certain alkaloid products and salts speci- 

 fied in the decree. 



COTTON MANUFACTURES 

 Cotton manufactures exported from the 

 United Kingdom to Cuba for August, 1918 

 and 1919, amounted to 1,805,100 yards in 

 1918, as compared with 3,010,500 yards 

 this year. 



SARDINES FROM VIGO, SPAIN 

 Cuba, before the war, was one of the 

 principal purchasers of Vigo sardines, but 

 the war was responsible for a decreased 

 demand because of the high prices brought 

 about by higher freights and the in- 

 creased cost of production. Cuba imported 

 sardines to the value of $193,399 in 1913, 

 $88,134 in 1917, and only $S5,405 in 1918, 

 which last figure includes a large quantity 

 of preserved fish other than sardines. 



TRADE WITH UNITED KINGDOM 

 The values of imports and exports of 

 the United Kingdom to Cuba for the first 

 six months of 1918 and 1919 (converted 

 from sterling to American currency at the 

 normal rate of $4.8665) were : 



January-June — 

 1918 1919 



I m p o r t e d from 



Cuba $36,732,021 $44,870,429 



Exported to Cuba 5,116,015 4,057,060 



The following table shows the trade of 

 the United Kingdom with Cuba during 

 1917 and 1918: 



1917 1918 



Imports $S6,480,805 $108,668,220 



Exports 9,794,644 9,554,064 



MARKET FOR CUBAN LIQUORS 

 According to Cuban newspaper notices, 

 Uruguay has become a market for Cuban 

 liquors. In July two schooners, one Span- 

 ish and one Cuban, loaded with Cuban 

 wines, left Sagua la Grande and Havana, 

 bound for Montevideo. 



BOQUERON TERMINAL, GUANTANAMO 

 The Guantanamo & Western R. R. Co. 

 is erecting a large fuel oil plant at its 

 Boqueron Terminal docks and is convert- 

 ing all of its locomotives into fuel oil 

 burners. A 75-ton Consolidation-type su- 

 per-heater oil burning locomotive has just 

 been shipped to that company by the Bald- 

 win Locomotive Works. The Sinclair 

 Company has secured the contract for the 

 oil supply. 



