THE CUB A R E V I K W 11 



HAVANA CORRESPONDENCE 



Three of the four (icrinaii sliips interned in this port, namely the Hav iri'i, Olivuit and 

 Adelheid, have been given by the Cuban CJovcrnment to the United States Government and 

 are being manned with Government crews to take the ships to the United States. 'I" he remain- 

 ing steamer, the Kydonin, has been put under the Cuban flag and we understand will l)e used 

 as a transport. 



The new war .staiiij) tax law went into effect on Sept. 1st throui^hout the island, ('on- 

 siderable opposition was brought to bear by various interests against some provisions of the .law, 

 with the result that the stamp on checks was abolished. The law is not altogether clear and 

 difficulty has been experienced in the application of the same. 



There is nothing new to report regarding the oil well industry. Xo new wells are being 

 sunk and work continues, although slowly, on the old wells. 



The Cuban sugar producers are somewhat at sea at present on account of the question 

 of price fixing by the United States Government. Some appear to think the price now quoted 

 of 7.25c. per pound, which is that fixed for American beet sugar, would prove remunerative 

 to the Cuban planter, claiming that this price would mean about 4.59c. f. o. b. Cuban ports, 

 and point out that the average price in Cuba for the past two years has been 4.53c. On the 

 other hand, the question of labor in the cane fields may prove this coming crop to be a more 

 serious one than ever before on account of the shortage of hands, and high wages will have to 

 be paid to secure same. Heretofore, the principal laborers have been Spaniards who came to 

 Cuba to work during the grinding season and then returned home, but the Spanish Government 

 has now prohibited emigration of her citizens subject to miUtary service, and this will naturally 

 considerably reduce this source of supply. One proposition under consideration is to permit 

 the importation of Chinese laborers under certain restrictions to be decided upon. 



A new Cuban coastwise shipping company has recently been organized called the "Compania 

 Nacional de Navegacion," of which General Rafael Fernandez de Castro is the president. At 

 the present they are operating only the steamer Winona, but expect shortly to place others 

 in the service. 



A new company called United States and Cuban Allied Works and Engineering Co., 

 incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware, is being organized in Havana. Capital, 

 $2,000,000 preferred and $3,000,000 common stock. Organized for the purpose of "operating 

 dry docks, ship building plant, sugar mills, and various other enterprises." 



Officers will be: President, Frank Steinhart, President and General Manager of the Hav- 

 ana Electric Railway, Light and Power Co. ; Vice-President (not yet decided upon) ; Treasurer, 

 Armando Godoy, Vice-President of the Banco Espanol de la Isla de Cuba; Secretary, Claudio 

 Mendoza, capitalist. 



Board of Directors will be: Messrs. Steinhart and Godoy mentioned above, Antonia San 

 Miguel, owner of newspaper i a Luch^; H. Upmann, President of the Bank of H. Upmann 

 & Co.; Emeterio Zorilla, Assistant to President, Havana Electric Railway, Light & Power Co.; 

 Adolfo B. Horn, President, Krajewski-Pesant Corporation; Jose Marimon, President of the 

 Banco Espanol de la Isla de Cuba; Julian Alonso, General Manager of the Empresa 

 Naviera de Cuba, and Dionisio Velasco, capitalist and large real estate owner. 



The new company will take over the plant of Krajewski-Pesant Corporation, consisting of 

 foundry, machine shops and dry docks, and also some adjoining property. They will lengthen 

 the present Krajewski-Pesant dry dock to handle ships as large as the \\'ard Line steamers 

 Saratoga and Havana, and also make other additions to the dry dock. 



They plan to put up their shipbuilding plant and get same in operation in the shortest 

 possible time. 



They also expect to take over and operate other interests located on the Havana water 

 front, details regarding which are not yet available. 



DELAWARE CHARTER $3,500,000, W. F. O'Keefe, G. G. Steigler, 



Cuban Products Corp. construct, lease, E. E. Wright, local Wilmington, Del., incor- 

 maintain and operate lines for railroads, &c., porators. 



