MALT AND BEER IN SPANISH AMERICA. 381 



The price at wholesale of American la^er beer is (30 francs = $11.58 

 per barrel, and the retail price is 50 centimes $0:9.65 for n pint, and 1 

 I'm no = 19.3 cents for^a quart. 



The wholesale price of beer from France is from 7 to 8 francs = $1. .">."> 

 to $1.54 per basket of a dozen quart bottles ; the retail price is 1 franc = 

 19.3 cents per bottle. 



The duties on imported beer are 7 francs = $1.35 per hectoliter. 



Imported beer is sold by the importers to jobbers and by the jobbers 

 to retailers, but I will observe that the French people of this colony are 

 not great beer drinkers j in consequence the consumption thereof is very 

 small. 



CHARLES BARTLETT, 



Consul. 



UNITED STATES CONSULATE, 



Guadeloupe, February 20, 1890. 



MARTINIQUE. 



REPORT BY CONSUL GARESCRti. 



I have the honor to report that, after correspondence with the French 

 officials here, it is impossible for me, as yet, to give statistics of the im- 

 portation of beer to this colony during the year 1889. In a final letter 

 of the 17th of March, Mr. Ch. De Solms regrets his inability to give me, 

 as chief of the custom-house service, the information I have called for, 

 but tells me that in the year 1888 72,379 liters of beer from France and 

 29,948 liters from other than French countries were imported here. 



Xo records are kept of the countries from which the latter importa- 

 tions are made, but inquiries made by me of the mercantile community 

 justify me in saying that they are almost exclusively American in pro- 

 duction, and that all beers are received here in bottles packed in casks 

 or hogsheads, the lighter kinds of beer being most suitable to the Creole 

 palate. Lager beer in kegs pays a duty of 3.20 francs ; in bottles a duty 

 of 4.30 francs per hectoliter, equivalent to about 22 gallons. 



WM. A. GARESCHE, 



Consul. 



UNITED STATES CONSULATE, 



Martinique, March 18, 1890. 



