THE CUBA REVIEW 



21 



RAILROAD AND COMMERCIAL NEWS 



THE CUBAN CENTRAL RAILWAY 

 Weekly receipts : 



October 7th £5,509 Increase.. £2,919 



October 14th 5,567 Increase.. 3,935 



October 21st 4,999 Increase.. 4,004 



October 2Sth 5,071 Increase.. 3,365 



November 4th .. . 5,580 Increase.. 4,203 



November 11th . . 5,678 Increase.. 4,067 



November 18th . . 5,684 Increase.. 3,832 



November 25th . . 5,296 Increase.. 3,153 



December 2d . . . 4,794 Increase.. 2,020 



December 9th .. 5,145 Increase.. 1,464 



THE WESTERN RAILWAY OF HAVANA 

 Weekly receipts : 



CANADA AND CUBA 



The Canada West India Company, Ltd., 

 Dr. E. S. Kirkpatrick, the promoter, says, 

 starts with a capitalization oi $1,000,000. 

 It has recently been given a federal charter 

 by the Canadian government, and is formed 

 to develop trade between Canada and the 

 West Indies. 



The company, he says, will even- 

 tually buy large tracts of land in Cuba 

 and other islands, and seek to develop the 

 fruit trade with Canada. He said that the 

 West India fruit sent to the United States 

 market had to compete with free importa- 

 tions from Porto Rico and Hawaii and the 

 home market of the Southern States, and 

 that the native growers were able to se- 

 cure only a small price for their products. 

 He instanced the case of pineapples which 

 are bought in Cuba for three cents apiece, 

 much larger and juicier than those sold 

 in Canada for 15 to 30 cents. He believes 

 that tropical fruit can be made cheap and 

 popular in Canada and that there is a 

 great opportunity in developing the trade. 



The head offices will be in St. John. 



The railroad commission has authorized 

 the Niquero Sugar Company in Oriente 

 Province to cross with a plantation rail- 

 way the highways in the neighborhood of 

 Seibado and at Real Vicana. 



First class passenger fares between Ha- 

 vana and the folio ing principal places, 



reaching to Santiago via the United Rail- 

 ways of Havana, are as follows : 



Alto Cedro $21.88 



Caibarien, via Santo Domingo 10.59 



Caibarian, via Placetas del Sur 11. 00 



Camaguey 15.41 



Cardenas 5.37 



Ciego de Avila 12.63 



Cienfuegos, via Santo Domingo 9.10 



Cienfuegos, via Santa Clara 10.29 



Colon 5.48 



Jaruco 1.47 



Jovellanos 4.61 



Las Tunas 18.67 



Matanzas 3.11 



Sagua la Grande, via Santo Domingo 8.36 



San Luis 23.18 



Sancti Spiritus 11.11 



Santa Clara 8.44 



Santiago de Cuba 24.03 



Santo Domingo 7.46 



THE DEMANDS OF LABOR 



The waiters and bartenders of Havana 

 are threatening to go on a strike if they 

 are not given better quarters to live in. 

 At present they are obliged to sleep in the 

 attics of the cafes where they are employed, 

 and there quarters not permitting of a cir- 

 culation of fresh air are deemed unhealthy. 



They hope by their agitation of the mat- 

 ter to interest the sanitary authorities and 

 thus bring about a betterment, as happened 

 when the bakers went out on strike. They 

 did not get much improvement in wages, 

 but the authorities being called in saw the 

 need of more hygienic surroundings in the 

 shops and enforced many reforms. 



A strike has been declared by the cane 

 cutters of the central Jagueyal Camaguey 

 Province because the manager has refused 

 to raise their wages. 



The central is new and began grinding 

 in 1909. The output has steadily risen from 

 66,749 bags in 1909 to 125,000 in 1911, the 

 latter estimated. 



NEW BRANCH ESTABLISHED 



The board of directors of the National 

 Bank of Cuba declared a semi-annual 

 dividend of $200,000, which was payable 

 to its shareholders January 2d, at the rate 

 of 8 per cent per annum. 



The bank has opened a branch in Santo 

 Domingo. Santa Clara Province. The town 

 is a progressive one and bank facilities 

 have long been needed. 



