THE CUBA REVIEW 



19 



RAILROAD AND COMMERCIAL NEWS 



COST FOR CARRYING MAILS 



Cuba pa,vs to her railroads $299,093.36 

 annually for carrying the mails. It is di- 

 vided among the following railroads : Cuba 

 Railroad (Van Home system). $120,000; 

 Western Railway of Havana, $12,191 ; 

 Cuban Central, $30,035.72; Ferrocarril de 

 Guantanamo. $15,963 ; Guantanamo West- 

 ern, $1,445.40 ; Ferrocarril de Gibara- 

 Holugin, $3,950.76 ; Ferrocarril Rodas- 

 Cartagena, $360; Ferrocarril Nuevitas y 

 Puerto Principe, $760 ; Havana Central, 

 $11,023: and the United Railways of Ha- 

 vana, $127,568.12. On the amount appro- 

 priated for the purpose of carrying the 

 mails on Cuba's railroads there appears 

 a deficit of $169,093.36, which, it is ex- 

 pected, will be remedied by special legisla- 

 tion of Congress on receipt of a message 

 from the president soliciting it. 



NEW STATION PROJECTED 



The Havana Central Railroad has been 

 authorized to dredge a channel and build 

 a station at Casa Blanca on the side of 

 Havana Bay opposite the city, so that 

 large ships can be taken alongside and 

 loaded and unloaded. The Havana Central 

 was bought nearly a year ago by the 

 United Railwavs of Havana. 



IMPORTS OF TASAJO 



There was over a pound of jerked beef 

 imported in Cuba during the month of 

 January for every inhabitant. The total 

 importations were 2,382,500 pounds. Of 

 this amount 2,100,000 pounds were imported 

 through the port of Havana, 230,000 through 

 Cienfuegos and 62,500 through the port of 

 Matanzas. Jerked beef is practically the 

 only meat consumed by the working man 

 in the country districts. It it difficult for 

 him to get fresh meat, and even if he 

 could he would prefer the imported ar- 

 ticle for a steady diet. It is also consumed 

 to a large extent among the laboring 

 elements in the cities. It is always to be 

 found on the bill of fare of the cheaper 

 restaurants, and occasionally it is served 

 even by the better class. 



NEW BRANCH OPENED 



The Cuban Central Railways has been 

 authorized to open to public freight and 

 cane service the branch of the line from 

 Rancho Veloz to Corralillo as fas as the 

 estate known as Panchita. Much new cane 

 has been planted along this new line and 

 will be ground for the first time this vear. 



Charles L. Carpenter, who has for sev- 

 eral years been "administrador" of the 

 Guantanamo and Western Railroad in 

 Cuba, has lately removed to Porto Rico, 

 where he is associated with Loring N. 

 Farnum, well known in the Andovers of 

 Massachusetts, in the development of an 

 immense cane-raising and sugar-making 

 Dlant. comprising some 30,000 acres. 



The Havana Gas and Electric Light 

 Company has declared a dividend of four 

 dollars Spanish gold per share. The 

 meeting was held in January. 



IMPORTS OF ORANGES 



The importation of oranges into the 

 United States is steadily decreasing as 

 official figures show. In 1900 the importa- 

 tions were 68,0619,000 pounds, while in 1911 

 they were only 7,561,000 pounds. 



This dwindling of imports is due not so 

 much to fiscal reasons as to the superior 

 excellence of the domestic product, and to 

 the proximity of the consuming markets 

 to the centers of cultivation. 



California produces about 960,000,000 

 pounds annually. Florida, Texas, etc., are 

 credited with 750,000,000 pounds, while 

 Cuba, Porto Rico, etc., with. Mexico and 

 Central and South America produce about 

 420,000.000 pounds. 



HAWAIIAN CANNED PINEAPPLES 



How the Hawaiian canned pineapple in- 

 dustry has grown since its beginning in 

 1900 is well shown in the following output 

 table. The cases are of two dozen cans 



each : 



Cases 



1900 1,200 



1901 2,000 



1902 6,000 



1903 9,800 



1904 25,500 



1905 51,300 



1906 84,300 



1907 186,700 



1908 412,000 



1909 510,000 



Cuba's pineapple growers could study 

 this table with much profit. 



FRENCH CAPITALISTS INVESTING 



According to a cable to the New York 

 Times French capitalists are in Havana 

 seeking investments for capital which they 

 wish to withdraw from Germany. 



