THE CUBA R E \" i E W 



:21 



NEW COAL HANDLING COMPANY 



The Regla Coal Company, organized 

 under the laws of the State of Xew York, 

 are building on leased land at Regla a 

 modern $30(),0()() coaling plant, which will 

 have a storage capacity of 60,000 tons. 

 The plant will be connected with the lines 

 of the United Railways, and steamers draw- 

 ing 25 feet of water will be able to berth 

 alongside of the coaling bridge, which is 

 supposed to have a discharging capacity of 

 1,000 tons a day. The president of the 

 company is Mr. Manuel Rionda. The plant 

 will be finished and in operation about the 

 1st of April. See full page illustration of 

 this new plant on opposite page. 



CUBAN TELEPHONE COMPANY 

 RECEIPTS 



The report of receipts of this company 

 for 1911 is given as follows: 



January $23,164 



F"ebruary 24,652 



March 26,370 



April 27,835 



:\Iay 28,289 



June 29,200 



July 30,014 



August ". 30,353 



September 30,850 



Octol)er 32,534 



Xovember 33,626 



December 34,248 



Total $351,125 



The last six months showed constantly 

 increasing earnings, due doubltless to the 

 extension of its lines. Telephone commu- 

 nication is now possible between Havana, 

 Santa Clara and Cienfuegos. 



Havana's city council men have the 

 authority to change the tariff of taxes 

 each year as may seem expedient. The 

 new schedule imposes an increased tax on 

 street annoyances, such as street organs, 

 ticket scalpers, etc. Grocery stores will 

 pay $30.00, an increase of $10.00. Lawyers, 

 architects and surveyors will not be taxed. 

 Engineers' and dentists' taxes are cut in 

 half, as are the taxes of physicians and 

 surgeons. Cock-fighting licenses are low- 

 ered to $40.00 instead of $75.00. 



Lumber handlers at Regla, near Havana, 

 employed by a company at that place, 

 struck early in February for higher wages, 

 demanding one cent more an hour and a 

 nine-hour day. They now get 14 cents 

 per hour. The officers of the company 

 do not see how they can yield to the 

 demands of the men except at serious loss 

 to the company. 



UNITED RAILWAYS OF HAVANA 



[From our London Correspondent] 



London, January 10, 1912. 



British shareholders interested in Cuban 

 securities have noticed that for some time 

 past excellent traffics have been anticipated 

 for the United Railways of Havana, on 

 account of the magnificent sugar and other 

 favorable conditions existing on this sys- 

 tem. During the last two weeks the re- 

 turns have shown increases of i4,051 and 

 £6.017, respectively, and the return due to- 

 day is expected to show a corresponding- 

 improvement. In fact, before long, regu- 

 lar increases of about £lO,000 per week on 

 the average are anticipated. For the last 

 two years the dividend upon this stock 

 has been 4 per cent. Each additional 

 1 per cent upon the ordinary, including the 

 £1,000,000 of such stock issued to acquire 

 the Western Railway of Havana, will take 

 about £55,000 for the year. The purchase of 

 the Western system was made as from the 

 1st of July last, and, of course, the earn- 

 ings of that system will belong to the 

 United Railways of Havana, although 

 hitherto the traffic returns have not been 

 incorporated with those of the purchasing 

 company. The United Railways system 

 has been brought to a high state of effi- 

 ciency, as pointed out by the chairman 

 at the annual meeting in October, and there 

 is no doubt that a large proportion of the 

 increased earnings will be readily avail- 

 able for distribution upon the ordinary 

 capital, especially in view of the advantages 

 anticipated from the amalgamation with 

 the Western Company, which the manager 

 estimated at not less than £25,000 per 

 annum. 



For weekly receipts of this railroad see 

 page 20. 



ROYAL BANK OF CANADA 



The forty-second annual statement of the 

 Royal Bank of Canada shows deposits of 

 $88,294,000, an increase of over $16,000,000 

 over last year. Liquid assets total $47.- 

 738,000, an increase of over $10,000,000. 

 The total assets aggregate $1 10.52S,000, as 

 against $92,510,346 on December 31, 1910. 

 Xet profits for the year amounted to 

 $1,395,480, as compared' with $1,152,249 in 

 the previous year. 



Captain Walter Fletcher Smith, of the 

 Hotel Plaza, opened his new hotel and 

 restaurant in Havana on P^bruary 4th. 



The building now leased for an indefinite 

 period is the old ]\Iiramar Hotel at the 

 Malecon. The place has been thoroughly 

 renovated and improved. It has a magnifi- 

 cent location at the Malecon facing the 

 gulf. 



