22 



THE CUBA R E \M E \V 



FINANCIAL AND COMMERCIAL 



THE GERMAN PINEAPPLE TRADE 



[From Conr.ul (leneral K. P. Skinner. Hamburg] 



Tliere is a large and growing demand 

 in CJermany for pineapples, the trade in 

 which, as in the case of substantially all 

 fresh fruit imported into this country, is 

 centralized in Hamburg. Nearly all the 

 pineapples shipped to this city are sold at 

 auction, the supplies, as a rule, coming 

 from the Azores. The annual importation 

 from these islands amounts to 130,000 cases. 



Some attempts have been made to import 

 pineapples from Porto Rico and also from 

 South America, but without much success, 

 as the fruit arrived in bad condition, owing 

 to the length of the journey. The high 

 freight rates also discouraged importers 

 who, nevertheless, are entirely willing to 

 receive goods on consignment from San 

 Juan and to dispose of them on the market 

 under the most favorable conditions pos- 

 sible. It is suggested that beginners in 

 the trade would do well to send a sample 

 consignment of perhaps 20 cases. The 

 fruit should be assorted so that each case 

 contains pines of the same size. 



The prices obtained for pineapples run 

 from 70 to 90 pfennigs ($0.16G6 to $0.2142) 

 per German pound (half kilo or 1.102 

 pounds). 



For names of Hamburg importers of 

 pineapples address Department L, The 

 Cuba Review. 



DUTY ON LUBRICATING OILS 



[From Cuban Customs Circular No. 12] 



A decision has been rendered by the Cu- 

 ban customs officials to the effect that 

 April 1, 1912, all lubricating oils, whether 

 derived from shale or from petroleum, 

 excepting crude oils ( as defined in the 

 tariff) mixed with vegetable or animal 

 oils, shall be dutiable under tariff No. 7. 



It appears that under the accepted inter- 

 pretation of a previous decree shall or 

 petroleum lubricating oils have been 

 treated as dutiable under tariff No. 6 

 (crude oils), even when not mixed with 

 other oils. In the tariff "crude oils" has 

 been defined as covering, in the case of 

 shale oils, only obtained from first distilla- 

 tion, with a density of 0.9 to 0.92° : and 

 in the case of petroleum oils, those in the 

 state in which extracted from the well, 

 having undergone no operation whatever 

 whereby the chemical composition has been 

 altered or modified. 



In the present circular it is held that 

 there can be no such thing as a crude shale 

 lubricating oil, because if a shale oil be a 

 lubricant it cannot conform with the re- 

 quirements of density given in the defini- 



tion of crude oils; and if the lubricating 

 oil be derived from petroleum, it cannot 

 lie in the natural state in which it was ex- 

 tracted from the well. Hence shale and 

 petroleum lubricating oils are to be dutiable 

 as refined lubricating oils under tariff No. 7 

 at a general rate of $.3.-50 per 100 kilos 

 (220.46 pounds) and at the rate of $2.80 

 per 100 kilos if imported from the United 

 States. 



Crude shale oil and crude petroleum oil, 

 as included under the definition of those 

 products given in the tariff, if mixed with 

 animal and vegetable oils, for lubricating 

 purposes, remain dutiable under tariff No. 6 

 at $1.40 per 100 kilos, general rate, and 

 $1.12 per 100 kilos, preferential rate to 

 United States. 



CUBAN MAHOGANY AND CEDAR 



Tlie demand for Cuban mahogany in 

 London continues to be .good. The sta- 

 tistical position for the three months of 

 1912 is as follows : 



Delivered Stock 



January 1,404 7,689 



Februarv 1,525 6,164 



[March " 1,776 7,388 



With regard to cedar, there is very little 

 of any description upon the London market 

 and further arrivals woi^ild meet with a 

 good demand. 



There have been no arrivals or deliveries 

 for the past three months, but stock, at 

 London docks have remained unchanged 

 at 21 logs. 



THE CUBA SUBMARINE TELEGRAPH 



The report for the half-year ended De- 

 cember 31, 1911, of the Cuba Submarine 

 Telegraph Co., Ltd., shows a profit of 

 £12,191, to which has to be added £7,294 

 brought forward. After placing £2,000 to- 

 reserve, the directors recommend a divi- 

 dend at the rate of 6 per cent per annum 

 on the Ordinary shares, leaving £7,655 to- 

 be carried forward. — London Standard. 



President Gomez signed .^pril 16th a 

 resolution annulling his decree of Februar_v 

 15th, authorizing the Camaguey Electric 

 Tramway Company to extend its lines. 



The Italian minister to Cuba, Signor 

 Mondello, is urging an arbitration treaty 

 between his country and Cuba. The mat- 

 ter has been pending for several months. 



A market is projected for Casa Blanca 

 on Havana harbor. Prominent citizens of 

 the town are interested in the new enter- 

 prise. 



