THE CUBA REVIEW 



13 



Method of piling wood preparatory to covering and firing in manufacturing charcoal in Cuba. 



CHARCOAL burners' WORK AND PAY 



Generally two to four men are employed 

 stacking up the large sticks of wood, in 

 large cone shaped piles (see illustration). 



These heaps of timber, mostly dry hard 

 woods, red mangrove and other woods 

 formed on the low lands, are then cov- 

 ered with dry grass and weeds and over 

 this again is shoveled spade after spade of 

 sand till the whole is well covered. The 

 fire is lighted from the top down and takes 

 about a week to burn up the pile properly. 

 While burning it must be constantly 

 watched, for if the fire breaks out or air 

 holes appear, the whole thing would go up 

 in smoke. 



One pile is usually being made up while 

 one is burning, or giving up its charcoal, 

 which is gradually scraped away from the 

 lower edges as it burns, by a long wooden 

 toothed rake and placed in large sacks 

 holding about 200 lbs. 



These are then stacked away in the long 

 narrow barges or "Chalanas" and slip 

 away to the port which in this case was 

 Batabano, Havana Province. 



The manufacturer gets $:i for sixteen 

 big bags of this charcoal. The men receive 

 $28 Cabout $24.04 American money) per 

 month Spanish silver and their board. 



Their board consi.sts of "tasajo" or 

 jerked beef, "i)acalao" or dried codfish, 

 potatoes and beans supplemented some- 

 times by eggs and fresh cabbage anfl in 



some cases water cress, which grows well 

 in the dry seasons, round all the springs. 

 The company pays a rent of $100 a 

 month for the privilege of cutting and 

 burning charcoal and make thousands of 

 dollars a year at this industry, to supply 

 the fuel most commonly used in Cuba. — 

 Progressive Cuba. 



NEW SANTIAGO HOTEL 



The construction of the new "Casa 

 Granda" in Santiago by the Cuba Com- 

 pany is progressing rapidly, work being 

 pushed day and night, Sundays and feast 

 days. 



The new hotel will be without doubt the 

 best in the city, as only steel and cement 

 are used in its construction. It will be 

 five stories in height. 



Steamers are now running direct from 

 Boston to Havana, and shoe manufacturers 

 handling trade in Cuba are able to ship 

 direct instead of sending their goods to 

 New York. There are a number of firms 

 in Boston which arc doing a goocj' business 

 with tlie Cubans. 



Jatibonico in Camaguey Province,' where 

 the large sugar estate of the Cuba Com- 

 pany is situated, will soon boast of an 

 electric light and power plant. 



