20 



THE CUBA REVIEW 



ALL AROUND CUBA 



INTERESTING NEWS NOTES REGARDING VARIOUS MATTERS PERTAINING 



TO THE ISLAND 



MEAT PRICES AND DEMANDS 



Prices of meat in Havana are always 

 higher than in cities of the Eastern prov- 

 inces, yet the cattlemen cannot ship on 

 account of the excessive rates charged for 

 transportation, reports the United States 

 consul at Santiago. Steers 900 pounds 

 gross cost about $4 per head for trans- 

 portation in train loads and $4.50 in car 

 loads from Santiago to Havana, a distance 

 of 540 miles, and proportionately to inter- 

 mediate points. That there is likely to be 

 some loss by death and shrinkage is cer- 

 tain. Buyers estimate that $1.25 per 100 

 pounds is the correct difference in parity 

 between Havana and Santiago. That is to 

 say steers of 1,000 pounds net must sell 

 in Havana at $52.50 per head for Santiago 

 ranchmen to sell at $40. Cuban steers dress 

 about 52 to 55 per cent, according to weight 

 and age. 



Havana, the princioal market for cattle 

 in the island, demands young fat steers 

 weighing about 850 to 900 pounds on the 

 hoof and dressing about 50 per cent. The 

 reason is that in Havana there are about 

 1,600 butcher shops, some of which do not 

 sell over SO pounds daily, and the smaller 

 the steer the better it cuts up into parts. 



The Cuban will not eat refrigerated meat, 

 so the butchers cannot hold over their meat 

 from day to day. If buyers suspect that 

 meat for sale has been chilled 24 hours it 

 is sufficient to condemn the meat. During 

 the tourist season, from January until 

 April, Havana imports some American 

 refrigerated meat to supply hotels. The 

 daily consumption in Havana is about 370 

 steers, or one for every 1,000 inhabitants, a 

 little less than one-half pound of meat per 

 capita daily. . 



An attempt was made to import Cuban 

 refrigerating meat into New York, but 

 failed. 



ENGINEER POLLOCK's EXPERIENCES 



Clarence D. Pollock, a charter member 

 of the Brooklyn Engineers Club. No. 117 

 Remsen Street, and a past presidentof the 

 organization, was until recently chief en- 

 gineer in charge of the paving of the streets 

 of Havana for the past two years, gave an 

 interesting recital of his experiences ^m 

 Havana at a meeting of the club on No- 

 vember 7th last. 



Over 1,000,000 square yards of new 

 pavements have been laid in Havana, and 

 all of the pavements are guaranteed for 



five years. All of the asphalt used for this 

 work comes from Venezuela, is shipped to 

 New Jerse}^ where it is refined, and thence 

 shipped to Havana in barrels. In response 

 to a question as to labor conditions, Mr. 

 Pollock stated that unskilled labor is paid 

 12 cents per hour, working ten hours per 

 day, and turns out an amount of work 

 equal to about what an Itahan laborer 

 would do in eight hours in the States. 

 These laborers, the speaker said, were, as 

 a rule, ''wooden-headed — they can't think 

 for themselves." 



Commenting on the weather in Cuba, the 

 speaker said the temoerature averaged 65 

 degrees in the winter and 88 degrees in 

 summer, and that only the tourists wore 

 Panama hats, the natives and residents 

 there considered them too warm. Mr. 

 Pollock gave an interesting description of 

 the largest cigar factory in Havana, em- 

 ploying 1,100 hands, all on piecework, and 

 stated that in each room in the factory a 

 "reader" is employed by the workers, who 

 sits and reads the Spanish newspapers to 

 the hands while they are at work. This 

 reader does nothing else all day but read 

 to the employees, and for this each worker 

 chips in a little out of his weekly pay 

 toward his compensation. 



In an efifort to purify Havana harbor, 

 which is very foul, Mr. Pollock said that 

 the sewage is now carried across the city, 

 under the bay and discharged into the Gulf 

 Stream, "which carries it over 'toward 

 England." — Brooklyn Citizen. 



HAVANA WANTS CHESS GAMES 



Jose R. Capablanca, chess champion of 

 Cuba, who recently received a commission 

 from the Cuban government as chancellor 

 of the, Cuban consulate at St. Petersburg, 

 has announced that he has been authorized 

 by Mayor Andrade of Havana to invite ten 

 of the leading masters of the world to play 

 in an international tournament at Havana 

 beginning February 1, 1914. The Havana 

 city council has recommended the expend- 

 iture of $10,000 for the tournament. 



The list of players includes Rubenstein, 

 Schlechter, Tarrasch, Spielmann, Niemzo- 

 witsch, Teichmann, Marshall, Duras, Ja- 

 nowski, Alechine, Bernstein, Maroczy, At- 

 kins and Vidmar. From this hst ten will 

 be given places in the tournament. 



There are many first class chess players 

 in Havana. The last tournament early in 

 1913 excited great interest. 



