THE CUBA REVIEW 



SHIPPING CONDITIONS IN THE PORT 

 OF HAVANA 

 Figures show that Havana is rapidly 

 becoming one of the greatest centers of 

 American foreign sliipping. During the 

 first three months of 1920 the American 

 consulate general issued 494 bills of 

 health to American vessels and 85 to for- 

 eign vessels, a large number of the latter 

 being engaged in handling American 

 goods. During part of this time a gen- 

 eral harbor strike was in progress with 

 50 to 75 American vessels tied up in the 

 harbor. Many vessels were unable to dis- 

 charge their cargoes for a month or sis 

 weeks. 



HEAVY BOOKINGS FOR HAVANA 

 All records at this season were broken 

 during the month of May by the nimaber 

 of passengers arriving in Havana from 

 American and European ports. The total 

 for the month was 14,250. 



Hotels in Havana also report an in- 

 crease in the number of transients apply- 

 ing for rooms during the summer months. 

 More hotel rooms in the city have been 

 taken during the past May than in the 

 same month of any previous year. De- 

 mands for real estate and rented office 

 space also reflect the large number of 

 people who have gone to Cuba to live. 



TELEPHONE SERVICE BETWEEN NEW 

 YORK AND HAVANA 



Probably no move made in the last ten 

 years in Havana will do more to aid busi- 

 ness interests and bring about closer com- 

 mercial relationship between Cuba and 

 the United States than the formation of 

 the company which is to inaugurate a 

 telephone service between Cuba and the 

 United States and also between Cuba and 

 South America and the West Indies. 



To line the United States and Cuba and 

 Cuba and Porto Rico and Porto Rico and 

 the South American countries is a big en- 

 gineering and financial problem, but it can 

 be done and the engineers and officials of 

 the Cuban Telephone Company, the Porto 

 Rican Telephone Company and the Cuban 



American Telephone & Telegraph Com- 

 pany, which are backing the project, have 

 evidently given the matter great thought 

 and careful study. That the plan they 

 have launched will be put into actual 

 working effect nest October is the best 

 evidence that it is feasible and is greatly 

 needed. That it will prove beneficial to 

 those whose interests demand the fastest 

 means of communication goes without 

 saying. 



At the present time the telephone 

 service in either Havana, New York or 

 Boston is such as would not have been 

 tolerated a few years ago. But there are 

 many reasons for this — lack of help, lack 

 of equipment, overloading of wires, etc. 

 Naturally the pviblic, as always, has ta 

 stand for this inefficiency or deficiency, 

 but if the Island of Cuba can be connected 

 with the United States by telephone direct 

 much will be forgiven. 



To be able to talk from New York, Bos- 

 ton or Chicago to Havana by telephone, 

 give your orders, transact your entire 

 business and finish the whole matter in 

 a few minutes instead of having to cable 

 or to wait for long delayed mail will 

 prove a boon to the merchants of both 

 the United States and Cuba that has no 

 parallel. 



One of the best evidences that Cuba and 

 Cubans and the business men of Havana 

 are entirely in favor of this plan of bind- 

 ing the United States and Canada and 

 the South American republics by tele- 

 phone with Cuba is the fact that the 

 shares of one of the companies interested 

 in the transaction showed an increase 

 of several points in the trading recently 

 after the story of the proposed extensions 

 of service was published. And with this 

 public support of such a project it is a 

 fairly certain sign that it is meritorious 

 and that it will be brought to a success- 

 ful end. 



COMMISSION OF BELGIAN MERCHANTS 

 A connnission of Belgian merchants has 

 been sent to Cuba to study the financial 

 condition of the Republic and to arrange 

 for a greater importation of Cuban to- 

 bacco into Belgium. 



