THE CUBA REVIEW 17 
derived. Such tracks are built primarily for conveying the cane from the colonias, 
or cane plantations, to the mills to be ground. In some parts of the Island not well 
served by the railway companies the mills have built small-gauge (38-foot) roads. 
For the most part, however, the cane roads are standard gauge and laid to connect 
up with the railways, so that rolling stock may move freely over all lines, All the 
narrow-gauge cane roads buy their own rolling stock. Many of the standard-gauge 
cane roads have been using railway rolling stock. Recently the tendency has been 
for the larger sugar mills to buy their own cane cars and locomotives. The reasons 
for this have been the difficulty of procuring ‘a sufficient number of cars from the 
railroads for moving the cane to the mills, and the desire of the mill owners to be 
independent of the railroads. 
There are at present 193 operating sugar mills in Cuba, with some 16 or 20 
more in course of construction. These mills vary in capacity from 4,000 bags (a bag 
_ contains 320 pounds) annually to 700,000, the total production of the Island being in 
the neighborhood of 30,000,000 bags for the last season. It is estimated that at least 
half of the Cuban sugar mills buy their own rolling stock. The track mileage owned 
by a single mill is from 60 kilometers (kilometer equals 0.621 mile) to over 300 
kilometers. A prominent engineer recently estimated that 100 sugar mills in Cuba 
each operate an average of 150 cane cars and 6 locomotives, and laid or used annually 
15 kilometers of track. This estimate would mean that Cuban sugar mills themselves 
own and operate a minimum of 15,000 cane cars and 600 locomotives. The building 
of cane cars alone for Cuba would offer a splendid market for the car manufacturer. 
The American car manufacturer, however, considers that he need never fear 
competition in the Cuban market. The Cuban customs tariff has placed a heavy 
general ad valorem rate on railroad rolling stock of all kinds (except locomotives), 
amounting to 31.25 per cent. The American manufacturer, then, gets a reduction from: 
this rate of 20 per cent. This means that a Canadian car would pay 31.25 per cent. 
duty as against only 25 per cent. charged the American car. The result has been: 
that for many years American rolling stock has had practically a monopoly of the: 
Cuban market, although previous to the war Cuba imported some 10 per cent. of her 
rolling stock from the United Kingdom and Germany. 
The following is a list of Cuban railways, with particulars, where available, 
of their mileage, and rolling stock: United Railways of Havana (Ltd.) (681 miles), 
48% gauge, 248 locomotives, 6,740 cars; Western Railway of Havana (147 miles), 
48% gauge, 30 locomotives, 760 cars; Cuban Central Railways (Ltd.) (340 miles), 
4.8% gauge, 22 miles 3 gauge, 98 locomotives, 3,725 cars. All under management of 
Brig. Gen. Jack, Central Station, Havana, Cuba. Havana Central Railroad Co. (68 
miles), 4.8% gauge, 15 locomotives, 324 cars. Cuba Northern Railways Co. (177 miles), 
4.8% gauge, 43 locomotives, 1,075 cars. The Cuba Railroad Co. (738 miles), 48% 
gauge, 150 locomotives, 5,257 cars. Gibara & Holguin Railroad Co, (51 miles), 3 gauge, 
6 locomotives, 57 cars. Guantanamo Railroad Co. (78 miles), 48% gauge, 8 locomo- 
tives, 372 cars. Guantanamo Railroad (108 miles), 48% gauge, 15 locomotives, 
568 cars. 
The electric tram lines are: Havana Electric Railway, Light & Power Co., Insular 
Railway Co., Monte No. 1, Havana. United Railways of Havana, Central Station, 
Havana, Cuba, comprising Havana Terminal Railroad, Havana Central Railroad, 
Marianao Railway, Western Railway of Havana (partly electrified). Hershey Rail- 
road, Manzana de Gomez, Havana. Cienfuegos-Palmira Light & Power Co., Cienfuegos, 
Cuba. Camaguey Electric Railroad, Camaguey, Cuba. Matanzas Electric Railroad, 
Matanzas, Cuba. Cardenas Electric Railroad, Cardenas, Cuba. Guantanamo Electric 
Railway Co., Guantanamo, Cuba.—Weekly Bulletin, Canada. 
