THE CUBA REVIEW 



17 



CUBAN RAILWAYS AND THE EUROPEAN WAR 



AN ANALYSIS OF THE CUBA RAILROAD 



The London Stotist has printed the first of a series of articles on the leading raih'oads in 

 Cuba. As it finds it impossible to deal comprehensively with all the companies in a single 

 article it begins with anah'sing the position of the Cuba Raih-oad, and will continue its examina- 

 tion of the other railways in subsequent weeks. 



In the Xovember issue of the Cuba Review, the second in the series of studies of the railway 

 systems of Cuba will be printed. It is an analysis of the United Railways of Havana. 



In connection with the study of the Cuba Railroad, which follows, some beautiful views 

 are printed of the superb scenery along the company's lines. 



The company is the youngest of the group, having been organized as i-ecently as May, 

 1900. Nevertheless, such rapid strides have been made since operations were commenced 

 that the company akeady occupies a very important position in the railway enterprises of 

 the Republic. The system of 602 miles is now all in operation. The main Hue (387 miles) 

 extends along the middle of the southwest portion of the island from Santa Clara, its western 

 terminus, to Santiago de Cuba on the south coast and to Antilla on the northeast coast of 

 the eastern end of the island, and the company enjoys the complete monopoly of the trade 

 of these two ports. The remainder of the mileage is made up of comparativeh' small but 

 nevertheless important branches, which act as feeders to the main line. 



The freight traffic consists largely of sugar and tobacco, but the company enjo\-s a fairly 

 large general business, while the revenue derived from passengers constitutes over 40% of 

 the total gross earnings. The crop fluctuations naturally affect the prosperity of the line, 

 but the retrospect of the results of working for the last few years shows that notwithstanding 

 the many vicissitudes through which the company has passed a substantial annual improve- 

 ment has taken place in the earnings and profits of the undertaking. It will be seen from the 

 table appended that in the nine years from 1905 to 1914 the gross earnings have risen from 

 $1,029,000 to $5,164,000, while the net earnings have advanced from $295,000 to as much as 

 $2,471,000. The gi-owth of profit has been equally satisfactory, for whereas for the year to 

 June 30, 1905, the surplus in excess of charges was onh' $37,000, for the twelve month.s ended 

 with June last it was as much as $1,651,500. 



Scene along the line of the Cuba Railroad. The jungle, in places, comes down close to the track 

 the work of clearing the land is going on speedily. 



but everywhere 



