THE CUBA REVIEW 



19 



RAILROAD NEWS AND TRAFFIC RECEIPTS 



REPORT OF THE CUBA RAILROAD COMPANY FOR FOUR YEARS 

 CASE OF THE HAVANA CENTRAL — EXTENSIONS OF 

 THE HAVANA ELECTRIC 



-THE 



The Havana Central Loses 



The New York Court of Appeals on 

 May 18th decided against the Havana Cen- 

 tral Railway of Cuba, in its suit against 

 the Knickerbocker Trust Company for the 

 recovery of $59,000. 



The grounds for the suit was for funds 

 which Van Voorhis, the former treasurer of 

 the Havana Central,withdrew from one bank 

 and deposited it with the Knickerbocker 

 Trust Company, from which company Van 

 Voorhis withdrew the money until the 

 account was closed. The contention of 

 the Havana Central was that Van Voorhis 

 used the funds for his own personal use, 

 and wanted the Knickerbocker people held 

 responsible. 



The lower courts took this view and 

 judgment for $56,000 was given, which 

 judgment the Court of Appeals, as stated 

 above, reversed, Judge Willard Bartlett 

 writing the opinion. He said that when 

 the Knickerbocker caused the three checks 

 to be presented to the Central Trust Com- 

 pany for payment it made all the inquiry 

 demanded of it. 



Judge Bartlett held that the Central 

 Trust Company was the agent of the Ha- 

 vana Central Railroad Company to deter- 

 mine whether the checks in controversy 

 were properly payable or not and that no 

 right therefore remains in the railroad 

 company to recover the proceeds of the 

 checks in question. 



Activities of the Havana Electric 



Frank Steinhart, formerly Consul-Gen- 

 eral for the United States at Havana and 

 now general manager of the Havana Elec- 

 tric Railway, said in a recent interview 

 with a Ne7i' York Sun representative, that 

 his company is building 36 miles of new 

 roads and operating 58 miles. Marianao, 

 nine miles from Havana, is connected and 

 extensions in other directions are being 

 made. The company operates five separate 

 lines with a complete transfer system. "We 

 are building two new power station, "con- 

 tinues Mr. Steinhart, "one at Agualdoce and 

 the other at Marianao, and we are also 

 building a new home for employees at Jesus 

 del Monte. Our idea is to provide the men 

 with comfortable quarters, including baths, 

 and with perfect sanitary arrangements 

 at a moderate cost. We keep three doc- 

 tors, an oculist, a dentist and a chiropodist, 

 whose services are free to every man who 

 belongs to the society of the employees. 



"In the last three years we have increased 

 the rolling stock of the railway by 100 

 per cent. For motormen and conductors 

 we employ Cubans, though we have a good 

 number of American engineers and other 

 employees. Business of every kind is im- 

 proving, and the island generally is enjoy- 

 ing prosperit}'. 



"There is still a great opportunity in 

 Cuba for Americans who are willing to 

 hustle." 



THE CUBA RAILROAD COMPANY REPORT 



The report of the Cuba Railroad Company for April and for the ten months ended 

 April .30th, compares as follows : 



1910 1909 1908 1907 



April Gross $278,594 $226,657 $209,758 $208,973 



Expenses 148,311 121,773 123,436 120.754 



April Net $130,282 $104,884 $86,322 $88,219 



Charges 36,666 34,579 31,892 28,329 



April Surplus $93,615 $70,305 $54,430 $59,890 



Ten Months' Gross $2,100,736 $1,766,920 $1,720,385 $1,578,863 



Expenses 1,219,089 997,344 1,112,879 1,068,195 



Ten Months' Net $881,647 $769,576 $607,506 $510,668 



Charges 361,876 329,937 301,618 269,271 



Ten Months' Surplus $519,770 $439,639 $305,888 $241,397 



