2S 



THE CUBA REVIEW 



Market fur Dried Bananas 



Dried banana and banana chips are sold 

 in Germany and rind a ready sale, says 

 U. S. Consul-General Skinner, at Ham- 

 burg. Statistics are impossible to obtain, 

 he says, but importers verify the state- 

 ment above and say the difficulty has been 

 to get the goods rather than a market. 

 The demand first came from vegetarians, 

 but now all classes are buyers. 



Thus far dried bananas have come from 

 Jamaica, the whole fruit coming in wooden 

 cases, weighing 56 English pounds and the 

 chips in sacks. Importers pay $5.9o per 

 100 EngHsh pounds delivered in Hamburg. 



An Attractive Side Crop 



Broom corn might be made a consider- 

 able part of the local agricultural industry, 

 although attempts to cultivate it on a large 

 scale, like cane, would certainly be fol- 

 lowed by general failure. It is cultivated 

 at less than half the cost required by 

 sugar cane, and its cutting and curing is 



comparatively inexpensive. Its manufac- 

 ture into marketable products, such as 

 brooms, brushes, whisks, etc., is cheaply 

 performed by simple and inexpensive ma- 

 chinerj-. 



The industry in connection with other 

 crops and with the necessary wood supply 

 available for broom and brush handles, and 

 the wood-turning and straw-preparing ma- 

 chinery, requires very little capital to erect 

 and operate. The policy of a broom-corn 

 grower manufacturing his own raw mate- 

 rial and getting the final price for his prod- 

 ucts appears a very wise one, says the 

 Louisiana Sugar Planters' Journal. 



In the first five months of 1910 cocoa 

 production in Cuba decreased 350 long tons, 

 as compared with the same period in 1909. 



The world's consumption of cocoa is 

 estimated at 208,000 tons and the total pro- 

 duction at 220,000 tons, increasing the sup- 

 plies on hand to about 102,000 tons at the 

 end of 1910. — From the Indische Mercunr, 

 Holland. 



Isle of 'Pines Notes 



Three concessions have been granted for 

 a public telephone service on the Isle of 

 Pines, and the work of installation is al- 

 ready under way. A. E. Willis, the editor 

 of the Al''pcal, will be general manager of 

 the new company. 



The final word on the school situation 

 early in Sejitember, was that the Cuban De- 

 partment of Education would pay the rent 

 of five schools, the salaries of the janitors 

 and provide school materials and furniture 

 for the coming year. The arrangement 

 applies to the schools at Xueva Gerona, Co- 

 lumbia, McKinley. Caleta Grande and \\'est 

 RIcKinley. 



This '5 on the authority of Secretary of 

 Public instruction Garcia Kohly. 



With the completion of the bridge at 

 the end of the San Pedro Calzado, and 

 the work has already begun, the connection 

 with the La Cunagua road will be estab- 

 lished. 



A recent census of East McKinley shows 

 30 houses and for McKinley fi2. . 



The Santa Fe Record is the name of a 

 new Isle of Pines newspaper. This makes 

 three in the island. 



The 2,000-foot dock at Siguenea Bay, Los 

 Indios, is going to be larger than antici- 

 pated at first. A great many men are em- 

 ployed, and it is thought the' wharf will be 

 ready for use by the end of the vear. The 

 work was begun in Alay. 



[•"urther Action Improbable 



The case against the eight Americans on 

 the Isle of Pines, who were arrested last 

 month by the Cuban authorities, has fallen 

 to pieces, and probably no further action 

 will be taken. 



Mr. Reed of the Isle of Pines Nezus, in 

 discussing the arrests, said : "I think that 

 those in power will see that it will be best 

 to drop the cases altogether. The Cuban 

 laborers in the Isle are now getting from 

 $1.25 to fl.50 per day, where formerly 40 

 and 75 cents were the scale of wages. If 

 the cases are pushed not an American on 

 the island will employ a Cuban and as some 

 grove owners employ as high as 150 hands 

 it counts up. It will be a boycott on Cu- 

 bans and they will be forced to return to 

 the big island for work. Their places 

 could easily be supplied with negroes from 

 Jamaica. It would involve some expense, 

 but the Americans are willing to stand it." 



Is Cuban Territory. — So far as official 

 assurance can go, the American islanders 

 have been informed that the United States 

 regards their home as Cuban territory un- 

 der complete Cuban control. If they still 

 persist in a contrary view, they cannot 

 reasonably expect the American govern- 

 ment to strain national courtesy in going 

 to their relief. — Boston (Mass.) Record. 



Cement blocks and tiles are being manu- 

 factured in Xueva Gerona. 



