10 



THE CUBA REVIEW And Bulletin. 



NOTES OF GENERAL INTEREST. 



From our own Correspondent at Havana and other Cities of Cuba. 



RAILWAY MATTERS 



The United Railway ],(induii board 

 numbers: President Emanuel M. Under- 

 down, K. C; Sir Henry Mather Jackson, 

 Harrison Hodgson, Hon. Arthur Crich- 

 ton, Marquis del Solar, Juan Argucllcs, 

 and Tirso Mesa. 



The Havana board is as follows: 

 President Luciano Diaz, Jose Montalvan, 

 Francisco de la Cerra, Arturo Amblard 

 and Robert Orr. 



The local officials of this road arc Rob- 

 ert Orr, general manager; B. G. Plcnder- 

 son, traffic superintendent; Chas. Thorn- 

 ton, superintendent of motive power, and 

 A. E. Gibbs, store superintendent and 

 purchasing agent. A royal permit was 

 issued to the company in 1834 to build a 

 line to Guines, and in 1838 the line was 

 complete, and this English railway was 

 the first laid in Cuba. 



This company has plans for new Iniild- 

 ings, and improvements which will add 

 greatly to the comfort of passengers 

 when completed. It is their purpose to 

 build an elevated double track near the 

 grounds of Monserrate between Principe 

 and Cerro. This elevated road will cross 

 Carlos Tercero, and go along the old 

 line into a large depot, which will be 

 erected at the corner of San Jose street, 

 and the Prado, opposite Central Park. 

 The company intends to invest about 

 five million dollars in these improve- 

 ments, and of this sum about four mil- 

 lion dollars will be expended in the im- 

 provement of the terminal lines in Ha- 

 vana. 



They expect to build on a lot of land 

 they own in that vicinity, of 1,000 feet in 

 extent, facing Dragones street and 

 Campo Marte on one side, and on San 

 Jose street along a distance of five hun- 

 dred feet. 



This building will be of concrete with 

 a steel frame, and three stories high. 

 The material will be furnished b}^ a New 

 York firm. The passenger depot will be 

 on the second floor, on a level with the 

 elevated track, and waiting rooms, a 

 restaurant and comfortable rooms will be 

 provided for passengers; On the third 

 floor will be the offices and the ground 

 floor will be used for baggage. The 

 parts of the building not used by the 

 company will be for business offices, and 



>lures. Carriages and coaches \yill be 

 driven into a building, so passengers 

 will not be exposed in rainy weather or 

 stormy days. The company intends to 

 use the western part of the block as a 

 local freight yard. Machinery has been 

 ordered from the United States and also 

 from England. The main shops will be 

 fitted fully with all the ui)-to-date re- 

 quirements, while the old shops in Cie- 

 nega and in Cardenas and Jucardo will 

 go on as before. 



Other purchases besides the machinery 

 imported from the United States and Eng- 

 land, are for three hundred steel cars or- 

 dered from Belgium for freight service. 

 The Ur.ited Railway has in running order 

 now, fully five thousand cars, and two hun- 

 dred engines. 



In addition to aforenamed plans and en- 

 terprises, the company has taken a lease of 

 the Marianao Railway for a period of one 

 hundred years, and has extended its lines 

 as far as Hoyo, Colorado, beyond Marianao. 

 They intend to build a road from Guana- 

 jay to Cabanas and Bahia Honda, where 

 the United States coaling station is to be. 

 The United Railway has acquired several 

 other railroads and expended about twenty 

 millions of dollars for this purpose. Among 

 the railroads acquired are the Cardenas and 

 Jucaro, Matanzas and Sabanilla, and these 

 roads will be greatly improved. The con- 

 solidated lines will abolish five stations and 

 join the roads by extensions and connec- 

 tions. 



This company will pay a dividend of nine 

 per cent, this year. Last year they paid 

 ten per cent., and the year before, thirteen 

 per cent. The decrease is accounted for 

 by the unsettled condition of affairs in 

 Cuba in part, and by the lower price of 

 sugar for the past two years also. 



Near Roque, where the track was often 

 under water, sometimes for fifteen feet, 

 the company intends to make a new road 

 to avoid the basin and to find a way of 

 not going all the way around by Cardenas 

 when there is a great deal of rain. The 

 comptny will grade their track quite high. 



The Cuba Eastern road now will short- 

 ly be established to Maya, which is about 

 three miles from the Cuba Co. road. 

 They propose to put guaguas on this 

 road and passengers will soon be able to 

 go to Guantanamo by rail. 



A new railway will be opened between 

 Havana and Guanajay by the Havana 

 Central Railway. 



