THE CUBA R E \' 1 E W 



21 



RAILROAD AND COMMERCIAL NEWS 



CUBA COMPANY S YEAR 



The Cuba Company's reports for the 

 fiscal year ended June 30th last compares 

 as follows. 



Ingenio Jatibonico — 1911 Increase 



Gross earnings $979,769 *$34,231 



Operating expenses.... 779,641 77,505 



Xet earnings $200,128 *$11,736 



Land department — 



Gross earnings $69,516 *$827 



Operating expenses.... 33,552 12,719 



Xet earnings $35,964 *$13,546 



Other income *585 



Total net earnings.. $236,092 *$125,867 

 Charges and taxes 260,813 27,438 



Deficit $24,721 $153,305 



* Decrease. 



The unsatisfactory results for the year, 

 the report states, were due entirely to the 

 very bad cane crop, resulting from drought, 

 which affected nearly all Cuba. The com- 

 pany's plantations yielded only about half 

 crop. A considerable amount of cane was 

 destroj-ed or so much damaged that it had 

 to be replanted. The new sugar mill at 

 Tababo will be ready for operation in De- 

 cember, quite in time for the new^ crop. 

 Towards the building of this mill and the 

 provision of additional cane for its supply, 

 a loan of $1,200,000 w-as negotiated on three 

 year notes of the company. Up to the 

 close of the last fiscal period only $600,000 

 of these notes had been issued. 



The growing crop of cane is in excellent 

 condition with the exception of' some new 

 spring plantings which were late owing to 

 the delayed rains. A good and sufficient 

 crop seems assured, however, which to- 

 gether with the high prices for raw sugar 

 now prevailing gives promise of a very 

 profitable season. 



THE CUBA RAILROAD S CONDITION 



Sir William Van Home, president of 

 the Cuba Railroad, in his annual address 

 to the stockholders, emphatically contra- 

 dicts the erroneous statements published 

 in the press of the United States regard- 

 ing conditions in Cuba. 



'"The reports of disorder in Cuba, w-hich 

 have occasio'nally found their w^ay to the 

 press, have no foundation in fact. Good 

 order has continued to prevail in the is- 

 land." 



The annual report of the Cuba Railroad 

 show's a very satisfactory state of affairs 

 in its finances. Notwithstanding the 



drought of last year the road shows an 

 mcrease in net earnings over the previous 

 vear of $226,771.71. The gross earnings of 

 the year ending June 30, 1911, were $3,059,- 

 649 as compared with $2,559,335.70 last 

 year. 



The road during the year has added 

 considerably to its rolling stock and has 

 otherwise been improved. Old bridges 

 have been replaced by masonry or concrete 

 work. A total of 2,374 feet of new bridge 

 work has been done in replacing old. 



During the year the new lines from 

 Marti to San Luis and from Bayamo to 

 Manzanillo w^ere opened to traffic. 



ew 

 at a 



POINTS FOR SHIPPERS 



The preparation of consular invoices is 

 one of the most important details to be 

 attended to in shipping merchandise to 

 Cuba, says the Exporters' Review (N 

 \ork). When a shipment arrives at 

 Cuban port, the merchant must make a 

 customs entry, in duplicate, accompanying 

 same with the original consular invoice 

 and original bill of lading, and a copy 

 of each. In cases where the consular 

 invoice is made in a foreign language, a 

 certified translation must be presented to 

 the custom house at the time of filing the 

 entry. Consular invoices must show the 

 name of the shipper, the steamer on which 

 the goods are shipped, the consignee, 

 the marks, numbers, gross and net weights, 

 value, selling price per dozen, pound, 

 barrel or crate, as the case may be, the 

 total value, but more especially it must 

 describe the merchandise in such a manner 

 that the appraisers can classify it. In 

 other words, if a pump is shipped, and it 

 is composed of iron, brass and copper, 

 it is not sufficient to specify in the invoice 

 "one pump." The merchant should 



specify a pump, made of iron, steel, copper 

 or brass, as the case may be. In the same 

 manner a piece of furniture which is made 

 of oak, should be specified, "one table," 

 and if it is carved, it should be specified, 

 "carved," and if it has incrustrations of 

 gold or silver, this should be specified. The 

 reason for this is that, when an appraisal 

 is made, in a great man}' cases, the domi- 

 nant material in the article is the one which 

 determines its classification. In the same 

 way. the weight should be given accu- 

 rately, and the merchant must bear in 

 mind that, as in the customs tariff of the 

 United States, whenever there is a diff'er- 

 ence in weights exceeding a certain per- 

 centage, a penalty of one per cent is 

 assessed for each one per cent of the 

 difference in weight or value up to a cer- 

 tain amount, after which the merchandise 



