THE CUBA R I-: \- I l-. W 



10 



RAILROAD AND COMMERCIAL NEWS 



Earnings of the Cuban Central Railway 



Weekly Receipts : 



AN'eek ending August 27tli £.">.4()5 



\\ eek ending" Septemlier ;>(1 ."),47:i 



Week ending Septemlier 10th ."),^;57 



W eek ending Septemlier 17th .),()S:] 



Week ending September :24th 5. ('95 



Week ending October 1st ."■),. ")S.-> 



Decrease £8» 



Increase 354 



Increase 720 



Increase 595 



Increase 671 



Increase 762: 



Earnings of the Western Railway of Havana 



Weekly Receipts : 

 A\'eek ending August 27th 

 \\'eek ending 

 \\'eek ending- 

 Week ending 

 Week ending- 

 Week ending 



£:.,(;().■) 



September 3d .j.OOS 



September 10th 5,816 



September ITth 4,880 



September :24th 4,518 



October 1st 4,515 



Increase £.'{38 



Decrease 278 



Increase 180- 



Decrease 75 



Decrease 389 



Decrease 98- 



CUBAN RAILWAY AMALGAMATION 



The United Railways of Havana has in 

 recent years acquired a verj^ strong posi- 

 tion in the island of Cuba. One of the 

 latest absorptions by the company was the 

 Havana Central Railroad, which from its 

 formation contemplated an extension of 

 its line into territory served by the Western 

 Railway of Havana. Indeed, the conces- 

 sion for an important line in this direction 

 was owned by the company. In order to 

 prevent a serious and wasteful competition, 

 the directors considered it advisable to ac- 

 quire the property of the latter company. 

 Negotiations were opened between the two 

 boards, and the result is described in an 

 official circular in the following terms : 



"The board has made the following pro- 

 posal to the board of the Western Com- 

 pany, viz. : That for each £lO Ordinary 

 share of the W'estern Railway of Havana 

 there be given in exchange £4/15 of five 

 per cent Cumulative Preference shares and 

 £lO of Ordinary shares of the United Rail- 

 ways of Havana. These shares will be 

 converted into stock. The dividend paid 

 upon the Ordinary shares of the Western 

 Railway of Havana during the past few 

 years has been 7 per cent, and should the 

 present proposal be carried through, the 

 combined dividend upon the Preference 

 stock and Ordinarv stock of this company 

 to be given in exchange, w-ould on the 

 basis of tlw last dividend paid upon the 

 latter — viz.. 4 per cent — be equivalent to 

 a dividend of approximately 6^-j per cent 

 per annum to the Western shareholders, 

 whilst a dividend of 4^2 per cent on this 

 companv's Ordinary stock would give the 



\\ estern shareholders appro.ximately 7 per- 

 cent, and if 5 per cent w'ere paid, they 

 would receive approximately 7^^ per cent." 



If the arrangement is agreed to, the 

 system controlled by the United Railways 

 of Havana will be raised to 81S miles. In 

 the circulars issued to shareholders the 

 proposals are endorsed b\^ the boards of 

 both companies. 



In the opinion of those having a thorough 

 knowledge of the railroad conditions in 

 Cuba it would be to the best interests of 

 the shareholders to consent to the amal- 

 gamation plan. 



HAVANA S CUSTOMS COLLECTIONS 



The collections of the Havana custom. 

 house for October compares as follows : 



1911 $1,647,752 



1910 1,308,242 



1909 1,452.828 



1908 1.469,084 



1907 1.669.234 



RAILROAD CONTRACT AMENDEIU 



The Railroad Commission on October 

 2Sth announced its decision to annul the 

 contract made with the Fernandez and 

 Placetas del Sur Railroad Company in 

 Santa Clara Province, for the lease of the 

 government lines from Placetas to Fer- 

 nandez del Sur and to suspend the subsidy 

 for the improvement of the line granted' 

 by presidential decree to the company, on 

 the ground that the company had failed 

 to comph- with the conditions of the Iease_ 



