322 



humboldt's ctjba. 



At the eleventh hour, the Spanish authorities 

 determined to reserve to themselves the honor of 

 building the first railroad, and M. Fesser and his 

 company were set aside. A loan of two and-a-half 

 millions of dollars was obtained in England, the 

 Junta de Fomento contributed $40,000 annually 

 from its funds, the government loaned emancipados 

 and convicts as laborers, and the road from Havana 

 to Guines was built. It was commenced in 1835, 

 and opened to Bejucal, 17 miles, in November 

 1837, and finally to Guines, 44| miles, in December 



The building of this road is an instructive example 

 of the manner in which public works are carried on 

 by the Spanish authorities in Cuba. Don Pio Pita 

 Pizarro, who was finance minister in Spain in 1839. 

 states in his work on the treasury and national debt 

 of that country, published in Madrid in 1840, that 

 the total cost of the Guines road was $3,909,625 75, 

 being $87,366 per mile, for a single track, and 

 including the cost of equipment, stations, &c, about 

 $95,000 a mile. The government retained the road 

 for three years^ during which its receipts were as 

 follows :— 



1839. 



Passengers, 



Freight. 

 $136,484 

 173,509 

 181,963 



Total. 



1839 $171,791 



1840 172,611 



1841 .... , 168,167 



$308,275 

 346,120 

 350,140 



