The History of Cuba Volume V Part 32

The four original steamers mentioned above were owned in part by the builders, Messrs. John Roach & Son, and a few other individuals. The original firm however sold its s.h.i.+ps to the Company at the time of its reorganization. Of the vessels acquired by the company, the majority were built under contract by Messrs. Roach & Son, and Wm. Cramp & Sons'

s.h.i.+p and Engine Building Company. Among the s.h.i.+ps that were purchased and not built especially for this company, were the two sister s.h.i.+ps _Seguranca_ and _Vigilancia_, built in 1890 for the Brazil Line. The steams.h.i.+ps _City of Was.h.i.+ngton_ and _City of Alexandria_ were originally owned by the Alexandria Line, and pa.s.sed into the hands of the Ward Line after its organization. The _Matanzas_, formerly the Spanish steamer _Guido_, that had left London with a valuable cargo of food, munitions and money with which to pay off Spanish troops in Cuba, was captured by the American forces during the early part of the war with Spain, in an attempt to run the blockade that had been established, and was afterwards sold by the American Government to the Ward Line.

The business of this company, after its organization, began with a pa.s.senger and freight service connecting the cities of Havana, Santiago and Cienfuegos with New York. With the acquisition of the Alexandria Line, the service of the company was extended to Mexico, and a number of ports have been added to its itinerary both in Cuba and in Mexico. The line to-day maintains a service on each of the following routes: New York to Havana and return; New York to Havana, Progreso, Yucatan, and Vera Cruz, returning via Progreso and Havana to New York; New York to Tampico, Mexico, calling occasionally on return voyages at other ports when cargoes are offered; New York to Guantanamo, Santiago, Manzanillo and Cienfuegos, returning according to the demands of s.h.i.+pping interests; New York to Na.s.sau, in the Bahamas, Havana, and return. The sailings average about five a week and schedules are prepared from time to time to meet the requirements of trade. Pa.s.sengers on this line are carried in three distinct cla.s.ses, first cabin, intermediate, and steerage, the vessels being constructed with reference to suitable accommodations for the various cla.s.ses.

The princ.i.p.al railway and other connections are as follows: At New York in general with all railroads terminating at that port, as well as all foreign and domestic water lines that move traffic via that port; at Havana with the United Railways of Havana and the Cuba Railroad; at Tampico with the Mexican Central Railway for interior points in Mexico; at Progreso with the United Railways of Yucatan for Merida, Campeche and other interior points; at Vera Cruz with the National Railways of Mexico and the Interoceanic Railroad for interior points of Mexico, as well as with the Vera Cruz and Pacific Railroad for interior points of Mexico and the Pacific Coast; at Puerto Mexico with the Tehuantepec National Railway, for points on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and on the Pacific Coast. Connection is also made at Vera Cruz with the Compania Mexicana de Navegacion for traffic to Tuxpam, Coatzacoalcos, Tlacotalpam and Frontera, ports on the Gulf of Mexico. At Santiago connection is made with the Cuba Eastern Railway and Cuba Railroad for points throughout the interior of Cuba; at Guantanamo with the Cuba Eastern Railway and at Cienfuegos with the Cuban Central Railroad.

The company has contracts with the United States Government for the transportation of mails between New York and Havana, and between New York, Havana and Mexico. It also has a contract with the Bahamas Government for the transportation of mails.

The following is a list of the vessels owned or operated by the company.

STEAMERS:

_Havana_ _Saratoga_ _Mexico_ _Morro Castle_ _Esperanza_ _Matanzas_ _Antilla_ _Camaguey_ _Santiago_ _Bayamo_ _Monterey_ _Segurancia_ _Vigilancia_ _Seneca_ _Manzanillo_ _Yumuri_ _Guantanamo_

TUGS AND STEAM LIGHTERS:

_Colonia_ _Nautilus_ _Neptuno_ _Hercules_ _Auxiliar_ _Comport_ _Edwin Brandon_

The total gross tonnage of the steamers and tugs above mentioned is 84,000 tons.

One of the oldest and most important lines in the carrying trade of the Caribbean is known as the Munson Steams.h.i.+p Line, and was founded in 1872 by Walter D. Munson. The trade began with sailing vessels but the increase in traffic was so great that these were soon replaced with steamers. The steams.h.i.+ps in the service of the Munson Line to-day number 140, with an average tonnage of 2,500 tons each, dead weight.

These vessels sail from nearly every port in Cuba, connecting the Island with nearly all of the Atlantic and Gulf Coast ports of the United States. The pa.s.senger steamers of the Munson Line ply between New York, Nuevitas and Nipe Bay of the Province of Oriente. The pa.s.senger steamers, although not touching at Havana, are equipped for the accommodation of pa.s.sengers that leave from the ports of the eastern provinces of the Island.

During the late European War twelve of the Munson steams.h.i.+ps were placed in the service of the United States and three under the British flag.

The Peninsular and Occidental Steams.h.i.+p Company operates a daily pa.s.senger, mail and freight service between Havana and Key West, Florida. Since 1912 this company has maintained practically a daily service between the two ports and maintains also a bi-weekly service between Havana and Port Tampa, Florida. Owing to the frequency of the sailings, the P. & O. SS. Co. is considered the official mail route between the United States and Cuba.

The company operates also the Florida East Coast Car-Ferry freight service between Havana and Key West. This service was made possible by the extension of the Florida East Coast Railroad from the southern points of the peninsula out over the long line of keys that terminates in the Island of Key West.

The erection of this viaduct, built at an enormous expense, of stone and concrete, was the realization of Henry W. Flagler's dream of modern transportation facilities between the United States and Cuba. The car ferry service was inaugurated in January, 1915. At the present time two of these great car ferryboats, with a capacity of 28 standard freight cars each, make a round trip every twenty-four hours between the two ports. These two vessels transport approximately 1,150 cars in and out of Cuba every month, carrying over 35,000 tons each way in that length of time.

Since the inauguration of the service more business has been offered than can be handled during certain months of the year, and it has been found necessary to refuse large quant.i.ties of cargo destined for the Republic of Cuba. The advantage of this service to the Cuban fruit and vegetable growers has been very great, since they are enabled to load in the Cuban fields freight cars belonging to almost every line in the United States, so that this produce may be s.h.i.+pped direct, without breaking bulk, to any market in the United States.

In the year 1870 the Pinillos Izquierdo Line of steamers was established between Spain and the Island of Cuba. The home office of this line is in Cadiz, Spain. Their vessels are engaged in freight and pa.s.senger service touching at the following points in the Peninsula: Barcelona, Palma de Majorca, Valencia, Alicante, Malaga, Cadiz, Vigo, Gijon and Santander.

En route the Canary Island and Porto Rico are also visited while the terminal points on this side of the Atlantic are New Orleans, Galveston, Havana and Santiago de Cuba. All of their steamers carry mail. Their fleet consists of nine steamers with a combined tonnage of 78,000 tons as follows:

Infanta Isabel 16,500 tons 2000 pa.s.sengers Cadiz 10,500 tons 1500 pa.s.sengers Barcelona 10,500 tons 1500 pa.s.sengers Valbanera 10,500 tons 1500 pa.s.sengers Catalina 8,000 tons 1000 pa.s.sengers Martin Saena 5,500 tons 800 pa.s.sengers Balmes 6,500 tons 800 pa.s.sengers Conde Wifredo 5,500 tons 800 pa.s.sengers Miguel M. Pinillos 4,500 tons 500 pa.s.sengers ------ 78,000 tons

The Southern Pacific, originally known as the Morgan line, established a transportation service between Gulf ports and the Island of Cuba many years ago, beginning with two side-wheel walking-beam steamboats of about 800 tons dead weight. They were heavy consumers of coal and had a speed of from 9-1/2 to 11 knots. A few years later the steamers _Hutchinson_ and _Arkansas_, both side wheelers, were added to the fleet. Still later the single propeller steamers _Excelsior_ and _Chalmette_, of about 2,400 tons each, were placed in the service of the Southern Pacific Line. These combined freight and pa.s.senger boats were well built and seaworthy fourteen knot steamers, of an equipment considered modern at that time. The _Louisiana_ entered the service in 1900, but owing to an error in loading freight, it turned turtle at the docks in New Orleans and became a total loss. The _Excelsior_ and _Chalmette_ are still maintaining an efficient weekly service between New Orleans and Havana.

The _Compagnie General Transatlantique_, generally known as the French Line, connecting western France, Northern Spain and the Canary Islands, with Cuba, Porto Rico, Vera Cruz, Mexico, and the city of New Orleans, was established in 1860.

St. Nazaire on the Bay of Biscay in France is the headquarters of this line. Their steamers touch at Santander and Coruna on the north coast of Spain; at the Canary Islands, Porto Rico, Martinique, Santiago de Cuba, Havana, Vera Cruz, and New Orleans. Their fleet consists of 13 s.h.i.+ps with a combined tonnage of 153,500 tons.

The steams.h.i.+p _Lafayette_, of 15,000 tons, is equipped for the accommodation of 1,620 pa.s.sengers. The _Espana_, of 15,000 tons, carries 1,500 pa.s.sengers; the _Flanders_, of 12,000 tons, carries 1,250 pa.s.sengers; the _Venizia_, of 12,000 tons, carries 700 pa.s.sengers; the _Navarre_, of 10,000 tons, carries 1,000 pa.s.sengers; the _Venezuela_, of 7,000 tons, carries 500 pa.s.sengers.

The _Caroline_, the _Mississippi_ and the _Georgie_ are each steamers of 13,000 tons. The _Honduras_ is a 12,000 ton s.h.i.+p; the _Hudson_ 11,000 tons; the _Californie_ 10,500 tons, and the _Virginie_ 10,000 tons. The seven last mentioned vessels carry cargo only.

During August, 1919, the 7,000 ton steamer _Panama Ca.n.a.l_ arrived in Cuba from j.a.pan, inaugurating a new steams.h.i.+p line between j.a.pan and the United States, touching at Cuban ports. The line is known as the Osaka Shosen Kaisha, of Osaka, j.a.pan. The fleet consists of 186 steamers plying between j.a.pan and different parts of the world. The headquarters for this company has been established at Chicago, Illinois, owing to connections that have been made with the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad.

Steamers eastward bound from j.a.pan will bring rice and general cargo, most of which will be consigned to the Island of Cuba, owing to the heavy consumption of that article of food in that Republic. New Orleans will be the terminus in the United States of the line. On the initial trip of the _Panama Ca.n.a.l_ 50,000 sacks of rice grown in j.a.pan were consigned to Cuban merchants in Santiago de Cuba and Cienfuegos. The return cargoes will be composed largely of cotton, taken aboard at New Orleans, and with sugar and tobacco s.h.i.+pped from Cuba to the Orient.

This line has begun with one sailing each way per month, all steamers touching at Havana for freight and pa.s.sengers.

The Customs regulations of Cuba require five sets of invoices for Havana and four for all other points; which must be written in ink, in either English or Spanish. If they are typewritten the original imprint must be included, but the others may be carbon copies. Invoices must give the names of s.h.i.+ppers and consignees, and of vessels; marks and numbers, description of merchandise, gross and net weights by metric system, price, value, and statement of expenses incurred. If there are no expenses, that fact must be stated. Prices must be detailed, on each article, and not in bulk. Descriptions of merchandise must be detailed, telling the materials of each article and of all its parts. Descriptions of fabrics must tell the nature of the fibre, character of weave, dye, number of threads in six square millimeters, length and width of piece, weight, price, and value. All measurements must be in metric units.

At the foot of each sheet of the invoice must be a signed declaration, in Spanish, telling whether the articles are or are not products of the soil or industry of the United States. If the manufacturer or s.h.i.+pper is not a resident of the place where the consulate is situated, he must appoint in writing a local agent to present the invoice and the agent must write and sign a declaration concerning his appointment. Stated forms are prescribed and are furnished by consuls for manufacturers, producers, owners, sellers and s.h.i.+ppers.

Freight charges to the s.h.i.+pping port, custom house and statistical fees, stamps, wharf.a.ge and incidental expenses must be included in the dutiable value of goods, and must be stated separately; but insurance and consular fees must not be included.

Each invoice must cover a single, distinct s.h.i.+pment, by one vessel to one consignee. Separate consignments must not be included in one invoice. Invoices under $5, covering products of the soil or industry of the United States must be certified in order to enjoy the provisions of the reciprocity treaty between the two countries. Invoices and declarations must be written on only one side of the paper, and no erasures, corrections, alterations or additions must be made, unless stated in a signed declaration.

Domestic and foreign merchandise from the United States must be separately invoiced. Invoices are not required on s.h.i.+pments of foreign goods of less value than $5.

Fabrics of mixed fibres must be so stated, with a statement of the proportion of the princ.i.p.al material, upon which the duty is to be computed. Cotton goods pay duty according to threads, and silk and wool ad valorem. Samples of cotton goods are taken at the custom house, and should be provided for that purpose to avoid mutilation of the piece.

Duties on ready made clothing are based on the chief outside fabric. A surtax of 100% is placed on ready-made cotton clothing, and a surtax of 30% on colored threads.

Two copies of each set of bills of lading must be given, but on merchandise of less than $5 value need not be certified.

Invoices covering s.h.i.+pments of automobile vehicles must state maker, name of car, style of car, year of make, maker's number on motor, number of cylinders, horse power, and pa.s.senger capacity.

If after an invoice has been certified it or any part of it is delayed in s.h.i.+pment, the steams.h.i.+p company must mark on the bill of lading opposite the delayed goods "Short s.h.i.+pped," but the invoice need not be recertified. The consignee should, however, be informed.

The list of articles admitted into Cuba free of duty comprises samples of fabrics, felt, and wall paper, of a prescribed size, samples of lace and tr.i.m.m.i.n.gs, and samples of hosiery, provided that they are rendered unfit for any other purpose than that of samples; trained animals, animals, portable theatres, and other articles for public entertainment, not to remain in Cuba longer than three months; receptacles in which fruits or liquids were exported from Cuba and which are being returned empty; furniture, clothing and other personal property of immigrants, or of travellers, showing evidence of having already been used; agricultural implements not including machinery; and pictures, posters, catalogues, calendars, etc., not for sale but for free distribution for advertising purposes.

The importation into Cuba is forbidden or restricted of foreign coins of anything but gold, save those of the United States; gunpowder, dynamite and other explosives, save by special permit of the Interior Department; and silencers for firearms. Arms of more than .32 caliber, .44 caliber revolvers, and automatic pistols require special permit.

Consular fees for certification are: On s.h.i.+pments worth less than $5, nothing; from $5 upward and less than $50, fifty cents; from $50 upward and less than $200, $2; over $200, $2 plus ten cents for each $100 or fraction thereof. Extra copies of invoices, 50 cents each. Invoice blanks, ten cents a set. Certifying bills of lading, $1.

Cuban consulates are situated in the United States and its possessions as follows: Atlanta, Ga.; Baltimore, Md.; Boston, Ma.s.s.; Brunswick, Ga.; Chattanooga, Tenn.; Chicago, Ill.; Cincinnati, Ohio.; Detroit, Mich.; Fernandina, Fla.; Galveston, Tex.; Gulfport, Miss.; Jacksonville, Fla.; Kansas City, Mo.; Key West, Fla.; Los Angeles, Cal.; Louisville, Ky.; Mobile, Ala.; New Orleans, La.; New York; Newport News, Va.; Norfolk, Va.; Pascagoula, Miss.; Pensacola, Fla.; Philadelphia, Penn.; San Francisco, Cal.; Savannah, Ga.; St. Louis, Mo.; Tampa, Fla.; Was.h.i.+ngton, D. C.; and Aguadilla, Arecibo, Mayagues, Ponce, and San Juan, Porto Rico.

CHAPTER x.x.xVI

AMERICAN COLONIES IN CUBA

American soldiers returning to the United States at the conclusion of her little war with Spain, in the summer of 1898, brought wonderful stories of Cuba, with glowing accounts of her climate, her rainfall, her rich soil and natural advantages. Schemes for the colonization of the Island were immediately formed and some of them put into effect during the early days of the Government of Intervention.

Unfortunately, most of these enterprises originated with speculators, and so-called land-sharks, who sought only to secure large tracts of territory, at the smallest possible cost, and with the a.s.sistance of attractive literature place them on the market in the United States, at prices which would enable them, even when sold on the installment plan to make a thousand percent or more profit on the capital invested.

This method of settling up the country would not have been so objectionable had the promoters of the schemes taken the pains to locate their colonies in those sections of the Island where transportation facilities, if not immediately available, could at least be reasonably sure in the near future.

Up to the present, a logical, common sense plan in the colonization in this Island has in no instance been carried out. On the contrary, every American colony that has yet been established in Cuba, and her adjacent Islands, has been located with disregard to the first essentials of success. These hapless experiments have met with a fate that was inevitable and in most instances can be described with one word "Failure."