OCEAN TRANSPORTATION
Transportation is the handmaid of production. Where transportation
facilities are faulty, exchange of commodities is necessarily restricted
to local demands, and commerce with the outside world is practically
impossible. Good harbors are among the first essentials to foreign
trade, and with deep, well protected bays, Cuba has been bountifully
supplied. Every sheltered indentation of her two thousand miles of coast
line, from the days of Colon, has been an invitation for passing ships
to enter. The wealth of the island in agriculture and mineral and forest
products, has made the visits of these ocean carriers profitable; hence
the phenomenal growth of Cuba’s foreign commerce.
In spite of the stupid restriction of trade enforced by Spain in the
early colonial days, contraband commerce assumed large proportions
during the 17th century, and when England’s fleet captured Havana in
1763, the capital of Cuba enjoyed a freedom of foreign exchange never
before known. Quantities of sugar, coffee, hides and hardwoods, large
for those times, demanded transportation during the second quarter of
the 19th century. Foreign trade, too, was greatly stimulated in Cuba by
conditions resulting from the Civil War in the United States. The rapid
development of the sugar industry following this war soon called for
more permanent lines of ocean transportation.
[Illustration: THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, HAVANA
The Chamber of Commerce is one of the oldest civic organizations in
Cuba, which even under the repressive and discouraging rule of Spanish
Governors did much for the material progress of the Island. Under the
Republic its activities and achievements have of course been immensely
increased, and it is now appropriately housed in one of the finest
public buildings of the capital. A certain resemblance to the famous
Cooper Union building in New York has often been remarked, though the
Havana edifice is the more ornate and attractive of the two.]
The interdependence of produce and transportation is well illustrated in
the early history of what is now known as the United Fruit Company. In
1870, Captain Lorenzo D. Baker was in command of a small, swift coasting
schooner en route from Jamaica to Boston. On the wharf at Kingston
lay some 40 bunches of bananas, a few of which were ripe, others lacking
10 days or more in which to change their dull green coats into the soft
creamy yellow of the matured fruit. Captain Baker was fond of bananas,
and ordered that the lot be placed on board his schooner, just before
sailing. Fortune favored him and strong easterly beam winds brought him
into the harbor of Boston in 10 days, with all of the bunches not
consumed en route in practically perfect condition. Many friends of
Capt. Baker, to whom this delicious fruit was practically unknown, got a
taste of the banana for the first time. Among these was Andrew W.
Preston, a local fruit dealer in Boston, who was greatly impressed with
the appearance of the fruit, and the success which had attended Captain
Baker’s effort to get the bananas into the market without injury.
Mr. Preston reckoned that if a schooner with a fair wind could land such
delicious fruit in Boston in ten days, steamers could do the same work
with absolute certainty in less time. This far sighted pioneer and
promoter of trade realized that three factors were essential to building
up an industry of this kind. First, there must be a market for the
product, and he was confident that the people of Boston and the vicinity
could soon be educated to like the banana and to purchase it if offered
at a fair price. Next, a sufficient and steady supply must be provided.
Third, reliable transportation in the form of steamers of convenient
size and suitable equipment must be secured, in order to convey the
fruit with economy and regularity to the waiting market or point of
consumption. True, he at first failed to interest other fruit dealers in
the project. “It had never been done and consequently was a dangerous
innovation that would probably prove unprofitable.” But Mr. Preston had
visualized a new industry on a large scale, and with the faith of the
industrial pioneer he finally succeeded in persuading nine of his
friends to put up with him each $2,000, and to form a company for the
purpose of growing bananas in the West Indies, of chartering a steamer
suitable for the transportation, and finding a market for the produce in
Boston.
The details were worked out carefully and the first cargo purchased in
Jamaica and landed in New England proved a decided success. During the
first two or three years the accruing dividends were invested in fruit
lands in Jamaica and everything went well. Not long after, however, it
was found that a West Indian cyclone could destroy a banana field and
put it out of business in a very few hours. More than one field or
locality in which to grow bananas on a large scale was necessary to
provide against the possible failure of the crop at some other point.
In the meantime another broad minded and determined pioneer in the world
of progress, Minor C. Keith, a youth of 23, was trying to build a
railroad some 90 miles in length from Puerto Limon to the capital, San
Jose, in the highlands of Costa Rica. The greater part of this road was
through dense jungle and forest almost impenetrable, with nothing in the
shape of freight or passengers from which revenues could be derived
until the road was completed to the capital. Mr. Keith had a concession
from the Costa Rican Government, but the Government had no funds with
which to aid the builder in his enterprise, and this young engineer,
through force of character and moral suasion, kept his two thousand
workmen in line without one dollar of money for over 18 months. Food he
managed to scrape up from various sources, but the payday was
practically forgotten. In the meantime, some banana plants were secured
from a plantation in Colombia, and set out on the virgin soils along the
roadway through which Mr. Keith was laying his rails. These grew
marvellously, and not only supplied fruit for the Jamaica negroes
engaged in the work, but soon furnished bananas for export to New
Orleans, and thus was started a rival industry to that of Mr. Preston,
on the shores of the Western Caribbean.
It was not long before Mr. Keith, who struggled for 20 years to
complete his line from the coast to the capital of Costa Rica, came into
contact with Mr. Preston. These captains of industry realized the
advantages of co-operation, and in a very short time organized the
United Fruit Company, which is probably the greatest agricultural
transportation company in the world to-day. Its various plantations
include lands in Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras, Guatemala and
Jamaica. Large plantations of bananas belonging to the company were
until recently on the harbors of Banes and Nipe, on the north coast of
Oriente, in the Island of Cuba, but these were subjected to strong
breezes from the northeast that whipped the leaves and hindered their
growth. Then too, it was soon discovered that these lands were better
adapted to the cultivation of sugar cane, hence bananas of the United
Fruit Company disappeared from the Nipe Bay district, to be replaced by
sugar plantations that to-day cover approximately 37,000 acres and in
1920 will reach 50,000 acres. Over 200,000 acres on the coast of the
Caribbean are devoted to the cultivation of bananas. About 30,000 head
of cattle are maintained as a source of food for the thousands of
laborers, mostly Jamaicans, who are employed in the fields of the United
Fruit Company, which comprise an aggregate of 1,980,000 acres; while 743
miles of standard gauge railway, together with 532 miles of narrow gauge
roads, are owned and operated throughout the various plantations.
In the year 1915, 46,000,000 bunches of bananas were shipped by the
United Fruit Company from the shores of the Caribbean to the United
States, while the sugar plantations owned by the Company on the north
coast of Oriente Province, in Cuba, produced sugar in 1918 that yielded
a net return of $5,000,000.
In order to provide transportation for this enormous agricultural output
this company to-day owns and operates one of the biggest fleets of
steamships in the world. Forty-five of these ships, with tonnages
varying from 3,000 to 8,000, especially equipped for the banana trade,
and with the best of accommodations for passengers, have an aggregate
tonnage of 250,000; while 49 other steamers were chartered by the
company before the war, making the total tonnage employed in the
carrying trade approximately half a million.
Nearly all these steamers, which connect the coast of the Caribbean with
New York, Boston and New Orleans, touch, both coming and going, at the
City of Havana, thus giving that port the advantage of unexcelled
transportation facilities, and connecting Cuba not only with the more
important cities of the Gulf of Mexico, New York and New England, but
also with Jamaica, Caribbean ports, and the South American Republics
lying beyond the Isthmus of Panama, along the western shores of that
continent.
No steamship line perhaps has been more closely related to the
commercial development of Cuba than has the New York & Cuba Mail
Steamship Company. This line had its origin in a carrying trade between
Cuba and the United States started by the firm of James E. Ward & Co.
The members of the firm were Mr. James E. Ward, Mr. Henry B. Booth and
Mr. Wm. T. Hughes. The Company was incorporated under the laws of the
State of New York and formally organized in July, 1881, with Mr. Ward as
President, Mr. Booth as Vice President and Mr. Hughes as Secretary and
Treasurer. When first organized the Company had only four ships, the
_Newport_, _Saratoga_, _Niagara_ and _Santiago_, with a gross tonnage of
10,179. Between the date of its organization and its transfer to the
Maine Corporation, or during a period of 26 years, the company acquired
19 vessels, with a total gross tonnage of 84,411. In addition to the
above the company has operated under foreign flags eight other ships
aggregating a tonnage of 26,624.
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 ships 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’
Ship and Engine Building Company. Among the ships that were purchased
and not built especially for this company, were the two sister ships
_Seguranca_ and _Vigilancia_, built in 1890 for the Brazil Line. The
steamships _City of Washington_ and _City of Alexandria_ were originally
owned by the Alexandria Line, and passed 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
passenger 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 shipping
interests; New York to Nassau, 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. Passengers on this line are
carried in three distinct classes, first cabin, intermediate, and
steerage, the vessels being constructed with reference to suitable
accommodations for the various classes.
The principal 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 Compañia 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 Steamship 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 steamships 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 passenger steamers of the Munson Line ply between New York,
Nuevitas and Nipe Bay of the Province of Oriente. The passenger
steamers, although not touching at Havana, are equipped for the
accommodation of passengers that leave from the ports of the eastern
provinces of the Island.
During the late European War twelve of the Munson steamships were placed
in the service of the United States and three under the British flag.
The Peninsular and Occidental Steamship Company operates a daily
passenger, 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 quantities 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 shipped 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 passenger 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 passengers
Cadiz 10,500 tons 1500 passengers
Barcelona 10,500 tons 1500 passengers
Valbanera 10,500 tons 1500 passengers
Catalina 8,000 tons 1000 passengers
Martin Sáena 5,500 tons 800 passengers
Balmes 6,500 tons 800 passengers
Conde Wifredo 5,500 tons 800 passengers
Miguel M. Pinillos 4,500 tons 500 passengers
------
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 passenger 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 Coruña 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 ships
with a combined tonnage of 153,500 tons.
The steamship _Lafayette_, of 15,000 tons, is equipped for the
accommodation of 1,620 passengers. The _Espana_, of 15,000 tons, carries
1,500 passengers; the _Flanders_, of 12,000 tons, carries 1,250
passengers; the _Venizia_, of 12,000 tons, carries 700 passengers; the
_Navarre_, of 10,000 tons, carries 1,000 passengers; the _Venezuela_, of
7,000 tons, carries 500 passengers.
The _Caroline_, the _Mississippi_ and the _Georgie_ are each steamers of
13,000 tons. The _Honduras_ is a 12,000 ton ship; 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 Canal_ arrived in
Cuba from Japan, inaugurating a new steamship line between Japan and the
United States, touching at Cuban ports. The line is known as the Osaka
Shosen Kaisha, of Osaka, Japan. The fleet consists of 186 steamers
plying between Japan 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 Japan 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 Canal_ 50,000 sacks of rice grown in Japan 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 shipped from Cuba to the Orient.
This line has begun with one sailing each way per month, all steamers
touching at Havana for freight and passengers.
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 shippers 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 shipper 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 shippers.
Freight charges to the shipping port, custom house and statistical fees,
stamps, wharfage 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 shipment, 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 shipments of foreign
goods of less value than $5.
Fabrics of mixed fibres must be so stated, with a statement of the
proportion of the principal 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 shipments 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 passenger capacity.
If after an invoice has been certified it or any part of it is delayed
in shipment, the steamship company must mark on the bill of lading
opposite the delayed goods “Short Shipped,” 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 trimmings, 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 shipments 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, Mass.; 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.; Washington,
D. C.; and Aguadilla, Arecibo, Mayagues, Ponce, and San Juan, Porto
Rico.