New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-07-29
100000 Tons of
Sugar Destroyed
By Revolution
Fireswept Districts in Cuba
Uncleared and 1918 Crop
Will Be Small

| cordlng 10 a report received py the
/ Department of Commerce from Henry
| II. Morgan, American Consul General
I at Havana. But for these disturbances
the 1917 crop Of sugar, so Mr. Morgan
reports, would have exceeded $500, 900
tons. Now the output for this season
is not expected to exceed 2,s00,0OO tons.
This compares with slightly more than
! 100000 tons produced in 1915.
Production next season is also ex-
pected to be curtailed as the result OF
the havoc wrought in the cane fields by
/ the revolutionists.
"The destruction Of cane caused by
/ disturbances in the Oriente district
from Alto Cedro to Santiago and from
Bayamo to Caimsnera," Mr.. Morgan
writes, makes it certain that next
seasons crop in this territory will not
exceed that of 1917 because not more
than 10 per cent of the cane fields de-
/ stroyed by fire have been cleaned, and
| the new crop on this area will be from
| Is to 25 per cent less than it other
wise would have been. While the seed
! in most cases has not been destroyed
/ the ration shows evidence of being
/ several months behind in its growth,
and the cane that would have come TO
/ maturity in December cannot be har-
vested until April or May, and then
/ the WELD will be 10 to % per cent less
. - . 4 haI ha hflr cd
cane been cut away and the feIds
cleaned.
Fire Swept Districts
/ "The writer visited the sugar plan
tations of Alameda, Ermita, Esperanto,
Santa Maria, La Union and others OF
minor note in this section of the prov
ince, passed through many thousand
acres of cane that had been destroyed
/ by fire and found that no attempt had
/ been made to clear away the old cane.
I The effect Of this, too, will be large
/ increase i'm the cost Of cutting the cane
next year, as the old stalks still in the
ground will have to be cut as well as
/ the new cane.
/ "In the district between Antilla and
/ Santiago dc Cuba great destruction Of
property has been caused by disturb
ances. With but one exception every
railway station between these two
points had been destroyed, large
number of bridges were wrecked and
most of the shops along the line we're
! burned. All the railway bridges have
now been repaired or reconstructed ex-
cept the one between San Luis and
Auzs. and this will soon be repaired,
! leaving a clear rOadbed from Havana
/ to Santiago de Cuba. In the section
! Of Oriente Province referred to the
rainy season has now set in, and there
will be practically no grinding until
December next, nor will it be possible
to repair the damages in the burnt
area.
"While there were many thousand
yacres of cane burned between Alto
Cedro and Antilla the planters in this
section had to a large extent cleared
away all the burnt section, and the
ration was standing well m the ield'
The spring rains that commence in THIS
section about the middle Of May usually
ends toward the close Of June, so that
many of the mills in this section will
now start grinding aud continue until
September. 4 few of the mills IN this
! district, notably the Preston mill at
Nipe Bay, Tuinucu and Baragua, will
produce about the amount or sugar
estimated but the remainder of the
4 mills will all be between so and 20
/ per cent below the estimate. The
prospect for a larger crop IN this sec
/ ton Of the island for next year, how
/ ever, is excellent. and the planters
say that under favorable conditions
/ there will be a far greater yield than
! the estimated 1917 crop.
Great Destruction in North
/ "In the northern part of the district
4 at Chaparra and Delicias, where the
I largest sugar mills in the world are
, located, having capacity OF over
/ 1 100000 bags of sugar about 10000
tons year,, the rebels burned and
: destroyed about 100000 arrobss llOO,-
coo tonsl of cane, bringing down the
estimated production from 1881 tons
/ of sugar 10 about 1918 tons, which,
the manager informs the writer, VIII
/ be the final figures when the mills
cease to grind in August next. All
the burnt fields belonging to those
; plantations that are owned by the Gu
/ an-American Company have been
cleaned, and il is estimated that with
| favorable conditions the yield Of next
wears crop will be considerably in ex-
cess of the estimated 1917 crop.
ain Camaguey and Santa Clara
provinces the destruction caused by
/ disturbances was far greater than that
| caused in the Province of Oriente
/ Every railway bridge of the Cuba Rail
/ way Company between Camaguey and
/ Antilla was destroyed or damaged, as
we'll as every bridge between Antills
and Guantanamo, and nearly all the
railway stations. Practically one-hslf
of the cane crop was destroyed. The
cane fields in the pelghborhood of Jo-
babo were devastated"
The total number of sugar mills IN
Cuba during the year 1871 was pol
/ OF this number 8 are in the Province
Of Pinar del Rio, Il in the Province
of Hahana, 40 in the Province Of Ma
tanzas, II in the Province Of Santa
Clara, 10 in the Province of Cana
guey and AZ in the Province of Oriente
OF the total, 6s are owned and operated
by citizens Of the United States.
Fourteen mills that have now stopped
grinding for the season show a pro-
duction of 1862 ,539 tons, as against an
estimated production of 10000 tons
A difference of l56,76l tons, or 49.Os
per cent, all due 70 the destruction
caused by the revolutionists.
A number of large mills now IN
course of construction will, it is re.
ported, be ready TO grind next De
cember.