Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VIII.djvu/534

 HAVANA about the middle of October, and during which scarcely a day passes without heavy rain, some- times accompanied by violent thunder and lightning. The mean temperature during the day is 80 F. in winter, and 86 to 90 in sum- mer. Havana has several times been visited by terrific hurricanes, especially in 1768, 1810, 1844, and 1846, when numbers of ships an- chored in the bay were entirely destroyed, and much damage was done in the city and sur- rounding country. Yellow fever prevails each year, commencing generally toward the end of June, and disappearing in September ; foreign- ers only are attacked by this disease, which is particularly fatal among the shipping and sol- diers. The average mortality is 27 per day throughout the year. The harbor, one of the finest in the world, is entered from the north- west by a channel which is narrow for about three eighths of a mile, and then opens into a magnificent triple-headed bay, with a mean depth of five fathoms, and capable of accommo- dating 1,000 vessels of any size. The wharves, which, save the portion occupied by the paseos above mentioned, extend along the whole wa- ter front of the town, are provided with cov- ered sheds, and are almost continually lined with ships of all nations, closely ranged with their bowsprits inward. The harbor is de- fended by six forts. One of these, the bateria de la Punta, stands on a projecting tongue of land called the Punta, to the right of the en- trance ; another, the Morro castle, is placed di- rectly opposite the first; both were built at the close of the 16th century. On the same side as the Morro are the fortifications of La Cabafia, situated upon abrupt hills overlooking the narrow entrance; still further inward is the Casa Blanca, commanding the city; and beyond, in regular succession around the bay, are seen the forts Ntimero Cuatro, Principe, San Lazaro, and Pastora, the tower of Ohorre- ra, and the fortress of Santo Domingo. Be- tween the forts Niimero Cuatro and Oasa Blanca stands the little town of Regla, with its vast warehouses of stone and corrugated iron, as handsome and substantial as any in the world, and in which is stored each year the greater portion of the sugar of the island previous to its exportation. In the arsenal, erected in 1734, ship building was formerly carried on ; it has a dry dock of sufficient ca- pacity for a vessel of 1,000 tons; and cannon were cast here of bronze, the copper being furnished by the Cobre mines on the island. There are in Havana some iron founderies, ma- chine shops, and carriage and other factories ; but the chief manufacturing industry is that of tobacco. No less than 100 first-class and in- numerable minor establishments are devoted to the manufacture of cigars, of ever changing brands, usually numbering about 1,000 ; and the average daily production of paper cigarettes is computed at 2,600,000. After New York, Havana is the principal commercial port of the new world. About two thirds of the foreign commerce of the island is carried on through it, the chief articles of export being sugar, rum, molasses, and tobacco, with oranges, pineap- ples, plantains or bananas, and fruit jellies. The quantities of sugar exported in the two years 1872-'3 were as follows : YEARS. Boxe*. Hbdi. Total In lh. 1872... 1,161.178 51,089 108,308,870 1878 1 168 887 58,008 119,089,230 The total value of that exported in 1872 was $26,666,672 60; in 1873, $26,892,927 50, ap- proximately. In 1872 there were exported some 1,500 tierces (12,000 gallons) of molasses, 20,- 841 pipes (2,605,125 gallons) of rum, 248,- 775 Ibs. of wax, 18,210,800 Ibs. of tobacco in leaf, 229,087,545 cigars, and 19,344,707 pack- ages (containing each 25) of cigarettes. In 1873 the quantity of leaf tobacco exported was 18,184,350 Ibs., the number of cigars 239,- 168,758, and of packages of cigarettes 24,- 065,084. The imports consist chiefly of linen, cotton, woollen, and silk fabrics, breadstuffs, machinery for sugar mills, railway materials (the last four from the United States), wines, oil, &c. The following table exhibits the num- ber, nationalities, and tonnage of the vessels entered in 1872 : COUNTRIES. Number. Tonnage. United States 882 417,725 Spain '. 785 228,416 Great Britain 800 106,261 Prussia 44 69,721 France 62 88,588 57 20,752 Other nations 49 18,091 Total... 2,169 899,504 There are two lines of steamers, averaging three vessels per week, from New York ; week- ly lines from Philadelphia, Baltimore, and New Orleans, and a line twice weekly from Key West; weekly lines from Spain, France, and England, some of the steamers of the two last in transitu for Vera Cruz and other gulf ports of Mexico ; steamers weekly to Matanzas ; and an extensive coasting trade with Santiago de Cuba and the intermediate ports. An extra steamer from New York every 20 days for Vera Cruz carries passengers and freight to and from Havana. Four railways, with numer- ous branches, place the city in communication with the principal towns in the Western De- partment; telegraphs extend to all important points in the island ; there is a submarine cable to Key West, and another from Bataban6 to Santiago de Cuba, and thence to Kingston, Ja- maica, connecting with that from the latter island to Asp in wall. Horse cars run every five minutes between the old and new towns ; be- sides which there are several lines of omni- buses, and a large number of public vehicles running very cheaply. Havana has three pub- lic and a large number of private banks ; es-