1906, and January 1, 1907, respectively; but the service did not begin to operate regularly until January, 1907.

By January 1, 1908, it had developed to an extraordinary extent, as shown by the fact that in this short period of time 15,000 parcels were received. The mail transportation service was quite deficient during the Spanish administration. No assortment or distribution of mails was made on the trains en route. The intervening government established such distribution and increased the number of routes. On May 20, 1902, there were 123 routes with a distance run of 1,541,265 miles; on September 29, 1906, there were 137 with a run of 2,476,819 miles; and at present there are 145 routes aggregating 5,324 miles in length, and with an annual run of 2,545,828 miles. Under the Spanish administration this scrvice had never been heavily subsidized. The government granted concessions for the construction of railroads with the condition that they should convey the mails without charge. Only two railroad companies were paid therefor, the Puerto Principe and Nuevitas Railroad Co., and the Habana United Railway, which were paid $816 and $1,254 per annum, respectively. The intervening government reduced the compensation of the first named company to $660 but made no change in that of the other. The government of the Republic, because of exactions of the railroad companies which were protected by Order 34 of 1902, and because of the increase of the Postal Service, was compelled to pay all of the railroads for this service, and appropriated a large amount for that purpose; consequently, while the service required an expenditure of only $1,914 at the end of the first American intervention, it costs at present about $180,000.

When the officers of the intervening government took charge of the postal service a list of 310 post offices was exhibited to them, but at the end of February, 1899, only 193 were able to perform service. However, at the time of the restoration of the government of the Republic there were 297 in operation, and at the end of that administration, 366. At present there are 415 post offices.

The Registry Service established by the intervening government has remained without change, although largely increased in proportion to the development of business. This service is in operation in all of the post offices of the island.

The following table shows the gradual increase of the Registry Service from 1902 to September 30, 1907:

On January 1, 1908, there were in the Habana post office 2,000 undelivered registered articles. Some of them had been lying in the office for three or four

years.

At the time the intervening government established the Dead Letter Bureau, thousands of undelivered letters were found. Among them were some of the year 1891. From January to June, 1899, 73,688 letters were sent to that Bureau. In the following years the number gradually grew less in proportion to the mail, which shows the efficiency in the delivery service. During the one year of the present provisional government's administration, the proportion of dead letters has been 6.4 per thousand in the domestic service and 16.4 per thousand in the international service, the majority of such letters, chiefly in the latter service, being due to wrong addresses.

By virtue of the Universal Postal Convention of Rome, which was put in force October 1, 1907, the Cuban administration adopted two measures of considerable importance. One fixed the postage of letters addressed to foreign countries, with the exception of the United States and Mexico, at the rate of 5 cents for the first ounce, and 3 cents for each additional ounce or fraction thereof. The other accepted the exchange of international answer-coupons, which, when bought in any of the countries where they are admissible, are exchangeable for 25 centimes in postage stamps in the other countries included in the exchange convention. Both decrees of the provisional government of the Republic received public praise.

Great improvements were also made in the Telegraph Service. At the end of the war of Independence there was only a small number of telegraph lines on the island and they were in ruinous condition. The Cuban forces had destroyed all the lines they could find. for the purpose of interrupting the communication of the Spanish government. During the period of the American military intervention, the telegraph service was under the control of the Signal Corps of the Army of Occupation.

This Corps, with the aid of the liberal appropriations ordered by the military government, soon restored the old lines, and erected new ones, which were used rather for the military service than for the convenience of the public. The intervening government introduced a more reasonable telegraphic tariff than the one in force under the Spanish administration. When the intervention ceased the telegraph lines of the government measured 3,499 miles, with service at 77 stations with automatic repeaters. At the establishment of the Republic the Telegraph Service and the Postal Service were placed under one Department, which was called "Comunicaciones."

During the first national government very little was done toward improvement in the telegraph lines. The service was generally bad, and was rapidly deteriorating in the extreme provinces of the island. In that period, however, two wireless telegraph stations were installed, one at Mariel, Pinar del Río province, and one at Nueva Gerona, Isle of Pines.

At the end of the national government of the Republic there were 5,855 kilometers of telegraph lines and, at the commencement of the provisional

government all were in bad condition, as a result partly of lack of repairs, and partly of damages caused by rain storms and by the Revolutionary forces. All these lines were repaired, and a few new ones have been erected. The Duplex-polar apparatus was installed on the central line of the island, from Habana to Santo Domingo and afterwards to Camagüey; as a result of this improvement it was possible to transmit 600,604 messages during the first year of the provisional government.

There are now under construction 6 wireless telegraph stations: one on the glacis of Morro Castle at Habana, and one each at Pinar del Río, Santa Clara, Camagüey, Baracoa, and Santiago de Cuba. The one now in operation on the esplanade between Morro Castle and Cabaña Fortress, which was previously at Mariel, will be removed to Bayamo as soon as the new one ou the glacis of Morro Castle is completed.

At the present time, 6,196 kilometers of telegraph lines and 115 stations are in operation.

The Spanish legislation concerning telephones has not been changed. hence, the laws governing telephone service are not consistent with modern methods.

The Department of Communications had on January 2, 1908, 1,601 employees distributed as follows: In the Department proper, 149; in Pinar del Río, 117; in Habana, 501; in Matanzas, 200; in Santa Clara, 283; in Camagüey, 102; in Oriente, 249. There were in addition 160 substitutes without salary.