The first shipment of iron ore from Cuba, made by the Juragua Iron Company in 1884, amounted to somewhat more than 25,000 tons. Since that time there has been an almost steady increase in the output of Oriente. The annual production is now in excess of a million tons, approximating $5,000,000 in value. It is probable that the American investments in iron mines in Cuba amount to at least $20,000,000. The large operating companies, with one exception, originated in Philadelphia, and have now affiliated interests. The labor problem has been a constant difficulty with the mining companies. They find the native whites quite unequal to the arduous work of the mines, and the blacks are not satisfactory on account of their irregularity and difficulty of control. Despite the cost, the greater part of the labor employed is imported from the provinces of Spain. These men are strong, steady workers, and orderly. The companies take great pains to secure their comfort and health, with the result that there are practically no desertions and little difficulty in recruiting the force. In this connection it will be of interest to describe the measures by which the Spanish-American Mining Company has almost banished malaria from its settlement at Daiquiri, especially as their experience should be significant and suggestive to every corporation largely employing labor in Cuba. An outbreak of yellow fever in 1908 led to the thorough sanitation of Daiquiri by the United States Army Medical Corps. The Company fully appreciated the condition in which the camps were left, and decided to maintain it. A sanitary department was organized and has been since kept up at a monthly expense of a thousand or more dollars. A corps of experienced men make frequent inspections of the dwellings, see that they are kept clean and that all water barrels are covered with netting. A determined and systematic campaign has been waged against the anopheles, or malaria mosquito. As a result, malaria, which Cubans look upon as a necessary evil, has been reduced to a negligible quantity, and the general efficiency of the force has been greatly increased. The total number of malaria cases in the year 1909 were 234. For the last five months of the year the number was only 48, and on December 31, there was not a single case in the hospital. The improvement has been maintained. The following table shows how the present condition compares with that of former years: Year Average number Total cases of Percentage of labor force sick with on pay roll malaria malaria at some time of the year