The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-02-01

from our country. and the only coun-
try which surpasses the United States in
this is Great Britain, which has about "a
per cent Of the total tonnage, but some of
this consists OF American goods which come
to Holland via England.
!, THIRTEEN STEAMSHIP LINES
DO THE BUSINESS.
There are more than 10 ships, kavins
Rotterdam every year for tic uhited States.
or more thar one every day. There are
thirteen regular steamship lines which do
business between the two countries.
The Holland-American Line is the great.
est. 1t has a passenger line to New York
and freight steamers for Newport News.
The passenger ships make the journey from
Rotterdam in eight or ten days, while the
freight steamers take from nine to twenty
days.
This line is making money, and It has for
several years paid dividends of 10 per cent
and upward
Outside the Holland-American Line the
! chief steamship companies which deal with
the United States are freighters, the most
| of the vessels going to the Southern States
There are tank steamers belonging to the
German-American Petroleum Company aad
the American Petroleum Company which
ply regularly between New York. Balti-
more, Philadelphia and Rotterdam. and
there are tramp steamers which carry oil.
The Neptune Line has one or more steam
>ho " "SSA II SO5iitpOtttdH
and the Keystone lines make regular ship
ments to Philadelphia. and the Johnson
Blue Cross Line and North American
Transport Line do a business between here
and Norfolk and Newport News.
Then there is the Charleston Transport
Line. with irregular sailings: the Texas
Transport and the Terminal Transport, with
steamers to New Orleans and Galveston,
and the Gulf Stream Line, which sails M
weekly to the same ports. Barnard & Co
have steamers from Savannah to Rotter-
dam. and the Cuban Line goes from Rot
terdam. or Antwerp to New Orleans every
three weeks.
There is also a line from Holland to Bos-
ton, with steamers every ten DAYS, and
other lines to Philadelphia and New York.
So you see that the ~Dutch-American trade
keeps the gulf stream sizzling the greater
part Of the year.
I have letters from Chicago to the Hol-
land representatives Of Armour & Co. and
Swift & Co.. and I asked my porter at my
hotel where to find them.
He took me to the corner and pointed to
a big white building facing the river at the
end of the Boompjes. That" said he. is
the White Huis. 1t Is the only American
building in Holland and Is the headouar-
ters of the chief American firms"
l crossed several bridges, and stroIling
down to It,. found 1t even so. The building
is on the American plan. although 1t was
erected by a Belgian.
BRICKS FACED WITH
WHITE PORCELAIN TILES.
1t is made of bricks faced with white
porcelain tiles. The Dutch call 1t a sky
scraper, and talk of its dangerous height,
although it has only ten stories.
1t Is. 1 am told, the only ten-story build
ing in Europe; it is a giant in Rotterdam,
although in New York 1t would be but a
baby. 1t is perfectly plumb notwithstand-
ing nine hundred trees were driven down
into the sand to make its foundation.
The average building of Rotterdam Is of
from three to five stories, and many build
ings lean this way and that so that parts
of the city are apparently drunk.
The American house has electric ele-
vators worked by little Dutch boys dressed
in white smocks- 1t was by them that l
went from story to story calling on some of
our largest American agents.
l find that the meat men here are selling
vast quantities of our meat and lard. not
only to Holland, but to all the countries
along the Rhine, and that the American
Cereal Company is pushing its goods into
this part of Europe.
1t has its offices In the American build
Ing. and its advertisements are everywhere.
Indeed, the Americans are far better adj
vertisers than the Europeans, and you see
"Kwaker Oats" American typewriters,
kodaks and California fruits everywhere.
/ find a great many American ewing ma
chimes used in Holland. They are scattered
over the Continent, and are considered far
superior to any made In Europe.
One or two OF our firms are pushing their
foreign business more than any other, and
especially the Singer Company, which has
its advertisements every and branch
houses in all the cities OF England and the
Continent.
In fact. I found a store here on tho