The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-04-19
THE CONQUEST
 OF THE OCEAN ],

S@@s@@eSAs+<&Ns< Copyright. 1908. by Frank c. Carpenter.)
 Hamburg.
 The Germans are preparing to compete with England and the United States for the commerce of the world They are building ships faster than .any other nation. They are deepening their har- bors. improving their rivers and digging canals. They already have the fastest and best vessels of the world, and their harbors are as good as any on earth. Greatest Port of Continental Europe.
 This is especially 50 of Hamburg The city has already spent $z5. 900 improv- ing It's quays and docks, and It's means of handling freight are equal to those of London and Liverpool. New York city. 1t Is estimated. pays somethink like $50. 0oo, 900 q year for drayage Hamburg pays little. The ships are ualoaded directly Into the cara or into the great storage warehouses of the free port. and thence shipped by train and canal boat to every part of northern and central Europe The railroads come right down to the wharves. and half the warehouses are such that they can drop their goods into the cars or boats. s,-ss
 Indeed, 1t is nard to imagine better trade situation than this. Hamburg Is situated on the Elbe about forty-four miles from the sea at a point where the river is deep enough and wide enough to float the shipping of all the world. The Elbe here is for i've miles. a vast series of docks, .anchorages and landing places. and in it are ships from every continent and every sea. From the Baltic, Russia and Scandinavia on the north, from South America from Australia and from South Africa, from the Mediterranean, China and the Islands of the Pacific the vessels come by the undreds to this great trad ing center.
 An American Gateway.
 Hamburg has more commerce nan any other city on the European continent, ana it Is tramping on the heels Of London, Liverpool and New York. 1t mad last year eleven thousand ships from Euro pean ports and rom across the Atlantic came a fleet of sixteen hundred and twelve with . tonnage of more than three and one-half millions. mostly goods from the United States. Hamburg. Tn fact, is the chief northern gateway of the American invasion. and through 1t passes not only the enormous amount or goods we send Germany. but . large part of those for Austria, Switzerland and Rus sia. The goods are landed here In ihe free port, and thence trans-shtpped to all parts of northern Europe.
 Most of our large exporters, including those selling meat and fruits. ana espe- cially American machinery, nave houses here. At the same time large busi- ness is done in retailing American goods. I stop in a big hotel on the Binnen Alster, a beautiful lake, in the busiest mart of the city. There Is new Ameri- can shoe store next door, and our goods are sold all around me. l see neckties in the clothing shops sold under the name of Prince Heinrich neckties. They have the American flag on them and are loud enough to suit the gaudiest German. American hats are the fashion here and they cost more than at home. American earned fruits, meats and vegetables are to be seen in all the groceries( and the American typewriter and roll-top desK are in use in most of the of1ces
 Modern Hamburg.
 The Hamburg of today Is new city. It grows faster than any port in Europe. It was founded more than thousand years ago, but the greater part or It looks as though 1t were put up yester- day, and 1t Is only in places that you can realize that it was one or the great cities of the middle ages. Stili was begun by Charlemagne 800 A. D., ana II was for years one of the chief towns of the Hanseatic League. It has now aDout A million inhabitants ;-nd Is rich beyond computation. It Is putting up many new buildings. The new Rathaus Is rnaenificent structure, the new stock ex- change is one of the best of all Europe and some of the hotels on the Alster are better than any in Berlin.
 IJsnburg is a beautiful city. Lying on tho wide and deep Elbe it IS cut up oy canals. and in it's older parts it Is as DIG uresoue as Venice. The canals are wall ed with warehouses of five and SIX sto- ries. and caravans of boats are contlnu- ally loading and unloading with them Each building has iron cranes reaching cut over the water and the goods are raised and lowered by pulleys. The ca nals are connected with the greater ca- nals outside, 50 that Freight thus trans ferred can be sent from here to Berlin, or by the Elbe and other canals down to the great system of the Rhine.
 The Free Port.
 The city claims that a great part of It's prosperity comes from its frse port. This is a section which is covered with enor- nous warehouses where goods can be stored without paying duty and later on be shipped in bond to any part of the world. If they go to Germany they must pay duty on leaving the free harbor. but If elsewhere they are not taxed except in the country of their landing.
 I have spent several days in this free barbor section during my stay here. It lies right on the river. It comprises about twenty-five hundred acres of land and water bounded by floating palisades in the Elbe and by the customs canal on the side of the city The port contains al- most eighteen hundred acres of land. and this space is covered with vast ware houses of red brick, which look more like our flats than anything else. The land is cut up by canals so that ships can come right to the warehouses. There is a customs canal separating this har- bor from the remainder of Hamburg, and this Is crossed by many bridges. at each of which a customs officer stands to ex- anime what is brought out. I was even questioned as to my camera, but was not made to pay duty, as I could prove that l had taken it in a short time be- fore.
 I went through some of the ware- houses. They are packed with all kinds of goods. In one found coffee from Porto Rico and Brazil, being sorted by about one hundred German girls, who sat at long tables, picking out the bad beans and grading the good ones for shipment Another warehouse had Amer