The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-01-21

side Russia may make 1t impossible at
 a given moment to send certain articles thither. At present. for instance, 1t ap-
 pears impossible to get any coffee
 across Sweden. At least one big ship
 ment from an American firm has been held up for months because the Swedish
 government demands, as condition
 precedent to permitting 1t to be taken
 across the kingdom, that third of the quantity be sold in Sweden. The Brit
 ish government refuses to consent. Another detail in which American shippers appear often uninformed is the matter of routes which now with
 the approach of winter becomes inn portant. German submarines have re- gently been marrying shipping in the l Gulf of Bothnia to such an extent that lit has been seriously restricted. The result has naturally been the accu-
 mutation of goods in Swedish ports
 on the gulf. The freezing up of the
 Gulf of Bothnia, wNsch mag come now
 at any time, will close all water con nection between Sweden and Finnish
 ports until next April There will re-
 main then only the overland route via
 Haparannda and Tornea. This is sin gle track road, both in Sweden and in
 Finland, there is anything but a sur i plus of locomotives and other rolling
 stock on the Swedish end. and the | general so limited that delays of weeks
 and even of months are possible in the
 case of goods not wanted with great urgency.
 Archangel will soon be icebound and 1 in any event it is and has been of lit- tie importance for shippers desiring to avcid the Scandinavian route. inasmuch as the transportation facilities there have hardly more than sufficed to handle gov ernment importations of materials needed for the conduct of the war. It is report ed unofficially that the completion of the new railway from Mourma to Alexan- drovsk may be expected soon, but too 1 optimistic hopes must not be based on the report Alexandrovsk is ice-free all winter.
 American shippers desiring to get goods into Russia between now and the re- opening of water transportation in the spring should keep themselves informed to the minute as to transportation con- ditions via Haparanda, as to goods de- | sired and which will be favored in ex- petition, and as to conditions in Sweden regarding transit A neglect to obtain up- to-date information about any and all
 of these details nlay-probably will-mean vexatious delays and loss of profits or even more than profits
 The so-called "Aktiebolaget (stocl1 company Transito,w a company formed in Stockholm with the consent of the British government to supervise transit of goods for Russia, possesses at all times complete information concerning all conditions mentioned. This informa- tion will be placed at the disposition of the American consulate-general in Stock
 holm upon request from him on behalf of an intending shipper. Another avail able source of information is the state department at Washington.
 Regardless of the difficulties of getting goods into Russia, all American business
 men returning from that country are en- thusiastic over the possibilities there. Not only are American goods highly re- garded, but there is also, according to the testimony of several returned mer- chants, much dissatisfaction over many
 classes of goods with which the Japanese have been flooding the Russian market The same man spoke admiringly of the
 manner in which English merchants are grasping the opportunities offered.
 Wherever I went,' he said. T saw evi-