Evening star., 1925-07-26
SCHELDT IS KEY g..
TOBELG|AN TRADE
Millions in Cargoes Pass
,gie
From Antwerp Through
raY
Dutch Territory.

"By one of the most important
treaties signed since the group of in
ternational agreements that followed
the World War Belgium is again Of
ficially given the right of free naviga-
ton on the Scheldt River. the Euro
pean waterway which probably has
figured in more treaties and wars than
any other" says a bulletin from the
headquarters OF the National Geo
graphic Society.
The Scheldt is the economic jugu-
lar vein Of Belgium" continues the
bulletin. "On il, so miles from the
sea, lies Antwerp, Belgian metropolis,
and one of the best equipped and
busiest ports in the world. Up and
down the stream flows traffic worth
tens of millions of dollars; and almost
every penny's worth of ii goes to or
from Antwerp. Yet the river is not
under Belgian rule. It reaches the
sea through Dutch territory, and so
the Netherlands has ultimate control.
Dutch Own Mouth.
THE Dutch acquired the right to
close the Scheldt to commerce by the
treaty of Munster in 1913, and con-
tinued to exercise the right for more
than two centuries. When the terri
tory of the old kingdom of the Meth
erlands was divided In 1889 and Bel
gium was formed the Netherlands
held on to the territory on both banks
of the Scheldt and had its right TO
control the river traffic reaffirmed
Tolls were levied against Antwerp
shipping until 1853, when Auguste
Lambermont, a Belgian statesman,
raised fund of more than SO 900 900.
which was paid TO the Netherlands
to free the river of tolls Iamber-
mont induced a number of countries
interested in the Antwerp trade to
chip in toward this fund. In appre-
citation of his labors Antwerp has
| erected fine statue to his memory.
The portion of the Netherlands
that lies on the south bank of the
Scheldt and SO gives the Duluth con-
troll Of the mouth of the river is
Dutch Flanders, a strip of territory.
40 miles long, varying in width from
10 miles to less than one mile. Belgiaf7
| territory does not begin until the head
of the delta is reached and the es-
| tuary narrows down to a width of less
! than a mile. This is about u miles
| below Antwerp. Heretofore Belgium
has had TO pay part of the cost of
lighting and buoying the entire es-
tuary. Under the most recent treaty
! each country will be responsible for
| marking the river along its territory.
AHthcTp HAS <1uIilTdUl6 IOTI.
THE Dutch port of Flushing lies
at the mouth of the Scheldt. From
| there through the so miles UP to Ant
| werp the navigable channel takes a
winding course among sand bars, so,
| that careful plotting is necessary
Buoys must be shifted frequently.
| At Antwerp the river is about 500
yards wide and has a depth at high
water OF 42 feet. The broad river
| there forms an admirable port. Theirs
are about four miles of quays along
| the river and good anchorage in mid
stream. Numerous basins and docks
| entered from the river by locks fur
nish additional berths for ships and
| barges- Railways paralleling the
quays and docks, batteries of power
| cranes. and commodioUs warehouses
| help to furnish the modern equip
| ment for which Antwerp is famous,
Geography often figures III wars.
| but in the case of the Sch eldt the
| situation has been reversed; a war
has affected its geography. So. in
cidentally, has a severe storm. AS
| early as the eleventh century the
people OF the country bordering the
| Scheldt began erecting embank-
ments, so reclaining scores of thou
sands of acres of rich lands. In 1885,
| during the bitter siege OF Antwerp,
the dykes were broken and all tho
| hardly won lowlands were again
| flooded. Many of the old 'polders'
have been again freed from water
since, but large areas which were
surrendered to the Scheldt $40 years
ago still remain submerged.
"A great storm reshaped the
Scheidt in 1173. Prior to that time
| a dyke of sand hills stretched across
the present mouth of the river be-
tween Dutch Flanders and the island
of Walcheren, the river flowing to the
sea through the eastern Scheldt. The
mighty waves driven by the storm
washed away the sand hills, and ever
since the main flow of the river has
been through the western Scheldt, so
formed"