FRANCE! HAVRE. 
35 
RECEIPTS ANI> EXPENDITURES. 
The company publishes no statement of its affairs, keeping secret 
all statistics regarding the receipts and expenditures, except to its 
shareholders. Last year a dividend of 15 per cent was declared. The 
last quotation of its stock, which is seldom to be found on the market, 
was 1,215 francs ($234.49), the par value being 500 francs ($90.50). 
STORAGE OF GOODS. 
The following are the principal classes of goods which are usually 
stored in the bonded warehouses of Havre: 
Distilled liquors, cocoa, hemp, coffee, straw hats, preserved food 
products, copper, tin, iron, flour, fats, tallow, oils (light and heavy), 
honey, machinery, aromatic plants, apples, grapes, salted meats, lard, 
sugar, tobacco, tapioca, tea, wine, cabinet-making wood, wax, staves, 
dried fruits, paraffin, pepper, lead, chemical products, rum, and 
•tafia. There are at present 250,000 tons of merchandise stored, 
included in which are 3,410,910 bags of coffee. Dangerous merchan 
dise. as spirits, sulphur, guano, coal tar, rosin, turpentine, etc., can be 
stored only in special warehouses. 
Americans make use of the bonded warehouses of Havre to but a 
slight extent, and then generally in speculative operations in coffee 
a,1 d copper. Merchandise can remain in bond three years, commenc 
ing the day it is entered, but if it is in good condition the period 
niay be extended by the collector of customs. It is difficult to give 
£ven an approximate idea of the length of time goods remain in 
bond. Sometimes merchandise is withdrawn in a few days, while at 
present there is coffee in the v rehouses which has been in bond for 
nearly five years. All nationalities are treated exactly alike as to the 
services of the company. The duties to be paid on merchandise com- 
"'g from the different countries are fixed by the customs laws of 
France. 
HANDLING OF GOODS. 
The facilities for the removal of goods from vessel to warehouse 
ai) d vice versa consist in hydraulic and electric cranes, railways, 
i:ai ’ts, and hand harrows. The merchandise is first hoisted from the 
yessel and stowed temporarily under the covered sheds. After hav 
ing been counted, weighed, and verified goods are loaded oil drays or 
cwrs and taken to the warehouse, where they are stored. 
CUSTOMS SUPERVISION. 
Custom house surveillance of the bonded warehouses is constant. 
Diere are duplicate keys to all doors and gales of the establishment, 
owe set being kept by the customs officials and the other by the agents 
°f the company. Officers of the custom-house, exercise the same 
supervision and control of merchandise in the bonded warehouses as 
die agents of the company, and the company, by the terms of its con 
tract, must carry out any rules which the treasury department may 
Uiake to safeguard the interests of the Government. 
Merchandise is not weighed by the customs officers; the weights 
l aken by the company’s agents, after being verified by the former, are