i  22

WAREHOUSES  IN  FOREIGN  COUNTRIES.

expeditiously  discharged  either  to  warehouse  or  railways,  ready  foi
transportation  to  all  parts  of  Great  Britain.
The  grain,  provision,  and  fruit  warehouses  are  commodious,  and
fitted  with  the  most  improved  machinery  for  quick  dispatch.
Warehouses  arc  provided  for  storage  of  large  quantities  of  hay.
straw,  moss,  litter,  and  esparto  in  close  proximity  to  the  docks  and
connected  with  all  the  leading  railways.
Here  are  the  only  cattle  lairs  and  slaughterhouses  in  South  Wales
for  lairage  and  slaughtering  of  foreign  cattle.  Excellent  refrigerating ­
  and  cold-storage  accommodation  is  found  adjacent  to  the
slaughterhouses.
There  is  good  accommodation  for  deal  boards,  which  can  be  either
dispatched  to  destination  or  stacked  on  the  quays;  also  convenience
for  loading  on  rail,  at  ship’s  side,  mining  timber,  etc.,  intended  for
the  Midlands.  Timber  is  discharged  from  vessels  by  hydraulic
power.  The  most  recent  appliances  are  used  in  the  discharging  and
shipping  of  goods  at  the  Cardiff  docks.
TRANSSHIPMENT  OF  GOODS.
The  customs  transshipment  regulations  are  now  in  force  at  the
Cardiff  docks.  This  places  Cardiff  on  the  same  footing  as  the  older
ports  of  the  Kingdom,  such  as  London,  Liverpool,  Glasgow,  Bristol,
etc.,  as  regards  the  shipment  of  general  cargoes  and  the  transfer  of
foreign  goods,  either  from  vessel  to  vessel  or  from  vessel  to  warehouse ­
  and  afterwards  to  export  vessel,  without  the  expense  and
annoyance  of  an  examination  by  custom-house  officials.
DOCKS  AT  NEWPORT.
The  docks  of  the  Alexandra  Docks  and  Railway  Company,  at
Newport,  England,  comprise  the  South,  North,  and  Town  docks,  each
with  separate  entrances  from  the  river  Usk.  The  South  and  North
docks  are  the  most  important  and  are  connected  by  a  short  waterway.
These  two  are  large  and  modern  and  possess  every  facility  for  shipment ­
  of  coal  and  dealing  with  general  cargo.  The  lock  of  the  South
dock  is  500  feet  long  and  72  feet  wide;  the  company  is  about  to
lengthen  it  by  70  feet,  enlarge  the  water  area,  and  add  to  the  existing
appliances  of  the  dock  itself.
The  Town  dock,  situated  higher  up  the  river  and  in  the  town,  is  the
smallest  and  oldest  of  the  three  docks.  Coal  is  shipped  and  a  large
amount  of  pithwood  and  timber  is  imported  at  this  dock.  Owing  t<>
extended  warehousing  and  its  favorable  position  in  the  town,  it  is  well
adapted  for  a  general  import  trade.  It  was  from  this  dock  that  the
largest  amount  of  iron  rails  for  the  construction  of  the  first  American
railways  was  shipped,  and  so  congested  was  the  traffic  at  this  period
that  it  was  possible,  occasionally,  to  cross  the  500  feet  of  the  dock  by
stepping  from  ship  to  ship.  •
Newport  is  naturally  the  great  port  for  the  shipment  of  the  bituminous ­
  coals  of  the  Monmouthshire  valleys;  from  these  valleys  some  of
the  best  steam  coal  is  obtained.  Its  suitability  for  manufacturing
purposes  is  proved  by  the  presence  of  the  large  works  established  in
the  vicinity  of  these  coal  fields.  A  large  general  export  is  carried  on