188

WAREHOUSES  IN  FOREIGN  COUNTRIES.

American  goods  stored  are  principally  tobacco  and  salted  meats.'
All  nationalities  are  treated  exactly  alike.
Goods  are  taken  to  the  warehouses  at  the  expense  of  the  importers.
Wagons  and  workmen  for  the  handling  of  goods  are  always  to  be
found  on  the  quays.  As  the  warehouses  are  very  near  the  wharves  or
quays,  the  cost  is  low.
Goods  are  not  received  unless  found  in  good  condition.  Any  defective ­
  baling  must  be  remedied  before  goods  are  admitted.  Petroleum ­
  is  excluded  from  these  warehouses  and  must  be  stored  outside
the  city  with  the  authorization  of  the  prefecture.  Perishable  goods
can  be  handled  in  small  parcels  with  the  previous  authorization  of  the
custom-house.  The  custom-house  formalities  for  goods  in  transit  are
the  same  as  for  goods  intended  for  direct  consumption.  A  special
form  is  employed.  The  goods  in  the  warehouses  can  be  sold  or  transferred ­
  to  third  parties  without  any  formalities  or  special  expense.
At  the  expiration  of  the  three  years  articles  not  withdrawn  are  sold
and  the  duty  paid.  The  net  product  of  the  sale  is  deposited  in  the
treasury.
Daniel  S.  Kidder,  Consul.
Algiers,  Algeria,  June  0,9,190If.

BRITISH  SOUTH  AFRICA.
CAPE  TOWN.
(From  United  States  Consul-General  Big  ham,  Cape  Town,  South  Africa.)
This  city  is  amply  supplied  with  warehouses,  many  of  which  are
very  old  and  some  very  large.  A  company  having  three  bonded
warehouses  was  not  able  to  tell  me  the  cost  of  construction.  The
government  has  extensive  warehouses  at  the  docks,  but  most  goods
are  stored  in  private  bonded  warehouses,  being  taken  directly  there,
as  fast  as  discharged  from  vessels,  by  dray  wagons  belonging  to  the
harbor  board.
After  goods  are  hauled  to  the  warehouses  by  teams  they  are  unloaded ­
  by  coolies.  The  owner  of  the  warehouse  is  under  a  heavy
bond  to  take  no  goods  out  of  the  warehouse  until  the  duty  is  paid,
after  which  he  handles  them  as  he  desires.  The  keys  of  the  warehouses ­
  are  kept  in  most  cases  by  the  private  owner.  I  am  told  in
some  cases  the  government  has  locks  on  the  warehouse  also.
The  price  of  storage  varies,  some  paying  from  G  pence  (12  cents)
to  10  pence  (20  cents)  per  ton  of  40  cubic  feet  per  week.  Unloading
from  wagons  at  the  warehouses  is  done  by  coolies  at  an  expense  of
1  shilling  (24  cents)  per  ton;  when  the  goods  are  taken  from  the
warehouse  again  the  expense  of  loading  on  the  wagons  is  1  shilling
per  ton.  This  applies  only  to  goods  stored  in  warehouses  where
cold  storage  is  not  necessary.  Perishable  goods  are  all  stored  in
private  bonded  warehouses,  as  the  government  owns  no  cold-storage
chambers.  The  price  for  storage  in  such  chambers  varies  according
to  the  amount  of  merchandise  and  the  time  it  remains  in  storage,
but  I  am  told  that  it  will  run  from  Gs.  Gd.  ($1.58)  to  10s.  ($2.43)  per
ton  per  week;  some  goods  in  small  packages  are  charged  for  by  the