16

WAREHOUSES  IN  FOREIGN  COUNTRIES.

facility  to  the  patrons  of  the  warehouses  in  the  conduct  of  their
transit  business.
The  buildings  are  open  daily,  with  the  exception  of  Sundays  and
holidays,  as  follows:  March  16  to  October  31,  from  7  a.  m.  to  noon,
and  from  2  p.  m.  to  7  p.  m.  ;  November  1  to  February  15,  from  7.30
a.  m.  to  noon,  and  from  1  p.  m.  to  5  p.  m.  ;  February  16  to  March  15,
from  7  a.  m.  to  noon,  and  from  1.30  p.  m.  to  6  p.  m.
Patrons  of  the  warehouses  have  their  own  laborers  for  handling  the
goods,  under  the  surveillance  of  the  custom-house  officers.  Lighting
is  charged  to  the  trade  at  the  rate  of  2  cents  per  hour.
The  scale  of  charges  for  the  storage  of  the  various  classes  of  goods
will  be  found  in  the  pamphlet  annexed  hereto,  entitled  “  Réglement
Special  pour  l’Entrepôt  Public  d’Anvers.”  0
There  are  no  records  to  show  the  receipts  and  expenditures  relating ­
  to  the  administration  of,  the  Entrepôt  Royal.  The  annual  city
report  includes  this  in  its  miscellaneous  receipts  and  gives  no  details.
To  secure  them  would  require  a  special  research  on  the  part  of  both
the  city  and  the  Government  authorities.
All  classes  of  marketable  goods  are  stored  in  the  warehouses,  save
those  belonging  to  the  prohibited  list  in  the  pamphlet.
Americans  make  the  same  use  of  the  Entrepôt  Royal  as  other
nationalities  for  all  manufactured  products,  food  products,  and  the
like.  For  grain  and  petroleum,  as  also  for  sugar  and  tobacco,  there
are  special  warehouses.  All  nationalities  are  treated  alike.
It  is  impossible  to  say  definitely  how  long  goods  remain  in  the
"  entrepôt,”  as  this  depends  upon  the  condition  of  the  market  and  the
disposition  of  the  consignee  or  the  vendor.  Furthermore,  it  must  be
borne  in  mind  that  goods  likely  to  deteriorate  or  spoil,  and  by  so
doing  to  damage  other  goods  in  the  warehouse,  would  be  made  the
object  of  observations  on  the  part  of  the  officials,  and  in  some  cases
ordered  out  of  the  warehouse.
Merchants,  by  giving  bonds,  may  have  what  are  known  as  “  entrepôts ­
  privés,”  from  which  merchandise  may  be  removed  only  by  special
authorization  of  the  custom-house  authorities  and  in  the  presence  of
an  officer.  There  are  also  without  the  precincts  of  the  Entrepôt
Royal  itself  certain  warehouses  which  may  be  leased  as  ‘  entrepôts
fictifs,”  but  access  to  these  may  be  had  by  engaging,  at  the  rate  of
4  francs  ($0.77)  per  diem,  a  customs  officer  in  whose  presence  all
manipulation  of  the  goods  stored  in  them  must  be  made.  The  merchant ­
  is  liable  to  the  customs  authorities  for  the  exact  weight  of  goods
entered  in  these  “  entrepôt  fictifs,”  and  even  if  loss  of  weight  is  due
only  to  evaporation  (as  in  the  case  of  tobacco)  this  must  be  clearly
demonstrated  to  the  authorities  to  prevent  a  fine  on  the  missing
weight  of  ten  times  the  value  of  the  duty  thereon.
Beet  sugar,  paying  an  excise  duty,  is  stored  in  a  special  warehouse
which  is  under  the  same  customs  régime  as  the  Entrepôt  Royal.
For  removing  goods  from  the  warehouses  to  the  steamers  and  vice
versa  there  is  every  facility  possible.  There  are  many  corporations,
known  as  "  nations,”  who  do  practically  all  the  carting  of  this  port  at
o  This  and  a  plan  of  the  building  and  the  report  of  the  inspector-general  are
on  tile  in  the  Bureau  of  Statistics,  Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor,  where
they  may  be  consulted  by  parties  interested.