SOME TYPICAL PORTS )

Rotterdam and Antwerp. Each of them has certain
distinctive and interesting features, and we will devote
a little space to a brief consideration.
HAMBURG

Hamburg, a river port like London, is situated on the
Elbe at a distance a little under 70 miles from the open
sea. Owing to the shallowness of the river channel, the
city authorities have been compelled, in order to preserve
a serviceable degree of accessibility for overseas vessels,
to undertake extensive dredging operations which have
been going on now for over half a century. The quantity
annually removed is rather over IO million cubic yards.
Vessels drawing 30 ft. can enter the port, those of deeper
draught lighten at Brunsbiittel.

Like London, Hamburg is a great entrepot, or warehouse,
port. Itisa great coffee market for Europe, and it imports,
in addition, cocoa, rice, sugar, coal, cotton, wool and
manufactured goods. These goods are received into
store at numerous warehouses in the town, many of which,
on the banks of canals or waterways, are approached by
lighters and barges. Exports include manufactured goods,
salt, sugar, cattle, and dairy produce.

The effect of the war and its sequelee on Hamburg has
been remarkable. The proud pinnacle of its commercial
prosperity, in 1914, was suddenly dismantled to the ground.
Its harbour was blockaded, its quays deserted, and its
commerce destroyed. At the conclusion of hostilities,
it found itself bereft by war losses and peace conditions
of the magnificent fleet of transatlantic liners which had
invested it with prestige and renown. It almost looked
as if recovery were impossible. Yet, despite this apparently
hopeless position, Hamburg has made a complete and
superb recovery. The tonnage of shipping now frequenting

the port is greater than it was in pre-war years, and its
commercial activities are once more in full swing. With
a total tonnage for 1924, inwards and outwards, of
9—(6010)

TIC