50

WAREHOUSES  IN  FOREIGN  COUNTRIES.

STORAGE  OF  GOODS.
The  kinds  of  goods  chiefly  stored  are  wines,  liquors,  coffee,  tea,
spices,  tobacco,  cotton  yarns,  and  a  great  variety  of  imported  textile
merchandise,  but  the  list  includes  to  a  greater  or  less  extent  every
kind  of  dutiable  merchandise  that  is  imported  to  Germany.  The
average  length  of  storage  is  stated  to  be  about  three  months;  the  limit
is  five  years.
All  nationalities  are  treated  exactly  alike  by  the  administrators  of
the  warehouses.  Americans  use  them  like  the  rest.  The  bonded
warehouses  in  the  free  zones  at  Hamburg  and  Bremen  are  used  more
by  American  merchants  doing  business  in  Berlin  than  are  the  warehouses ­
  located  here.  American  houses  in  Berlin  import  mainly  shoes,
tobacco,  cigarettes,  typewriters,  machinery,  cash  registers,  pianolas,
etc.,  which  are  generally  wanted  even  before  they  can  be  received  and
are  taken  out  of  the  custom-house  immediately  upon  arrival.  Such
American  merchants  in  Berlin  as  do  an  export  trade  to  Russia,
Austria,  Switzerland,  and  other  European  countries  generally  store
goods  on  arrival  in  the  bonded  warehouses  at  Hamburg  and  Bremen,
where  they  are  separated  from  those  coming  to  this  city  and  reexported ­
  directly  from  the  port  of  first  arrival.  But,  if  desirable,  the
whole  shipment  from  America  or  other  foreign  country  may  be
brought  to  Berlin  and  a  portion  here  set  apart  and  reexported  without ­
  payment  of  duty.
CUSTOMS  SUPERVISION.
The  care  and  supervision  exercised  over  goods  stored  in  bond  are
very  complete  and  comprehensive.  The  whole  premises  arc  carefully
inclosed,  admission  being  granted  only  to  persons  with  papers  or
other  evidence  showing  that  they  have  business  there.  The  warehouses ­
  are  in  charge  of  superintendents  with  an  ample  force  of
watchmen,  clerks,  and  porters,  most  of  whom  are  uniformed  and
trained  employees  of  the  State.
HANDLING  OF  GOODS.
Porters  and  workmen  who  handle  and  assist  in  opening,  weighing,
repacking,  and  loading  freight  after  assessment  of  duty  are  paid  by
the  owner  of  the  merchandise  at  the  rate  of  GO  pfennigs  (15  cents)  an
hour,  but  the  owner  may  bring  his  own  men  and  wagons  to  perform
such  services  in  presence  of  himself  or  a  responsible  agent.
The  facilities  for  handling  goods  from  boat  or  car  to  the  warehouse ­
  and  vice  versa  include  stationary  and  movable  cranes,  winches,
trucks,  industrial  tracks  with  cars,  and  steam,  electric,  or  hydraulic
elevators.
CHARGES.
The  schedule  of  Government  charges  at  the  bonded  warehouses  in
Berlin,  assessed  in  compliance  with  the  statutes  above  quoted,  are  as
follows:  (A)  Storage  fees  per  100  kilograms  (220.46  pounds)  per
month:  (1)  For  beer,  liquors,  vinegar,  wines  of  all  kinds,  stored  in
covered  rooms,  6^  cents;  (2)  for  all  other  merchandise  stored  in  covered ­
  buildings  or  sheds,  4£  cents;  (3)  for  merchandise  of  all  kinds