PACKING AND SHIPPING 321 
ber, weights, markings, declarations and con 
tents with the consular invoice and the bill of 
lading. This will help materially all along 
the line from the receiving clerk of the steam 
ship company to the merchant who accepts the 
consignment at its destination. 
It would be well if shipping clerks engaged 
in the export trade would make a careful study 
of the geography of the Latin American coun 
tries, and the various ways of routing goods, 
as well as the topography of each state. 
This would do much toward eliminating com 
plications. As an illustration of the igno 
rance so frequently displayed in this connec 
tion, let me recite what happened to a joint 
shipment of beer and mineral water, intended 
for Leon, Nicaragua. In ordering goods 
from this country the Latin American mer 
chant will often have a shipment made up of 
goods from different cities. He will instruct 
or request the exporter living at the port from 
which the shipment is to be made, to assemble 
the several cases which make up his various 
orders, and send them under one consular in-