FRANCE:  PARIS.

23

days  that  the  goods  lie  in  warehouse.  Other  goods  are  delivered
within  a  reasonable  time.
HANDLING  OF  GOODS.
Tn  addition  to  the  mechanical  appliances  mentioned  in  the  description ­
  of  buildings  above,  the  free  port  has,  for  discharging  grain,  3
electric  ship  elevators  of  120,  150,  and  200  tons  capacity,  respectively,
per  hour;  21  electric  quay  cranes,  of  which  7  have  a  lifting  capacity
of  3,307  pounds  and  14  a  lifting  capacity  of  5,512  pounds;  3  steam
traveling  cranes  of  11,023  pounds  lifting  capacity,  and  3  locomotives
for  switching  railway  trucks.  A  private  company  owns  a  20-ton  electric ­
  crane,  which  is  at  the  disposition  of  the  public.  There  is  a  large
coal-discharging  plant,  consisting  of  6  Hunt’s  coal-discharging  towers,
and  a  smaller  plant  with  2  others,  being  the  property  of  a  private
company  and  of  the  municipality,  respectively.
CUSTOMS  SUPERVISION.
Customs  officials  have  no  supervision  of  the  goods  resting  in  the
warehouses  of  the  Copenhagen  free  port,  and  they  only  assume  responsibility ­
  at  the  boundary  of  the  port,  i.  e.,  at  the  exits,  where  clearances ­
  take  place.  It  is  to  be  understood,  however,  that  arrangements
may  readily  be  made  with  the  customs  authorities  whereby  clearances
may  be  made  in  the  free  port  itself.
Raymond  R.  Frazier,  Consul.
Copenhagen,  Denmark,  July  12,190b.

FRANCE.
PARIS.
(From  United  States  Consul  General  Gotcdy,  Paris,  France.)
OWNERSHIP  AND  HISTORY  OF  WAREHOUSES.
.  The  bonded  and  free  warehouses  of  Paris  are  owned  by  a  corporation ­
  known  as  the  Compagnie  des  Entrepôts  et  Magasins  Généraux
de  Paris,  with  a  capital  of  30,000,000  francs  ($5,790,000),  the  registered ­
  office  being  at  No.  11  Rue  Croix  des  Petits  Champs.  These
buildings  permit  merchants  to  buy  considerable  quantities  of  goods
^nd  have  them  stored  at  a  slight  expense  in  the  vast  sheds  in  the
interior  of  the  city,  or  near  the  rail  or  canal  depots,  the  goods  being
taken  out  as  required.  Moreover,  a  merchant  is  able  to  realize  immediately ­
  a  loan  on  his  goods  up  to  about  60  per  cent  of  the  value,  for
certain  banks  will  advance  money  on  the  receipts  furnished  by  the
said  Compagnie  des  Entrepôts  for  the  deposit  of  the  goods.
The  working  of  the  system  dates  from  1833,  when  the  first
bonded  warehouses  were  established  in  Paris—one  at  the  Marais  and
another  on  the  Isle  des  Cygnes.  Three  years  afterwards  the  two  were
united  and  transferred  to  La  Vil  let  te,  and  the  resulting  establishment ­
  still  exists  and  is  known  as  the  Entrepôt  de  la  Rotonde.  By