FRANCE!  HAVRE.

35

RECEIPTS  ANI>  EXPENDITURES.
The  company  publishes  no  statement  of  its  affairs,  keeping  secret
all  statistics  regarding  the  receipts  and  expenditures,  except  to  its
shareholders.  Last  year  a  dividend  of  15  per  cent  was  declared.  The
last  quotation  of  its  stock,  which  is  seldom  to  be  found  on  the  market,
was  1,215  francs  ($234.49),  the  par  value  being  500  francs  ($90.50).
STORAGE  OF  GOODS.
The  following  are  the  principal  classes  of  goods  which  are  usually
stored  in  the  bonded  warehouses  of  Havre:
Distilled  liquors,  cocoa,  hemp,  coffee,  straw  hats,  preserved  food
products,  copper,  tin,  iron,  flour,  fats,  tallow,  oils  (light  and  heavy),
honey,  machinery,  aromatic  plants,  apples,  grapes,  salted  meats,  lard,
sugar,  tobacco,  tapioca,  tea,  wine,  cabinet-making  wood,  wax,  staves,
dried  fruits,  paraffin,  pepper,  lead,  chemical  products,  rum,  and
•tafia.  There  are  at  present  250,000  tons  of  merchandise  stored,
included  in  which  are  3,410,910  bags  of  coffee.  Dangerous  merchandise. ­
  as  spirits,  sulphur,  guano,  coal  tar,  rosin,  turpentine,  etc.,  can  be
stored  only  in  special  warehouses.
Americans  make  use  of  the  bonded  warehouses  of  Havre  to  but  a
slight  extent,  and  then  generally  in  speculative  operations  in  coffee
a,1 d  copper.  Merchandise  can  remain  in  bond  three  years,  commencing ­
  the  day  it  is  entered,  but  if  it  is  in  good  condition  the  period
niay  be  extended  by  the  collector  of  customs.  It  is  difficult  to  give
£ven  an  approximate  idea  of  the  length  of  time  goods  remain  in
bond.  Sometimes  merchandise  is  withdrawn  in  a  few  days,  while  at
present  there  is  coffee  in  the  v  rehouses  which  has  been  in  bond  for
nearly  five  years.  All  nationalities  are  treated  exactly  alike  as  to  the
services  of  the  company.  The  duties  to  be  paid  on  merchandise  com-"'g
  from  the  different  countries  are  fixed  by  the  customs  laws  of
France.
HANDLING  OF  GOODS.
The  facilities  for  the  removal  of  goods  from  vessel  to  warehouse
ai) d  vice  versa  consist  in  hydraulic  and  electric  cranes,  railways,
i:ai ’ts,  and  hand  harrows.  The  merchandise  is  first  hoisted  from  the
yessel  and  stowed  temporarily  under  the  covered  sheds.  After  having ­
  been  counted,  weighed,  and  verified  goods  are  loaded  oil  drays  or
cwrs  and  taken  to  the  warehouse,  where  they  are  stored.
CUSTOMS  SUPERVISION.
Custom  house  surveillance  of  the  bonded  warehouses  is  constant.
Diere  are  duplicate  keys  to  all  doors  and  gales  of  the  establishment,
owe  set  being  kept  by  the  customs  officials  and  the  other  by  the  agents
°f  the  company.  Officers  of  the  custom-house,  exercise  the  same
supervision  and  control  of  merchandise  in  the  bonded  warehouses  as
die  agents  of  the  company,  and  the  company,  by  the  terms  of  its  contract, ­
  must  carry  out  any  rules  which  the  treasury  department  may
Uiake  to  safeguard  the  interests  of  the  Government.
Merchandise  is  not  weighed  by  the  customs  officers;  the  weights
l aken  by  the  company’s  agents,  after  being  verified  by  the  former,  are