16 
WAREHOUSES IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 
facility to the patrons of the warehouses in the conduct of their 
transit business. 
The buildings are open daily, with the exception of Sundays and 
holidays, as follows: March 16 to October 31, from 7 a. m. to noon, 
and from 2 p. m. to 7 p. m. ; November 1 to February 15, from 7.30 
a. m. to noon, and from 1 p. m. to 5 p. m. ; February 16 to March 15, 
from 7 a. m. to noon, and from 1.30 p. m. to 6 p. m. 
Patrons of the warehouses have their own laborers for handling the 
goods, under the surveillance of the custom-house officers. Lighting 
is charged to the trade at the rate of 2 cents per hour. 
The scale of charges for the storage of the various classes of goods 
will be found in the pamphlet annexed hereto, entitled “ Réglement 
Special pour l’Entrepôt Public d’Anvers.” 0 
There are no records to show the receipts and expenditures relat 
ing to the administration of, the Entrepôt Royal. The annual city 
report includes this in its miscellaneous receipts and gives no details. 
To secure them would require a special research on the part of both 
the city and the Government authorities. 
All classes of marketable goods are stored in the warehouses, save 
those belonging to the prohibited list in the pamphlet. 
Americans make the same use of the Entrepôt Royal as other 
nationalities for all manufactured products, food products, and the 
like. For grain and petroleum, as also for sugar and tobacco, there 
are special warehouses. All nationalities are treated alike. 
It is impossible to say definitely how long goods remain in the 
" entrepôt,” as this depends upon the condition of the market and the 
disposition of the consignee or the vendor. Furthermore, it must be 
borne in mind that goods likely to deteriorate or spoil, and by so 
doing to damage other goods in the warehouse, would be made the 
object of observations on the part of the officials, and in some cases 
ordered out of the warehouse. 
Merchants, by giving bonds, may have what are known as “ entre 
pôts privés,” from which merchandise may be removed only by special 
authorization of the custom-house authorities and in the presence of 
an officer. There are also without the precincts of the Entrepôt 
Royal itself certain warehouses which may be leased as ‘ entrepôts 
fictifs,” but access to these may be had by engaging, at the rate of 
4 francs ($0.77) per diem, a customs officer in whose presence all 
manipulation of the goods stored in them must be made. The mer 
chant is liable to the customs authorities for the exact weight of goods 
entered in these “ entrepôt fictifs,” and even if loss of weight is due 
only to evaporation (as in the case of tobacco) this must be clearly 
demonstrated to the authorities to prevent a fine on the missing 
weight of ten times the value of the duty thereon. 
Beet sugar, paying an excise duty, is stored in a special warehouse 
which is under the same customs régime as the Entrepôt Royal. 
For removing goods from the warehouses to the steamers and vice 
versa there is every facility possible. There are many corporations, 
known as " nations,” who do practically all the carting of this port at 
o This and a plan of the building and the report of the inspector-general are 
on tile in the Bureau of Statistics, Department of Commerce and Labor, where 
they may be consulted by parties interested.