may find a firm of young men who are reliable, enterprising, and energetic. These facts, as they are disclosed in the Export Review already referred to, ought to be sufficiently plain to show that oriental representatives can not wisely be engaged through the mails and without the most scrutinizing investigation. To strike a choice among those who offer themselves through correspondence is the height of folly, unless they are in a position to produce indisputable evidence of their responsibility and integrity, preferably guaranteed by some well-known and prominent eastern firm which has consented to act as a sort of protector. Under date of August 18, 1903, I submitted a report upon the opportunities for exporting American hosiery to the Orient by way of Germany, and called attention to the intelligence of the oriental. buyer in matters pertaining to his business and the thoroughness of his knowledge of textiles and textile prices. The eastern buyer is known to possess unusual natural keenness and business ability, and where he combines with this a bent to trickery and sharp practice he becomes a dangerous man to deal with through long-distance correspondence. For this reason the facts here presented can not be too seriously taken to heart by American exporters to the East who are new in the field and who desire to shield themselves from loss. J. F. MONAGHAN, Consul. CHEMNITZ, GERMANY, August 29, 1903. NEW ZINC WORKS IN SWEDEN. (From United States Consul Bergh, Gothenburg, Sweden.) A large establishment for smelting or extraction of zinc by a method invented by Dr. Gustaf de Laval is being built at the Hallstahammar Works, in the Province of Vestmanland. The method is the same as that by which fine results have been obtained both at Trollhättan and in Norway. The power station for the establishment is located at Hallstahammars Bruk, close to the railroad station of the same name, where the Kolbäck Creek (Kolbäcksán) falls 35 feet. All work on the power station is carried on by the Hallstahammar Company, which for this purpose employs about 300 men. establishment is expected to be finished this year. Dr. de Laval is a well-known inventor who resides in Stockholm, and in his method above referred to electricity is used in smelting or extracting the metal, as reported in my note of January 12, 1903.† *See DAILY CONSULAR REPORTS No. 1758 (September 25, 1903). A similar method, invented by the French engineer Heroult, is used by steel works at Kortfors, Sweden, with good results, it is said. At Gysinge Bruk, Gysinge, Sweden, electricity is also used in the manufacture of steel, as previously reported.* Thus it seems that the use of electricity in metallurgy is gaining ground, especially in places where coal is expensive but water power plentiful. ROBERT S. S. BERGH, Consul. GOTHENBURG, SWEDEN, September 11, 1903. ELECTRICITY INSTEAD OF COAL FOR SWISS RAILWAYS. (From United States Consul-General Hughes, Coburg, Germany.) Owing to the increase in the price of coal during the last few years, Mr. Thormann, a prominent Swiss engineer, wished to find out whether it would not be an advantage to use electrical energy, furnished by hydraulic plants, over the whole of the railroad system of Switzerland. After investigating the subject he published a report which has awakened considerable interest and will no doubt bring about some practical results in this direction. He finds that the substitution of electricity for steam on the railroads is quite practicable and has many advantages, although it will not bring about any considerable reduction in the cost of operating the roads. The five main railroads in Switzerland require over 30,000 horsepower daily. In order to organize a complete electrical service it. will be necessary to obtain about 60,000 horsepower in the shape of the alternating current of high tension, not counting the reserve supply, which is indispensable. Not taking into account the considerable number of falls which are not utilized in the country, there exist already 21 large hydraulic plants which can give a total of 86,000 horsepower. These include the plant of Siel, near Linsiedl, which has a capacity of 20,000 horsepower; the Laufenburg plant, on the Rhine, giving also 20,000 horsepower; and five others, giving each 5,000 horsepower. He enumerates 21 plants, which will bet more than sufficient to supply the energy for the Swiss railroads. The cost of changing over the system would, of course, be considerable. It is to be noted, however, that the adoption of the electrical system would have the great advantage of doing away with the present consumption of coal, which is now imported, and that the use of hydraulic energy would be of great benefit in developing several branches of manufacturing. *Published in ADVANCE SHEETS No. 1388 (July 10, 1902). The publication of Mr. Thormann's report aroused considerable attention in different quarters, and already one of the railroad companies has applied to the Government for an authorization to use electric trains on a trial stretch of road 12 miles long. COBURG, GERMANY August 24, 1903. OLIVER J. D. HUGHES, Consul-General. ENGLISH, FRENCH, AND GERMAN TRADE IN 1903. (Compiled in the Bureau of Statistics, Department of Commerce and Labor.) The imports for the British Empire for the first seven months of 1902 were $1,492,997,973; of 1903, $1,489,571,900. The exports for the same period of 1902 were $785,476, 187 and of 1903 $819,509,694. The imports for Germany for the first six months of 1902 were estimated to be worth $526,416,508; in the same period for 1903, $581,642,295. The exports for the first six months of 1902 were $422,303,430 and of 1903 $490,062,825. The imports for France for the first seven months of 1902 were $500,118,584; in the same period for 1903, $531,976,901. The exports for the first seven months of 1902 were $465,775,199 and of 1903 $459,419,902. Imports and exports of Germany for the past ten years. ENGLAND'S TRADE RELATIONS. The Revue du Commerce Extérieur, in its issue of August 8, 1903, publishes some very interesting facts and figures on the commerce of England. It says that pamphlets are being published pro and con in regard to England's trade relations. It cites one that says that of 28 leading articles of export only 9 have increased in recent years, while 19 declined. The total increase for the 9 articles is £10,000,000 ($48,665,500), while the decrease on one article alonemanufactures of iron and steel-was £20,000,000 ($97,330,000). This statement, however, according to the Revue, is misleading. In 1887 England exported 4,143,028 tons of steel and iron (raw and manufactured); in 1901, 2,897,719 tons-a crucial year for metallurgy. But the total value of the 4,000,000 tons was £24,992,000 ($121,623,568) in 1897, £25,282,000 ($123,034,853) in 1900, £31,992,075 ($155,909,433) in 1901, and £29,221,799 ($142,207,785) in 1902. England has exported less raw iron and rails, but the total value was as high in 1901 as in 1887 and increased £4,229,000 ($20,580,428) the year after, when the crisis had diminished. England's commercial decline or decadence is only relative. She is still the world's greatest consumer. She still remains the rival of the United States in exports. Germany approaches her with rapid strides. In 1902 she imported $2,573,697,190, of which $320,269,232 were goods in transit. The exports for that year were $1,379,847,410. In 1901 the figures were: Imports, $2,540, 264, 335; goods in transit, $330,148,226; exports, $1,362,727,063. In 1891 they were: Imports, $2,119,073,627; goods in transit, $314,195,840; exports, $1,154,504,127. In the year 1887 the figures were: Imports, $1,761,356,677; goods in transit, $288,821,908; exports, $1,077,511,231. German imports in 1902 amounted to $1,067,602,467 and the exports to $951,141,635; in 1901 Germany imported $1,046,298,355 and exported $855,269,464. In 1891 the figures were: Imports, $801,104,400; exports, $612,871,500. In 1887 they stood: Imports, $603,067, 100; exports, $605,112,900. During those years the United States imports increased very rapidly. They were $1,025,751,538 in 1902-3; the exports, $1,420,138,014. In 1901-2 the imports were $903,320,948; the exports, $1,381,719,401. In 1900-1901, the imports were $823,172, 165; the exports, $1,487,764,991. In 1890-91 the figures were: Imports, $844,916, 196; the exports, $884,480,810. In 1887 the imports were $692,319,768; the exports, $716, 183, 211. These figures, it says, fur$716,183,211. nish an economic event, or a series of events, of wide-reaching importance. There is no recoil, nor really any standing still. In 1887 Great Britain's exports went up to £221,414,000 ($1,077,511,221)—British products only. In 1891, after the Barings crisis, they attained £237,235,000 ($1,154,504,027). Ten years later they had increased £42,787,000 ($208,222,935). During the last year a further increase of £3,500,000 ($17,032,750) is to be noted. In other words, British exports increased 28 per cent in fifteen years, while those of the United States doubled, and those of Germany advanced 60 per cent. BRITISH ENGINEERING STANDARDS. (From United States Consul Halstead, Birmingham, England.) The inclosed clipping from the London Times of August 31, giving a short review of the report of the Engineering Standards Committee, prepared by the secretary, Mr. Leslie S. Robertson, is of interest. The Department has printed, at my request, several of the Times' reviews of the publications describing the work of the British Engineering Standards Committee,* and as a result I have had a number of applications for the address of the publisher, Robert Atkinson (Limited), Salisbury House, London Wall, E. C., London. The committee's reports are so important to American engineers that I submit for publication in the CONSULAR REPORTS the following letter, dated August 31, 1903, in reply to my inquiry for a list of the pamphlets which have been issued. Mr. Robert Atkinson to Consul Halstead. DEAR SIR: In reply to your favor of the 28th instant, we beg to say that the findings already issued by the Engineering Standards Committee consist of: Sections of Constructional Iron and Steel (angles, tees, beams, etc.); price Is. (24 cents). (The tables of inertia, weights per foot run, etc., relative to these, will be issued in a few weeks.) Tram Rail Specifications, price 1 guinea ($5.10). Under the authority of the committee we are issuing the Coded Lists of their `findings, the first volume of which will contain all the above material, and lists of all British manufacturers and merchants in these particular sections, with the sizes they roll or stock. The volume will also contain a compendious code for use between buyers and sellers, and every standard section will also be codified. The price of this first volume will be 10s. ($2.43). MARSHAL HALSTEAD, Consul. BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND, September 1, 1903. THE ENGINEERING STANDARDS COMMITTEE. [From the London Times.] A short review of the Engineering Standards Committee has been issued by the secretary, Mr. Leslie S. Robertson, who concludes that "the epitome sufficiently indicates the enormous importance of the work in hand to the trade of the Empire. The Premier, Mr. Arnold Forster, Sir John Wolfe Barry, and others have expressed opinions as to the immense value of its labors, the result of which it is difficult to overrate if they are as loyally supported by the trade and commerce of this country as by the Government and its various departments.” |