appearance to ebony; ferrules for umbrellas and sticks, and balls, rings, chess figures, dominoes, etc.; also a small table with an inlaid marble slab, and finally a number of thick slabs and staves with every imaginable variation of marble colors but of considerably less weight than real marble. These objects were made of "galalith "-i. e., milk stone.

Skimmed milk, in spite of its many valuable qualities, has so far been little used; it contains a considerable portion of nutritious matter-i. e., 1 liter (1.05 quarts) of skimmed milk is of about equal value to a quarter of a pound of meat. It is by far too little appreciated as a cheap food for the people, hence what the German peasant can not sell to milk-sugar factories or use for the manufacture of cheese is given to cattle and pigs as food. The principal albumenoid substance of skimmed milk, the casein, is the raw material out of which the new product galalith is manufactured. More than fifteen years ago the idea was originated to manufacture various articles like buttons, handles, ornamental plates, and colored pencils out of casein. The inventor took out a patent for a manufacturing process, which is described as follows:

Fresh casein-i. e., ordinary or dried curds-were dissolved in hot soap water; to this solution the required coloring ingredients and a metallic salt were added, and a firm substance consisting of casein. and metallic soap was produced, which, by drying and pressing into molds, could be given any desired shape. It is to be supposed that the inventor had found out by continued trials that casein by addition of a metallic salt becomes brittle and softens easily in water. With a view to counteracting this latter drawback soap was added, but the articles produced thus were soft and brittle, and the invention was not a success. The chemical factory of Schering at Berlin then invented a process, the idea of which was to make casein insoluble by the addition of formaldehyde, but the disadvantage of this invention was that the articles produced distended considerably in water.

The inventors of galalith succeeded, after many troublesome trials, in doing away with the deficiencies of former methods and in using the good that was in the former ones, for the working out of an entirely new process. Their first aim was to make an insoluble union of casein by the addition of salts and acids. The substance thus obtained was dephlegmated and dried, and, finally, by the addition of formaldehyde, the galalith was obtained. To produce, for instance, a material similar to ebony, which could be used for handles of table knives, they proceeded as follows: Dissolved casein was given a dark color by the addition of soot and, with the help of a metallic salt, "acetate of lead," a slate-colored precipitate was

obtained.

This was mixed with water and the thin pap filled into a cloth stretched over a frame. The water becoming absorbed by the cloth, the pap contracted into a uniform, firm, and dark mass; this was placed in a solution of formaldehyde and, after being dried, a product resulted which in luster and color was equal to ebony. In this way a raw material is produced which the inventors have protected by numerous patents.

An advantage of the new product as compared with celluloid is the fact that it does not ignite so easily and is entirely odorless. Trials have proved that even when kept for weeks in water it does not distend more than the best quality of buffalo horn; after one month it had not soaked in more than 20 per cent of water. Of late trials have been made to produce, by the addition of vegetable oils, an insulating material for electrotechnical purposes.

COBURG, June 17, 1903.

OLIVER J. D. HUGHES,

Consul-General.

COMPAGNIE GÉNÉRALE TRANSATLANTIQUE.

The following is a résumé of the annual report of the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique for 1902, which was submitted to the stockholders of the company at their annual meeting on June 20 last:

The net value of the company's steamers, real estate, material and supplies on hand, and personal property at the agencies (amortization, amounting to $1,096, 419.71, deducted) on December 31, 1902, was $24,538,930.87, as compared with $25,212,358.73 on December 31, 1901, a decrease of $673,427.86. The assets were $29,468,766.17, a decrease of $759,689.08 as compared with the previous year. The total receipts for 1902, including the bounties and subsidies received from the French Government, were $9,938,951. 31, against $9,533,440.68 in 1901, an increase of $405,510.63. The total expenses in 1902 were $8,842,531.61, a decrease of $113,923.40 as compared with 1901. The entire excess of receipts over the expenditures for the year 1902, amounting to $1,096,419.71, were appropriated for the amortization of the fleet and the construction of new vessels, no dividend being declared.

The company has ordered from the Société des Chantiers et eliers de Saint Nazaire a new steamer, La Provence, which will be dimension and will exceed in horsepower their present steamer Lorraine and La Savoie. A. M. THACKARA,

HAVRE, July, 1993.

Consul.

NEW EUROPEAN-MEXICAN STEAMSHIP LINES.

The Hamburg-American Line has inaugurated a special fast freight and passenger steamship service between Hamburg and Veracruz, via Havre, Corunna, Habana, and Tampico. The vessels range in tonnage from 5,600 to 6,030 tons, are furnished with quadruple-expansion engines, and have an average speed of from 131⁄2 to 141⁄2 knots. They are provided with modern conveniences and have been specially fitted with a view to the comfort of passengers in the tropical service. The largest vessel of the fleet of three will draw, when fully loaded, 24 feet.

The service is monthly; a vessel leaves Hamburg on the 26th of the month, Havre on the 29th, Corunna on the 1st of the following month and arrives at Habana on the 14th and at Veracruz on the 17th, where it will remain for about a week. It then proceeds to Tampico, arriving on the 25th. On the 29th the boat leaves Tampico on her return trip, leaving Veracruz the 1st of the succeeding month and Habana on the 5th, arriving at Corunna on the 18th, at Havre on the 20th, and at Hamburg on the 24th, making the round trip in about two months.

Another new steamship line, to be known as the Austro-American, has recently been established by the Austrian Lloyd, of Trieste, for service between Adriatic, Mediterranean, and Mexican Gulf ports. The Lloyd Company, which operates a fleet of 20 steamers, intends to have a monthly service of steamers ranging from 3,550 to 6,400 gross tons each. No time-table has yet been issued, nor is it possible at present to obtain freight and passenger rates.

The first vessel to arrive at Veracruz was the steamship Anna, of 3,550 tons, which left Trieste March 10, calling at Genoa, Marseilles, Barcelona, Tampico, and Veracruz; on the return voyage touching at Progreso. The company advertises to receive freight from Mexico for Trieste and Mediterranean ports; also cargo for ports on the Continent, with transshipment to other vessels of the same line at Curaçao. W. W. CANADA,

VERACRUZ, June 8, 1903.

Consul.

GERMAN OCEAN TRANSPORTATION COMPANIES. All the German ocean transportation companies of Hamburg and Bremen, being compelled under their charters to make their business reports public, have done so for the year 1902. Several of these companies increased their capital stock in 1901 and 1902 to a considerable amount.

At the end of 1902 both the Hamburg-American Line and the North German Lloyd, of Bremen, had a capital stock of 100,000,000 marks ($23,800,000) each, against 80,000,000 marks ($19,040,000) in 1901. The Bremen Steamship Company Hansa had a capital of 15,000,000 marks ($3,570,000); the German-Australian Steamship. Company, of Hamburg, 12,000,000 marks ($2,856,000); the Hamburg South American Steamship Company, 11,250,000 marks ($2,666,790); the Kosmos, of Hamburg, 11,000,000 marks ($2,618,000); the German East African Line, of Hamburg, 10,000,000 marks ($2,380,000); the Argo, of Bremen, 7,000,000 marks ($1,666,000); the German Levant Line, of Hamburg, 6,000,000 marks ($1,428,000); Neptun, of Bremen, 3,500,000 marks ($833,000).

The other regular lines are owned by private persons or limited companies and are not required to report.

A majority of these companies has secured working capital by loans, amounting to 58,250,000 marks ($13,863,500) for the North German Lloyd, 39, 125,000 marks ($9,311,750) for the HamburgAmerican Line, 45,500,000 marks ($10,829,000) for the East African Line, and 4,500,000 marks ($1,071,000) for the Hansa. The reserves of the different companies are large. The general and special reserves amount to 21,200,000 marks ($5,045,000) for the HamburgAmerican Line and 21,100,000 marks ($5,021,800) for the North German Lloyd.

The Hamburg-American Line owns 119 vessels, valued at 143,500,000 marks ($34,153,000); the North German Lloyd, 107 vessels, valued at 141,800,000 marks ($33,748,400); Hansa, 41 vessels, valued at 22,300,000 marks ($5,307,400); South American Line, 32 vessels, valued at 22,900,000 marks ($5,450,200); East African Line, 18 vessels, valued at 15,800,000 marks ($3,760,400); and Levant Line, 26 vessels, valued at 9,700,000 marks ($2,308,600).

The average age of vessels, computed per ship tons, is between 5 and 6 years with the Australian Line; between 6 and 7 years with the Hamburg-American, the South American, the East African, Hansa, and Kosmos; between 7 and 8 years with the North German Lloyd; 10 years with the Argo and Neptun lines; and 12 years with the Levant Line.

FRANKFORT, July 7, 1903.

RICHARD GUENTHER,
Consul-General.

FREIGHT TONNAGE ON THE SOO.

The following summary of the freight tonnage passing through the two canals at the "Soo" for the months of April and May, 1903, with comparison with the same period of 1902, was published in the Toronto Globe, June 13, 1903:

During the two months of April and May the total freight carried through the two canals at the Soo was 6,039,856 tons, which is 74,963 tons more than the quantity carried in April and May of 1902 and 4,591,811 tons more than recorded for the corresponding months of 1901. The quantity carried through the Canadian Canal was 796,510 tons against 532,188 tons in 1902 and 151,679 tons in April and May, 1901. During April and May, 1903, the Canadian Canal carried 11.64 per cent of the total; in 1902, nearly 8 per cent; and in 1901, 6.8 per cent.

The quantity of wheat carried east by the two canals in April and May, 1903, was 15,347,173 bushels, a decrease of 3,414,000 bushels compared with the same period of 1902. There was also a decrease in flour of 217,390 barrels; in iron ore, of 434,048 tons; in lumber, of 16,345,000 feet. The chief increases were in grain other than wheat (2,970,864 bushels) and in general merchandise (5,111 tons).

ST. THOMAS, ONTARIO, June 22, 1903.

M. J. BURKE,

Consul.

PROPOSED FORTH-CLYDE SHIP CANAL.

The feasibility of a ship canal between the Forth and Clyde has been for many years a subject of discussion in shipping and commercial circles in Scotland. Several routes were suggested at various times, but no definite steps have been taken toward the preparation of plans. At present the prospect of the construction of such a water way is, however, considerably brighter. A company of London financiers is taking an active interest in the project, and has, it is said, adopted the scheme put forward by Messrs. D. & C. Stevenson, a prominent firm of harbor engineers of Edinburgh. Messrs. Stevenson surveyed the route some years ago from Alloa, on the Forth, to Arrocher, on Loch Long, and are now making a further survey in detail, preparing plans, etc. I am informed that an Edinburgh committee or syndicate is acting in conjunction with the London promoters, and that the sum of £10,000,000 ($48,665,000) has been pledged, on condition that Parliament shall guarantee interest on capital. The promoters are confident that Parliament will aid the enterprise to this extent, in view of the importance of the canal for naval purposes,