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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 25, 1903)
Port of Antwerp, Gateway to North Europe it f . -: ?.. , - .'. -.r;-. '-.-;v -.- , , ; ,;. , . "v: iv -I.- v-r-zp - -i- I ! : L i X5 r 1 KM'UMmI s I 1 1 . 1 ; S n - AMKKIf'AN I.I M Itlilt tiik n xssi N" am l Kl l' i -in ti t . Ii.:. , j I i . 1 1 1 K i ; c ' 1 1 1.. lit. r i N'l'H r. ii. li'ium. ,l. iii 1 1 I'm:: I SH I I.I I ' 'ill I ' ! m,'l' III I nf Till Hi" I I ii III : I I III I III' III I In' i lllif A 1 1 1 lii -in r,.i ' ' ;i In tlii' n in -I MM III of l'jlT'nM Tin , i it v, sit - ii. Hiil -iiy lull's ml. in I mi tin- ' I i ir.if S. Ii. Ill . i ; i 1 1 1 1 1 i i . . In i . 1 1 1 . 1 1 1 in I with M'i I'.ut nf ; i 1 1 1 ; 1 1 . I'i.iiiii, llnlliil iiinl Hi I r i u in , ;iii'l uiir AiiHih.iii in.il 1 1 1 . i U lilt-- it a li.i-.is i.f 'In ll' iiitiiiiui riil r;lllii:ii.'lis Six rl'isil Inn's (if st i:i tin t.h riiiitucl it with N'i sv ViiiK iiinl (illnr A 1 1 1 r -USUI pul'IK. Mini it is tin' h . I ' I ' 1 1 1 . 1 1-1 r s of tin' Kcil Slur li:n . mi' nf Hi'- i liii f iiiii rii'H nf uiir I'li iit slili'intin lliisl. In ill I V tlii' in. Him l.ii IhIh it in iiitliiii I'v tin t lioiimiinlH of i;irs mi' 1 1 1 1 1 . i ' I - 1 Inn' to ln si'lit to ntln r i niilit I'Ii h nf Kiil iiir Cii i'im h nf our liiinl" r tiiin l tliiiiiH.li tin iiiiiiils far into ilir i lit t inr. ami lank Miami is 111 I -1 1 with Amiriiaii rnal nil rniin in sinli numlii is thai Kiii'rlal iliirlvs 1 1 ; i v l i n si't a; I'll' for tln ni Kiiiiwii as tin' ll.i sill Annrlril. AiiIhi'i lias now I'.iiii.niih iii'O'ilt. It Ih raililly i;ruwinn. ami it Is rai lilni? t In insitioii it hail limine tin' iniililli' ani'H as tin' ilihi'Ht loniiin rrlal rlty of l''.uron. It 1 1 . i I thi n not half us many noili im now, hut Its I null' was tin woinli-r nf tin worM. I"i vi huinlri'il wanniis ilaily rami Into tin rlty, lirini'.lnn in ami rarrylnn nut Munild. I'lM' huiiilli'il shiis s.iiliil up tin Srhi'Idl inry il.iy. aul it is sai'l that J. .'.mi vissi'ls m ii- ofli ii lit am lmr tln ii' at inn tiiui'. This w.i.s sli.rilv afti'i- tin' ilisroviTy nf Aim iii a II. inii' 1 li.it ti tin Mi'iliti-r- r iiu an i-it i s . sin h as Vi nil ami (li tioa, li in ih,. iiiiiiiiiii i' of tin' wnihl. hut Cii I ii ii i Ii ii s tuiuiil tin lili' aniillnr way. Tin riuili' to Asia almul I In Can' of (IuihI Unix was ilisi om ri il, ami tin' niiis nf I In At lantir lii'i'an In hiniiu I.isl" ii was om' nf llio must ihrixiiii. of tlum. an. I tin' 1'iirtu-L-ilisi' ships iill.il ill. is' an. I I In ti rami nil to Antwirp lu. hi. I iiimi;. h nl linn al mi. si as urn. h Ha h' as l.i.mliui. KiikI.iii I annually Imynu; ah mi $'.'. worth nf Antwi'ip i;ni'is At thai linn uioiiry was worth tin tiniis what it is now, iiinl In i uuiliai isoii tho lra.li' was urcatcr. Ant wi rji houi'ht spin s ami suuar of tin I'nrtu :tui' to tin' aimuint of aln.ost S 1 .000.000 a yriir. iiinl Its HilU ami ohl wari-s from ltal win worth twin as miuh. Tluri win- ilii'ii l.ooo fon Uti rnmmi r rlnl flrniH iloiii hiislni'ss in Antwrrp, .ml ainnliK thrill wrl-i' tin' Kiiukits of NiikhIiiii'i;, who wrn tin' riripont Morgans nf the si tiiiith iciilury. Tin' Knni;ir wrri faiiuni.- ax hankers ami htisiiiess men ami fur their wealth, one nf t heni ilyini; at nlwerp ami leiu inn a fort line of J ..mm unit, an eniinnous hum for t hat t Inn'. Sinli was the eomlitnui of ntwirp when the Spaniarls tlii. I to rule the Nether lamls. They ruineil the eountry, as they havt" ruineil iveiythiu they have put their hamlH on. In less than a m m nil Ion the pniillat Inn fell nff more than Ml per rent ami the huslnesti ami people Mea.lily ilwin illei! until in K'.iO the rlty lia.l only pi.mul hlllllH laid r un Napoleon ltniiapait o saw the lll lii'HH uf Antwerp for a nrrat roninn n I a I port. lie lunlt il.iiks at a cost of soni" tlilnK like Jin.iiotl.nml. ami was fast inakiiu; tin rlty the cutiinirrrl.il capital i f northern l'urope, when It nut anotli. i Mark eye ttuoimh the revolutions which follow cd his il. ath A general lu'i ei so later, Ill inium havltiK iseparatr.l from llolhitnl. Antwerp ,'iKiiin lietan to Rt'im, ami it is now MK' r than it h is ever Inn n In fore The Antwerp of toilay Is one nf the husiest places of com im tit al Kuropi'. It l.ooius like the fast - m nw in cities of the Initial States. Its new tit reels are Unci with 1'iiil'liiicti which wiiil.l lo credit to New York, ami it has docks whi.h surpai-s anythlni; on uur At I ml n ro.ist The river Scheldt has In en w ulled In uml deepened, fo that at hii;h tile the hiwuest ocean Ktenmers Fall rinht to the nice of the cit nnd anrhor there. All alotiu the liver Iron nnd glass tiheds have lei n meted for storlDK kooiIs. and t ransfrrrlnii them from the ships to the railroads. Four lines nf railway tracks run outside these sheds, an 1 neit to the river are long linen of hydraulic .T.'j..'... 'H n , , "H' i jrlr: 'n' I - :v "-v- . . .-'.- .w;lv-7,v.;','; ; f I . '-, v- lffv vM2i-i - " ' : - (c,.,.. 'I- '-r. lj.u- .. - mimi 'TT- SIX TttNS OK MINNKAI'tiUS Kl.nl It AT M.NK I.iiAH. i lam s wliirh lift the K""ds from the ahlp4 to the ars. (Ml the !iverane ,.'iU0 cars leave the city ever day. Hoth cranes and cars are worked hy a suhterrancan acqueduct oper ated hy rm;ines. Ahi.ve the w.irehuu.-e bin ds arc 1 .iik prom riiadi .s paved wlih Hfcplial!, mi sid- tha' two tvNo-hurse uiiKiin loads of h i could he driven side hy side upon I hem These pi omeiiadt 8 look out over the river and th hi ecu fields on the opposite side; they form Hie favorite promenade of the Antwerpers Sundays ami evenings. At such times bare headed women ami girls and capped and hatted men and hoys may he turn hire si lulling alouK or leaning over the raillncs enjoying the cool hree.es of the Scheldt Siitne of the boys wear wooden clogs, and even the little ones of the better class, s line their legs harp from 'he tops of their t-hoes to the kneed The Scheldt Is ahout a furlong wide. It la ovt r twriily-lhe feet deep, and it streams wlih shipping. A North Cerman I.loyd Heanit r rame pulling In while I was on the promenade this afternoon, while a Hed Star liner from New York, which had Just beeu discharged, was starting out. 1 wish 1 could show you the docks which thet-e llelgians have built for handling our Imports They are among the finest of Kur upe. he ones which Napuleou constructed nie still in use. They are two In number, i ne In 1. ling ahout .'.0 ships and the other perhaps half that number. It took me several hours to drive ahout the m w docks I went by miles of Iron wan houses and sheds tilled with all sorts of coeds. At times I was In a thicket of masts am! at others 1 could hardly goo through the network of ringing. The d"Cks .-.nd i anals were filled with h a's and barti , wedged in among the gn at s'catn ers. and care were moving thia way and that carrying the goods tit and In. 1 could tot get the exact area of the d icks, hut I am Mire there are more than l.Oiifl acres Th Itassiti l)ii Kattendyk alone has 2.10 litis and the Ilassln I.ef. byre h is 320 acres). I stopped and made siine phot, graphs iibout the ltassin America, where our pe troleum Is landed. Barrels marked "Stand ard "il Company" were pihd h gh on th tanks and nrnwa 'he way was tin enor mous brick elevator which was le ng filled with the wheat from our great northwest I visi'fd the Hed Siar quay, where there are warehouses filled with Atlerlcan wood pulp, cotton and machinery. I saw Ch:oago meats In cans, boxes marked rblladelpbla pickles and every sort of Yankee notions in various parkagi s. Two steamers were unloading cargoes of corn, oil cake and ag ricultural maihinery, ami a team of llrl 4 i.i n hors s was dragging away about six tins of Minneapolis 11 mr al one load I did not count the hags, but there must have been hundreds of them. And just lu re I want to speak ahout the llelgiall horses Used al'Olll I he w hal ves They are little elephants in hotseliiiles, ami tiny will haul bigger loads than even th horses of liiverpool or Havre. I have never seen anything like them. Two of them pull a load of eight or ten tons with ease, and single horses drag five tons. The wagons UKcd about the dorks weigh ahout a ton and a half each, and when you load one of i hem wiih sixty big hags uf sulphur or several hundred bags of wheat you have a load which an American team could not budge, but which these Belgian draft horses pull along like so many feathers. Karh wagon has a tongue, and when one horse is used it is hitched up on one side of the tongue instead of changing to shafts 1 have ta rn single horses pulling three or four tons and the wagon, or, altogether ahout five tons, over these Belgian block pavements. This Is done without trouble, and you will concede it Is a big load for lim ine so The hi st horses of this sort weigh about .".lieu pounds and each is expected to pull from three to rive tons The hois' s are well cared Co.- and bring good prici .- I went fr. in the lie 1 Star dorks to the 1'itiiher yard.-. They eover a, res and run l.it'i enormous ) iles of iuerii.in pine ant 0 Inr woo. Is Ships wno Lading and un- 1 '.slinu at the docks and it m em. d to in. that the glass-roofed warehouses li. I I enoi.th of our lumber to Moor the half of Belgium. The hoards are brought chieily from the southern states and shipped I y rail and i an ils to ut ier part s of the count ry. Much of the lumber used in Antwerp i carried ti'e.it on these big wagms I watihe.l - me men loading one of them. K.n h hid a Lather pad on his shoulder. Uj'-'ti which he carried at least half a do., n boards at one time, handling the lumt . i mote rapidly than is done in m. ri.-a. I have male some m.'u:ries concerning our imp, rtu to Belgium, but find it difficult tc learn just what they are Much of then: i otne through l'ngland and Germany. Wo ship them most of the staples we send ,o nth, r countriis. and also n great deal of crushed corn, corn nil an 1 notions. Thp agents of the Swift Backing company tell me that they sell canned meats of all h i n 1 s i.n.l also bones and hogs' hair. Tin ben. -are shipped to Germany and Russia for but tons, tooth brush handles an 1 other such things, and the hair is us.d to stuff furni ture. Belgium buys a great deal of be.: ham, which is mm h like c ir dried hi :'. and is sent over in barrels. American canned meats are seldom me.l except fur picnic and xeursion lum In s. hut our lard and pork hams are part of the regular Bel gium diet. Much of the goods which comes to Antwerp is transshipped to other coun tries. It gni s into the government ware houses and then (lasses on to its destina tion without paying tariff duties. "A vast deal of American cotton comes to Antwerp for the spinning mills of Ghent and other factories. Gin nt is the Man chester of Belgium. It is situated on the Scheldt, on the way to Ostend. a short dis tance from Antwerp, and an hour and a half by rail from Brussels. Ghent has lCrt.nnn inhabitants and Ii Is upward of six miles in . i r. umf. ri in e, n large part nf it being tak. n up in Id. a. hing grounds Several small rivers How through the city and there are bridges everywhere. There Is a wide canal which connects it with the Scheldt and another which con nects it wi-h the 11 river M inv uf th. building- are old and with i's .anils ),.. town iS I X' eeditiglv pictures U. Ghent i:, a hU ti. -s , it V I p, ,,;,, ,,.,, alw-ivs been Holed ,,s w. ivis. :u, m i,. middle ages th-ir cloths w.r. f.n.,.s ;,M ovir I-'urope There are now abiea ,i. spit'dles in 1 1 . cit v (is. If. and a- m r . more In th" country about, nur Aunt-! -i cotton conns hero in labs, and is s; :i an 1 wovin into cloths for ixp'Tt, a vi amount of it going to th" Belgian Congo Ghent is also noti.l for Its linens. It Ii ; s one of the largest linen nulls of the vvorl !. imploying about "l.nin) hands. It is the en ter of a rich farming region and In th country nearby some uf the beautiful li . -for which Belgium is noted an made. great part of the la -e Is s'M m i l" ' . hand, the wonn n doing th" work w i h numerous needles on cushions. We have a consul general at Antwerp : called upon him at 11 o'clock th;s m irti'tu nnd I have no doubt that h. A how I looked before I got in: e . . i and this without p. p:tig ; ..? Mi, w 1:1 dow. I have wri't.n of the !: ,-- ; . i holes which the l-'r, n. h h ive in the fnur doors of their apartments so that they peep through and without being seen size i 'I.KI M IS I. WM'H. o, , tlo. ,..,-..,i '.1... ',,...- - ..I.e.. .,,..., It t h" door I !,. It. ;.: : ,us. in. hiding t h . X 1 1 1 -1 . . 1 1 1 i ot. ii I . have iin v hi. h k, , p pa. . w H h t hat ." lid i I;. Ill olio ! . !. r. Ii.il lo is ! lot to th, arrangi mi nt . : t h" Kreiich It is a eom st , no, I i. n an .vail .in--! out - '."h d.r. '. Il l', ly I,. I . not r, -. i, b,l, ,'!' II ..-' b ll'li ill!'! up 1 .-id' Mi. .v indow. so that I li pi rson within hi se" all that goes on up or down the s'n it. Himself unseen, he can recognize the pas-, r-by. and can spot every caller as he approach! s his dwelling Our consul general Mi Antwerp as he sits in the largo '-' eh' it be his window looking out on ''" -'.. i tin., 'n i mirrors covering ami ii 1 o tin- s: ii i t i-ntne-ii. 1 the Iron! door. I would in.-itiu r " i ha i a great man b i in w ,i -' es his bu -; ii. ss In 1 1 1 s in :i. i. i..' ' I t.iir p ir--. i I iv . but 1 doubt not In iins ; -.,,'s tli" stranded Aim rio ins a" cms ii rid ions to his del k to t ! 1 obnoxious i alien- in is not m. Such lml i -mirrors are common in the Netherlands. This country, however, has many queer things. The horsi s. for instance, wear straw hats in the summer, while the women go bareheaded The horses cost money and tluir heads n I protection. The women are cheaper, and the men tell me they can be had for the asking. This Is a routiTy of uniforms. There are in i n everywhere wearm : gol l-laced mats and gold braid, d .i;.s Eery other servant has a cap and luass but tons. This is so wi'h the s'i',1 car conductors, the railroad nun and tie servants of the stores. Ih' te ate soidn r- or ollicrs on every -'feet cut.,- dr. sse.i up to th, nines. There iiie very few beggars, for begging is against the law, but the peaple are poor, and If Is only the officials, their so-called servants, who are as spick nnd span as the ri d pop pics which spot th" summer fields. I' i - nd I '.. .- . w ti.. ti . rub'.itiu' th - sr. . is a our w. t -..-tub 'heir ki'ehens That is whit i h- v , , i,,.,,.. Kvery mar, must he, p hi-- ovv -id. walk cL an. and I' is wife or hit. .1 u I wllo does It. The tervant geis down on In r kn-es and w..shitt the pavenii'tit. It Is odd to so, a Belgian busim ss street in tin evening. All the store windows have shutters of Iron and wood which roll up and down. Whi n the store closes the shut ters are dropped and the whole street is limd with blank walls. hie of the oddest thlncs. however, is the I ' lgian dog The expression "work like a e uiiii iidvi- uriguiaieii nere, lur ion dogs art worked harder than any other an imals. You see them hauling vegetable cuts, pulling In th" shafts nr hitched to Mi" axle. Sometimes they toll along side by side with a woman, and sometimes they lo all th" pulling themselves. Every man who runs a pushcart has a dog to help and t hi milkcart is always pulled by one more dogs It is w.-nderful what the d' ....it . . .t i . ..ii . i. t . ..j I on ii 1 1 ii oo won iiiey wuirv. i itniru il a .bo? market in llrusnels Thp nv wanted to pell him to me for 4'A franc t .... i ... t...... .. l,.l VS.. I. . .Ill'l l,l'"ll lll ,i.-riii ,1 II 1,11 Il - I' dragged it through the cobbb-l w i limit ov er' a x a : e !.. ! 1. t id 1 mo j pull a ton. and that $ was ditt clu this sa in. n ii : I t I saw , 1 r if! do for an 1 ." I.. : f i ,rlv g 1 one all the vvav fr m fj up The Ib-lv are i.-:ia'.! v ' i ' Tli v :ire : , o v: st'irV' . an 1 't ' v ar" i f', n f, d w mi-T' ss. s g , h'n.grv. it: nk g. c i:i Kcllcctimis ot a 1;i To 1,. u.-l ;. -! vv on. i u i TI i il it g g , t. !U I r- ' V I . s J.1" t. .'!.'.' w " : f 1 '. g" v:i 1 ' -.'o:-. ,.f f i- T!.o ! ,- ';: :: ,'i ; !,.' , !. eg , ... . . ... -.. :.. ,:: 1 .: M"i l,.v i iv i ii i ;i vv "i!.;i n w 1 1 1 1 s . -'on !-!onkiiig. 1'ian can 1" happy at ! i lip"; his unhap h" a l is a vi ho and Y. rk IT. ss.
