On the west side, the petroleum tanks stand within a special enclosure capable of containing the whole contents of the tanks plus 10 per cent. The whole area of the Petroleum Basin is fenced in and surrounded by a ditch. The entrance to the outer harbour, and thus the entrance to the Elbe, is carefully secured against fire, by pontoons drawing 2 feet of water, defended on the harbour side and at their ends by an armour of fire-proof stones.

Sheds, Warehouses, and Appliances.-The sheds on the quay, where the sorting of the unloaded goods is generally done, are one storey high throughout; they are closed on the land side and open to the water. On the land side there are four or five lines of railway, on the two first of which trucks stand to be loaded. The goods unloaded from the sea-going ships, which are to be forwarded by rail, are dealt with on the land side of the sheds; while those to be sent to warehouses in the town by barge are dealt with by cranes on the water side. The water side is paved throughout, forming a roadway for vehicles. With the exception of those on the Sandthor quay, all sheds are built of wood and roofed with roofing paper. The Sandthor quay sheds have stone walls on the land side, and are roofed with iron. Up to 1894 the total length of the quay sheds amounted to 4 miles, with a total covered-in area of 206,300 square yards. The breadth of the sheds varies between 48 feet on the Sandthor quay, and 110 feet on the Asia quay.

In place of the numerous warehouses in the town, which, after the entry of Hamburg into the general Customs' system, were no longer available, numbers of new buildings have been erected within the free port. Up to 1889, these covered an area of 43,600 square yards; they are mostly 92 feet high, and contain a storage area of 240,000 square yards, offices covering 27,600 square yards, and space used for other purposes amounting to 30,400 square yards. The hydraulic machinery station by the Sandthor Basin can supply 70% cubic yards of water per hour at a pressure of 711 lbs. per square inch, sufficient for 260 windlasses and fifty lifts in the warehouses, and thirty-six cranes including the reserve. In 1893 the cranes on the quays numbered 421, with a total lifting capacity of 1,000 tons, 66 being fixed and 355 movable.1

When a large number of ships arrive at Hamburg, the interchange of goods is between either sea-going ships and river vessels plying on the Upper Elbe, or barges by which goods are conveyed

1 Proceedings of the International Engineering Congress, Chicago, 1893, Part II., p. 259.

to warehouses along canals intersecting the town. In these cases the ships are usually moored to dolphins, which consist of clumps of three, nine, or thirteen piles driven 13 feet to 16 feet into the ground and well braced together, so that, while elastic, they are sufficiently strong. A number of the dolphins in the river are protected by ice-breakers.

Landing-Stages. The arrangement of the port on both banks of the Elbe, and the existence of large shipbuilding yards, factories, &c., on the left bank, produce a large traffic between the two banks of the river, which is served by steam ferries. Special landing-stages are provided for the use of these ships and for the large river steamers which also carry passengers. The rise and fall of the tide necessitated floating piers, which are connected by gangways with the bank, or can be reached at any state of the tide by steps in the quay walls. The remaining steamferry traffic is served by wooden rafts supported on empty petroleum barrels, or in the most important situations by iron pontoons decked with wood, or concrete on iron plates. The interior of the bigger pontoons against which the larger river steamers lie, is high enough to afford space for store- and waiting-rooms. The most important of these is situated in front of the St. Paul division of the town, having a length of 656 feet, and is connected with the bank by three bridges. For over-sea passengers, there is a special landing-stage by the strand quay; and close by on the bank there are waiting-rooms for saloon and second-class passengers, connected with the landing-stage by a covered bridge.

Ocean and River Traffic.-The following Table indicates the development of the sea-going trade of Hamburg :

The river traffic exhibits a similar development in the same period, the number of ships entering from the Upper Elbe having increased from 6,081 to 15,978, and the weight of the goods delivered from 492,000 tons to 2,080,000 tons. The weight of the goods despatched to the Upper Elbe has increased from 434,000 tons to 2,969,000 tons. Since 1893, the sea-going trade of Hamburg has exceeded that of Liverpool, the second largest English port.

Cuxhaven Harbour.-With heavy ice in the river, the journey up to Hamburg is not devoid of danger, especially for large ships; while the effective depth of the channel, of about 23 feet, is insufficient for the new express steamers, especially those running to North America. It therefore became necessary to provide a harbour of refuge near the mouth of the river, which at the same time would admit the express steamers at any state of the tide. The position of Cuxhaven, about 62 miles below Hamburg, on an arm of the Elbe having a depth of 112 feet, appeared most suitable for this purpose, because ships could enter at any state of the tide, and the railway connection enabled the voyage of the passengers by the express steamboats to be shortened.

Since the older works at Cuxhaven were insufficient for the new requirements, a small harbour was built for fishing boats behind the dam, 490 feet long, constructed in 1880 for the protection of the bank, and adjoining the old harbour. In addition, a large harbour was built for the steamships of the Hamburg-American line, with an entrance 328 feet wide between the two heads which project in front of the dam, enabling the largest ships to come alongside at all times. The harbour increases in width inside to 820 feet, and terminates in a basin 984 feet long and 263 feet wide, with lines of railway on both sides in direct communication with the Cuxhaven railway-station.

PORT OF STETTIN.1

Approach Channel to Port.-Stettin on the Oder is connected by this river with the Baltic Sea, though not directly, for the Oder discharges into the Great and Little Haffs, about 19 miles below Stettin, Fig. 12, Plate 6. These two Haffs together form a bay, 254 square miles in area, separated by the two islands, Usedom and Wollin, from the sea. The middle opening, called the Swine, is the chief connection with the sea, since it serves 181 square miles of the total area. The discharge of the Oder at maximum flood-level reaches 159,300 cubic feet per second; while the range between highest and lowest water-level tide is 63 feet. The range in the Baltic, which is exclusively influenced by the direction of the wind, is 7 feet. With a low stage in the Oder, and high water in the Baltic, water would run from the sea up the river, if the large area of the Haffs, and the comparatively short duration of the storms raising the level of the sea, did not prevent it. In

Zeitschrift für Binnenschifffahrt, 1896, Nos. 2 and 3.

1842 the depth of water between Stettin and the mouth of the Swine was only 123 feet, which, by straightening the upper curves and dredging, was increased by 1885 to 18 feet. In the mouth of the Swine itself, a depth of up to 49 feet was attained by building two moles of unequal length, 1,148 feet apart, at their seaward ends, which increased and guided the current. The most important improvement in the channel to Stettin was the Caseburg Cut, executed in 1877, which not only made the passage between Stettin and the mouth of the Swine easier, but by shortening the course of the Swine materially increased the current through it. The velocity of the current in the Swine entrance was at that time 7.8 feet per second, both in and out; while in the Haff itself, in a depth of 6 feet, there was no stream at all. Since an effective depth of 18 feet was no longer sufficient for the requirements of the port of Stettin, and it became extremely difficult to take the large battle- and merchant-ships, built at the ship-yard "Vulcan" below Stettin, to the sea, a further deepening of the channel to 23 feet has recently been effected. To maintain the channel open in winter, the Stettin merchants and the town acquired three ice-breakers in 1889, which have been completely successful.

Description of Port.-The port of Stettin is formed by the natural waterways, mainly the Oder and its two arms, Dunzig and Parnitz, which branch off in the town, Fig. 13, Plate 6. There are 2,548 yards of quay, of which, however, only a small length is served by lines of railway; and owing to the increase of traffic, and the creation of a free port where goods could be handled out of control of the Customs, the extension in progress was decided upon.

An island, on the right bank of the Oder, formed by the branches Dunzig and Parnitz, was chosen for the site of the new port, for which it was specially suitable, because, besides the possibility of increasing the width of the existing connecting channel between the new port and the river should it become necessary, the proximity of the Breslau station enabled the quay railways to be connected to the main lines. The port consists of an eastern basin, 1,312 yards long and 328 feet wide, near which a second basin, also 328 feet wide, is proposed to be made as soon as the traffic warrants an extension, Fig. 13, Plate 6. Outside the basin there is a wide basin in which ships can turn. the free port is 148 acres, of which 55 having a depth of 23 feet below mean water-level. The length of quay amounts to 4,720 yards; and the walls are founded on piles,

The area of acres consist of water

as a good foundation could only be reached at a depth of 26 feet to 30 feet below mean water-level. A small tunnel was formed in the quay walls, as at Bremen, in which the hydraulic supply pipes for the cranes are placed.

The sheds, standing 39 feet back from the edge of the quay, are one storey high, 597 feet long, and 98 feet deep, and both at the front and back are provided with loading stages. There are two lines of railway on each side of these sheds, and a roadway behind those on the land side, with warehouses on the far side. There is space in the free port for the erection of ten sheds having a total area of 77,850 square yards, and eight warehouses with an area of 37,400 square yards. The loading and unloading of the ships into the warehouses, or into railway wagons, and from the sheds into the warehouses, and vice versa, will be done by hydraulic cranes. The cranes on the water side travel on a rail on the quay wall, and those on the land side on a rail in the roadway; and the second rail is in both cases placed above the doors of the sheds, to gain as much headway under the cranes as possible. The estimated cost of the port is £1,500,000.

THE NORTH SEA AND BALTIC CANAL.1

The idea of connecting the North Sea and the Baltic is an old one; but while in the earlier proposals the shortest route was selected, it was laid down in schemes drawn up between 30 and 40 years ago, that more favourable termini must be sought than those of the shortest route. The most favourable points were the mouth of the Elbe on the one side, and Kiel Bay on the other, the former because the depth of water is sufficient for the largest ships, and the latter because it is the second largest German naval dockyard, and the entrance to the canal could be readily defended. Although the canal offers a shorter and a safer route for merchant vessels than the sea-passage, its construction might not have been undertaken for many years to come had it not been for strategic considerations.

Route of Canal.-The canal leaves the Elbe above Brunsbüttel, and passing first through the Kuden Lake, traverses a distance of 183 miles to the water-parting between the rivers Eider and Elbe, Fig. 14, Plate 6. After passing through the ridge of the river

1 Centralblatt der Bauverwaltung, 1886, pp. 233 and 240; 1887, pp. 221 and 229; 1889, p. 73; 1891, pp. 193, 203, and 215; 1893, p. 160; 1894, p. 508; and 1895, pp. 217, 265, 288, 305, and 311.