SHIPPING AND TRANSPORT, GAMBIA. The Board of Trade have received a copy of an Ordinance, enacted by the Colony of the Gambia, to consolidate and Navigation and amend the laws relating to the navigation of Pilotage the Colonial waters. Part I. of this Ordinance Ordinance, 1904. deals with the establishment, constitution and powers of a Navigation and Pilotage Board which is to have supervision of navigation. Part II. makes provisions applicable to inland water craft and British coasting craft. Part III. makes provisions applicable to all vessels navigating the Colonial waters, and deals with harbour and river conservation, pilotage lights, steering and sailing, and buoyage dues. Part IV. contains provisions relating to legal proceedings, and also a declaration of the the free navigation of the Gambia. The complete text of the Ordinance, which is to come into operation from and after the 30th June next, may be seen by persons interested on application at the offices of the Commercial Intelligence Branch of the Board of Trade, 50, Parliament Street, S.W. (on and after Saturday the 30th April, at 73, Basinghall Street, E.C.), any day between the hours of 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. (Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.). RUSSIA. The British Commercial Agent at Moscow reports that, with reference to the unfounded rumours which have Siberian appeared in the Russian press, to the effect Butter Trains. that the majority of the special ice trucks for the transport of butter from Siberia have been converted to other uses, the official "Commercial and Industrial Gazette" of St. Petersburg, of 25th March/7th April, states it is authorised to declare that the Railway authorities have made no such dispositions; and if, in some cases, some old trucks have possibly been refitted for some other purposes, the rolling stock in general has not been decreased, but, on the contrary, augmented, as over 100 trucks of a new and improved type have been ordered for the coming butter export season. The British Commercial Agent at Moscow further reports that accord The War and Siberian Traffic. ing to the official "Commercial and Industrial Gazette" of St. Petersburg of 24th March/6th April, at the first meeting of the inter-Departmental Committee charged with the duty of facilitating the interests of trade and traffic affected by the war (see note on p. 186), it was explained that arrangements have already been made for the despatch of one special butter train per day from Western Siberia, as last year, and if necessary during the butter season, one or two additional butter trains weekly, as also for the return despatch to Siberia of one daily train of empty refrigerated Shipping and Transport. trucks. The Committee consider the above will fully satisfy the demands of the whole Siberian butter export traffic of the coming season, the extent of which, it is added, is hardly likely to exceed that of last year, and under existing circumstances, will probably be less. With reference to the import of beech staves and salt for the Siberian butter industry, further arrangements will be made for conveying the former by the returning empty butter trucks, and the latter by separate trucks attached, as necessary, to military trains. As regards the import of agricultural machinery and other goods to Siberia, with respect to which applications have been received by the Committee, each such application will be considered separately on its own merits, in order to determine the degree of urgency in each case, so that goods may be forwarded in turn. EGYPT. The following statement, showing the number and tonnage of vessels of various nationalities passing through Shipping through the Suez Canal last year, has been prepared from figures given in the "Bulletin" of the Suez Canal Company. Figures for the two pre the Suez Canal in 1903. vious years are added for the sake of comparison: Bills for Improvement of Waterways. Shipping and Transport. GERMANY. A memorandum has been received at the Foreign Office from the Commercial Attaché to H.M. Embassy at Berlin respecting the new Bills (five in number), concerning the improvement of waterways in the kingdom of Prussia, which have been laid before the Landtag. Four deal with questions of material improvement of the waterway system, and the fifth with the construction of new, or the extension of existing, communications. The last-mentioned Bill provides as follows: 1. For the construction of a canal from the Rhine to Hanover at the total estimated cost of 9,857,5001.: (a) From the Rhine, in the neighbourhood of Ruhrort, to the Dortmund-Ems Canal, in the neighbourhood of Herne (Dortmund-Rhine Canal), including a Lippe Branch Canal from Datteln to Hamm, 3,525,000l. (b) Various extension works 'on the Dortmund-Ems Canal, in the section between Dortmund to Bevergern, 307,5007. (c) A canal from the Dortmund-Ems Canal, in the neighbourhood of Bevergern, to Hanover, with a branch canal to Osnabruck, Minden, and Linden, including the canalisation of the Weser from Minden to Hameln, or the erection of dammed basins ("Staubecken") instead of canalisation, 6,025,000l. 2. For the cost of making the Berlin-Stettin waterway one for large ships (waterway Berlin-Hohenfaathen), 2,150,000%. 3. For improvement of the waterway between the Oder and Vistula, as also of the waterway for ships from the Warthe, from the mouth of the Netze to Posen, 1,058,750l. 4. For canalisation of the Oder from the mouth of the "Glatzer Neisse to Breslau, as also for experimental works for the section between Breslau and Furstenberg, on the Oder, 947,500l. The total amount provided for in the Bill for the abovementioned works is 14,013,7501. Rates on certain SPAIN. It appears that the contract of the Spanish Government with the Transatlantic Steamship Company provides Rebate of Freight that the Company has to convey annually at 30 per cent. reduction in the freight rates, 5,000 tons of merchandise exported from Spain, the classes of goods to enjoy this privilege being determined by the Government. Accordingly a Royal Order is published in the "Gaceta de Madrid" of the 22nd April, fixing the destination and Shipping and Transport. classes of merchandise which are to enjoy this privilege during the year from the 1st June, 1904, to the 31st May, 1905, viz. :(a) The line to the Philippines, 70 tons in each of the twelve annual voyages ... Tons. 840 960 ... (b) The line from North Spain to Havana and Vera Cruz, ... ... ... 960 960 960 ... (ƒ) The line to Fernando Po, 30 tons in each of the six annual voyages ... ... ... (9) The line to Morocco and Canary Islands, 12 tons in each of the twelve annual voyages ... ... Total Exporters have to give 30 days' notice of goods which they wish to export under these favourable conditions. The Royal Decree provides that, in the first place, the articles to receive the benefits of these rebates, during the year referred to, are to be those which may be considered as being the produce of an industry in its experimental stage; as well as, in view of the crisis in the cotton industry, those manufactures of cotton which have 18 threads or more in the warp in each square inch, 10 per cent. of the tonnage allowed by each line being reserved for these tissues as long as the present circumstances of this industry last. In the second place, the following articles are to enjoy the rebates, viz.:-paper, glass and crystal, beer, cider, and spirituous liquors, manufactures of cork, mineral waters, carpets and rugs, boots and shoes, perfumery, glazed tiles, mosaic, cement, artificial stone, decorative articles of cardboard, cabinet makers' wares, pianos, umbrellas, sunshades, fans, and manufactures of metal. MINERALS, METALS, AND MACHINERY. AUSTRALIAN COMMONWEALTH. Encouragement of Iron Industry: Report of Royal The Board of Trade have received from the Prime Minister's Office at Melbourne a copy of the report of the Royal Commission appointed by the Commonwealth Government in January, 1903, to enquire into the provisions of the "Bonuses for ManuCommission. factures Bill," together with the proceedings, minutes of evidence, and appendices. Two reports have been issued by the Commission, each of which is signed by six members. The evidence taken by the Commission demonstrated the fact that all the materials necessary for the manufacture of iron from its ores are to be found in various parts of Australia in large quantity and of good quality, and under conditions suitable for the successful establishment of the industry. Very considerable capital, however, appears to be needed for the purpose; and this is the point on which the Commission diverged. One-half were in favour of fostering the industry by bonuses; the other half were strongly opposed to this measure. The evidence taken contains particulars of some of the chief iron mines which are at present known to exist in the Commonwealth, together with the results of assays, full details of the iron and steel. industry of the country, &c., &c. The report may be seen by those interested on application at the Commercial Intelligence Branch of the Board of Trade, 50. Parliament Street, S.W. (on and after Saturday, the 30th April, at 73, Basinghall Street, E.C.), any day between the hours of 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. (Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.). The following particulars relating to the mining industry of Queensland are extracted from the Annual Report for 1903 of the Rockhampton Chamber Mining Industry of Commerce : 66 in Queensland: Gold, Coal. Taking a comparative view of the mining industry as between the present time and a year ago, it may be said that, if no progress has been made, it has not, on the other hand, suffered from a reaction of advancing forces. The alluvial gold find on the Dee River is probably the most important discovery in that description of mining in the division, as not only is the quantity of gold won compensating for the efforts made to recover it; but the find generally tends to confirm the belief, long held, that gold bearing reefs are present in rich profusion on the Crocodile Range of mountains, which fringe the Dee watershed, and from which doubtless this alluvial gold originally came. The development of the teeming coal measures of the Dawson and Mackenzie Rivers has been pushed on with considerable |