Show hamburg comes LQ ack as a port germanys germanas Germ anys most important commercial city shows increase in shipping over 1913 washington D 0 though hamburg the fourth commercial city ot of the world before the world war has been doing more shipping in the first five months of 1923 than it did in the same game period of 0 1913 to the average american womans comans mind the name of the city suggests just one thing the trimming on her grandmothers stilt stiff cambric petticoats says a bulletin ot of the national geographic society from its washington D C headquarters hamburg has always been a jealous rival of new kew york london and liverpool the three other great commercial mercial cities at whose ports more vessels dock than visit the german harbor during 1921 nearly ships representing a tonnage of and flying flags from all over the he earth 1 l i entered the hamburg harbor abor is as against a net tonnage of for new york harbor durin during the same period hamburg and E bremen have I 1 the honor of being the chief gates of 0 Inter intercourse courso between germany and the united kingdom and the united states Is I 1 a river port unlike most of the other great commercial cities of the world hamburg does not lie ile within a stories stones throw ot of the ocean about ninety miles from its mouth in the north sea where a tributary of the elbe the alster has been dammed to form two lakes hamburg has been built its earliest beginnings having been a castle of charlemagne which stood on the spot in its harbor Is broad and deep enough for the largest vessels the docks are among the finest in the world and will accommodate ships at one time most of the german railroads ultimately lead to the city and numerous canals bring their traffic to its portals hamburg has a very interesting if dirty old district along these canals where the poor of the city live in dark houses and damp cellars when the tide Is out these canals become empty and the women and children of the district immediately run out and wade about in their muddy bottoms to look for articles which may have been dumped overboard by the boats three cannon shots are sounded when the ude tide begins to turn to tell the scavengers that soon the waters will cre cire cr cir e rushing into the canals old customs and costumes cling the state and free city of hamburg comprising square miles Is a republic its constitution bearing the date of january 7 1921 1021 in 1020 its population of more than a million of whom live in he city proper made it the most densely populated of all the german states its average of more mora than persons persona to a square mile gave it more than twice the density of the state of bremen the next in order and nearly six times the density of 01 lubeck thee the third in order the public debt of tho ao city at the end of 1020 1920 was nearly three lillon lilion marks spent chiefly for public works hamburg streets and market places are typical of those of many german towns in the markets women may be seen wearing yokes on their shoulders from which bang big wooden buckets filled with milk A few of them still cling to their wooden shoes and bright colored costumes and some of them still hitch themselves to their vegetable and milk carts and draw the loads through the city streets |