Show MIT andrue he 7 7 1 l W sf i s essye VS h Sye ii i S s i sta ifa im r i k w ita E g ay iy ayaay aiva scene in tho the port of hamburg prepared by the national so society CIO ty washington D C IL of the prosperous era em of the league M ar are e stirred by the proposal that has recently been made for joining the onetime one time tidie cities of hamburg and luebeck the cities which were both leaders tn in the old did league lie ile only about 40 miles apart in northeastern germany one on the elbe river near its mou mouth th into the north sea and the other on the river trave only ten miles from the baltic sea the object of the association of the two ports would be to eliminate competition and to overcome the effects of the depression that both have felt hamburg Is both a tree free port and a free city and lie he who sees hamburg quickly learns that both appellations appel lations have practical consequences the visitor starts forth wisely enough to see hamburges Ham burgs best advertised spectacle its harbor he finds it has not been overrated it Is one of the most amazing industrial spectacles tn in the world that vast sweep of cluttered water pierced by hundreds of land fingers separating the rectangular water sheets which are basins by monster skeletons of mighty ships tn in the building A terry ferry Is the proper sightseeing vehicle for the port Is a 15 square mlle mile area strewn with every type of modern vessel from huge ocean liners down through lazy barges alert yachts energetic motorboats motor boats chugging tugs ane anc busy ferries you have your pass of course inquires the master of the circular ferry circular applying to the trip not the craft A pass what for A part of this harbor is a free port sir patiently explains the boatman and you will wish to come back what the free port means you get your pass your boatman threads his way for miles and miles through a floating traffic jam but an orderly one that makes crossing fifth aven avenue ie seem childs play to the landlubber mind you vish the free port then your ferry heads back toward your embarkation place on the way you pull up at what seems to be a customs house displaying a sign which marks the free port limits you show your pass the boat Is searched you understand the need for the pass and you realize too that you have just seen one key to the prosperity of the foremost continental port the huge free port with its mammoth warehouses cluttered with silks from china beef from froin argentina coffee from brazil harvesters from the united states all bearing addresses for transshipment to strange named baltic ports none to pay a rent cent of duty into germanys germanas Germ anys treasury one third of hamburges Ham burgs harbor you later learn Is given over to this free port in its zone are employed some of the cites industrial workers hamburg entered the german customs union in 1888 thus enabling it to sell its own goods to germa germany ny tariff free but its canny senate maintained its free port privileges which arrangement ran gement makes it the great department store of the baltic A senate in a city yes a senate which clings to its stiff spanish dress as loyally as it guards the ancient rights and privileges of the free city the free and city of hamburg there are only three german survivors of that mighty merchandising chan dising chain of the middle ages bremen luebeck and hamburg of these three the mightiest Is hamburg once the senators of hamburg were elected for life their rule of hamburg was as autocratic to our modern way of thinking as aa thet of the boges doges of venice that has bas changed now there la Is a house of burgesses giving a legislative balance much like that under the tha united states capitol dome where hamburges Ham burgs senate sits the senate sits in the town hall perhaps you have heard of the famous beneath the central building with its jolly stone bacchus frankly enthroned at the entrance to a vestibule adorned with stained glass window port altures of the john paul joneses of maritime hamburg you yott climb aloft the becu peculiar liar walls catch your eye they seem to be of solid wood most delicately carved and beautifully decorated closer examination shows some to be felt pressed to the hardness and likeness of wood with the intricate patterns imposed by a matrix and after a banquet hall that conjures up memories of the belted burgesses the staunch merchants and the gentlemen adventurers of medieval times you come upon the senate chamber one feature strikes a home note in the american bosom this senate too has secret sessions but when it does it retires from the chamber with the visitors gallery and the press gallery into a smaller chamber that has just one entrance that entrance Is guarded by two massive doors of incredible cred ible thickness am am busy but beautiful industrial to its unger tips militantly so hamburg Is a beautiful city it leaves a confused impression of minneapolis nea polls and venice for the alster river en route to the elbe aplass splays wide in the midst of oc hamburges Ham burgs busiest quarter giving it the unique spectacle of great office buildings one fine hotels fashionable shops all along the lake front clerks in the great gray stone building which la Is the office of the hamburg america line glancing up from their ledgers can look out over a glistening sheet of water flocked flecked with tiny yachts motorboats motor boats scurrying ferries racing shells and canoes with swans and sea gulls gulla hovering about by night the hotel visitor can view from his window the moonlit waters rimmed by thousands of electric bulbs and see tiny firefly points of light bobbing all over the surface at one corner are huddled hundreds of canoes their occupants reclining on cushions listening to the concert of the alster pavilion this sprightly cafe or coffee house along the lake front gathers its daytime patronage from the great department stores of the opposite side of tho the street luebecke Lue becka becks commerce and romance luebeck companion port of the north became during the world war wa the foremost port of the german empire in foreign water borne trade it Is the smallest of the free cities of germany but richer in reminiscences of former greatness than either cither of the other two hamburg bremen and luebeck joined the modern german empire as free and independent cities hamburg and bremen have developed into great stone and mortar baves of present day business have multiplied their wealth at a tremendous rate and have more and more grown to the international type of purely business cities luebeck on the other hand while it has maintained an importance ns a busy place of commerce Is medieval romantic albreath from the past lying hying ten miles from the baltic sea on the river trave the channel of which has been so improved that boats of 16 foot draft are able to tie up at the cites docks luebeck has been a nervo nerve center of north german trade with denmark the scandinavian lands and with russia the city has been made into an island by its harbor improvements prove ments the trave flowing around its western border and a wide canal around it on the east cast this city enjoys a location as favorable na as that of bremen or hamburg for the distribution of its wares over germany it Is reached by rail in two and one half hours from bre men mea and Is about as conveniently near to berlin the port Is connected with copenhagen stockholm and danzig by regular steamer services its chief articles of commerce morce are wines especially clarets timber tar and northern consignments consign ments of german ma manufactures n ufa 0 r |