rive at their
destination is a source of wonder to the layman. There is probably no
better place to study the handling of coffee than in New York City--the
world's largest coffee center. Millions of bags of coffee pass into
consumption every year through its docks, and scarcely a day goes by
when there are not one or more ships discharging coffee upon the docks
lining the Brooklyn shore, the center of the coffee-warehouse district
for New York. In 1921, the New York Dock Company alone had 159 bonded
warehouses with a storage capacity of some 65,000,000 cubic feet; and 34
piers, the longest measuring 1,193 feet and containing more than 175,000
square feet. These piers have a total deck space of sixty-one and a half
acres. The wharfage distance is more than nine and a third miles. More
than twenty steamship lines berth their vessels there regularly, and
many of them are coffee ships. The warehouses have direct connections
with all the principal railway trunk lines running into the New York
district; and the whole property of the company stretches along the
waterfront opposite lower Manhattan for about two and one-half miles.

Although coffee is admitted to the United States free of duty, it is
subject to practically the same formalities as dutiable goods. Before
the cargo can be "broken out," a government permit to "land and deliver"
must be placed in the hands of the customs inspector on the dock. This
done, the ship's samples, which consist of the samples sent by the
exporter to the importer, are taken to the United States appraiser's
office for inspection, and are then delivered to the importer's
representative. Meanwhile the shipping documents covering the cargo,
including bills of lading and consular invoices, have been sent to the
post office for delivery to banks and bankers' agents, who check and
deliver them to the customs officers for entry. The government requires
that this entry shall be made within forty-eight hours of the vessel's
arrival, else the cargo will be stored in a United States bonded
warehouse under what is known as "general order" which makes the
consignee liable for storage and cartage charges.

[Illustration: UNLOADING COFFEE AT ONE OF THE COVERED PIERS OF THE NEW
YORK DOCK COMPANY]

When a coffee ship arrives in New York, not much time is lost in
discharging the cargo. As soon as the vessel is securely moored to the
pier, and the government's permission to "land and deliver" is secured,
the