Situation and Business of Antwerp.

While the railroad facilities of the province and city of Antwerp are quite sufficient for all purposes of inland travel and trade, it is as a port that the city of Antwerp invites most attention.

Antwerp is situated about 50 miles from the North Sea on the right bank of the River Scheldt, a river with the usual variations of tide, and navigable by ocean vessels of large size and tonnage.

Before detailing the various lines of ocean vessels coming into the port of Antwerp, a general idea of the volume of business is given in the following table, showing the number of arrivals and the total tonnage of the vessels during the last ten years:

Year.	Number of vessels.	Total tonnage.	Average tonnage per vessel.
1885	4,860	3,492,934	719
1886	4,726	3,521,229	745
1887	5,022	3,801,952	755
1888	4,823	3,974,320	824
1889	4,356	4,050,549	930
1890	4,532	4,517,698	999
1891	4,461	4,693,238	1,052
1892	4,321	4,500,091	1,042
1893	4,418	4,692,211	1,062
1894	4,640	5,008,983	1,080

The arrivals for the year 1894, according to nationality, were:

Flag.	Number of vessels.	Total tonnage.
Austrian	12	19,339
Belgian	309	425,686
Danish	168	130,822
British	2,611	2,817,388
French	125	111,133
German	719	971,428
Greek	26	45,939
Dutch	101	103,485
Italian	28	23,117
Norwegian	259	147,327
Portuguese	12	7,100
Russian	41	28,452
Spanish	46	38,859
Swedish	160	91,517
American	23	47,281
Total	4,640	5,008,983

Ocean Lines.

Red Star Line.—Among the ocean lines from Antwerp, the first in importance, at least so far as concerns business between Antwerp and the United States, is the Red Star Line, a private corporation, the majority of the stock of which is owned by citizens of the United States. All the steamers except two, the Pennsylvania and the Illinois, fly the Belgian flag. These two are under the American flag. The terminal points are Antwerp and New York and Antwerp and Philadelphia. The New York service is weekly (sometimes semiweekly), and carries first, second, and third class passengers; also, mail and freight. The Philadelphia service is fortnightly, and carries third-class passengers and freight.

The distance between Antwerp and New York is 3,344 miles and between Antwerp and Philadelphia 3,408 miles.