EUROPE I SWITZERLAND. 



TRANSPORTATION. 



The method of transportation for bulk would be to the port of 

 Rotterdam, thence by the water way of the Rhine to within the 

 borders of Switzerland. Ordinary freight goes to Antwerp, and 

 from there by rail direct to Switzerland. The ordinary freight rate 

 from Antwerp, all rail, is as follows: 



The figures given in this report are from official sources, and 

 other technical replies from memoranda furnished by reputable 

 houses. 



ADOLPH L. FRANKENTHAL, 



BERNE, March 10, 1899. Consul. 



GENEVA. 



Very little paper is manufactured in French Switzerland. There 

 are only three mills, one of which is situated at Versoix, Canton of 

 Geneva; one at Bex, Canton of Vaud ; and the other at Serrieres, 

 Canton of Neuchatel. 



It may be remarked that French Switzerland has by no means as 

 many centers of industry as German Switzerland, and the latter, 

 with the thriving manufactories of Zurich, St. Gall, Basel, etc., con- 

 sumes by far the greater amount, in proportion to its size, of the 

 paper imported into Switzerland. 



The population of French Switzerland is about 800,000. The 

 principal cities are Geneva, Sion, Lausanne, Neuchatel, Locle, Ve- 

 vey, Chaux-de-Fonds, and St. Imier. 



It may be safely stated that the percentage of illiterates in this 

 consular district and in Switzerland generally is virtually nil. The 

 Canton of Geneva, for example, devotes two-thirds of its budget to 

 public education, which is compulsory throughout the Confedera- 

 tion; and Switzerland ranks high among nations in this respect. 



There are one or two important paper dealers in this city who 

 trade as middlemen with all Switzerland and the neighboring De- 

 partments of France. The chief firm of this kind, to whom intending 

 exporters might do well to address themselves, is Georges Chanal, 

 rue Ami Lullin, Geneva. 



