Galatz, Or Galacz

GALATZ, or GALACZ, a town and port of Roumania, principality of Moldavia., chief town of the district of Covurlin, on the left bank of tire Danube (there 2000 feet wide), between the mouths of the Pruth and Sereth, about 85 miles from the Sulina mouth of tire Danube, and 130 miles N.E. of Bucharest, with which it is connected by rail, lat. 45' 26' 12" N., long. 28° 3' E. Galatz is said to have got its name from a colony of the same Galatians who invaded Asia Minor in 278 B.C., though this seems doubtful. The town stands on a level plateau, and consists of two portions, an old and a new. The former, which is nearest to the river, is irregularly and badly built, with crooked streets paved with wood, some of them being regular sewers. This part of the town is liable to be flooded, and, as in the greater part of Roumania, the sanitary conditions are bad. The new town, which has rapidly extended during the past few years, is built on the rising ground towards the north-west. It is partly paved, is much more open and comfortable than the old town, and contains most of the public buildings, consulates, Sze. Galatz is now to a considerable extent lighted with gas, and some time ago a regular system of water-works was commenced to supply the town with purified and filtered water. There are several Roman Catholic and Greek churches, educational institutions, a hospital, a quarantine building, &c. In the church of St Mary is the tomb of Mazeppa, said, however, to have been rifled of its contents by tire Russians. Galatz is the seat of tire international commission instituted by the treaty of Paris, 1856, to insure the free navigation of the mouths of the Danube ; and by tire treaty of Berlin, 1878, Roumania is to be represented on this commission, which exercises its duties as far as Galatz independently of all territorial rights. Galatz has been a favourite place for crossing the Danube with military expeditions since the time of the Roman emperors, though during tire war of 1877-78 the Russians did not adopt it except for parties of reconnaissance. There are very few strictly Roumanian industries carried on at Galatz. There are several flour-mills, saw-mills, and breweries, extensive cooperage works, and soap and candle manufactories to a small extent ; light wines are also made. Galatz is an important free port, and shares with Ibraila most of the trade of the lower Danube. The navigation of the Salina mouth of the river has so improved that steamers, of 850 tons can sail up to Galatz. There are French, Austrian, Russian, and British steamboat companies that carry on a regular trade with Galatz, and attempts have been made by the municipality to construct solid stone wharfs. For the traffic generally much inconvenience is felt from want of adequate quay and warehouse accommodation ; but now that Roumania is an independent state, improvements may be made in this and other directions. A considerable proportion of ships unload at Salina and send. their cargoes up to Galatz in lighters. The river is generally frozen over for a few weeks during winter.

The staple article of export from Galatz is grain of various kinds, of which large quantities are grown in all the districts situated on the Danube. In 1876 281 sailing ships, 157 steamers, and 873 lighters, of an aggregate tonnage of 258,391 tons, cleared from the port of Galatz. The lighters had a total of 102,564 tons, while of the remainder 13 sailing ships and 70 steamers of 49,779 tons were British. In the same year the principal articles of export were-wheat, 313,673 qrs.; maize, 423,775 qrs.; barley, 160,443 qrs.; oats, 421,457 qrs.; rye, 167,840 qrs.; flour, 391,657 cwt.; fir planks, 766,869; besides considerable quantities of linseed, rape seed, beans, and small quantities of millet, wool, hides, cheese, and' dried prunes. Of wheat S000 qrs. went to Britain and 19,549 to Holland; maize, 71,500 qrs. to Britain, 21,000 to Malta; rye,. 58,4S5 qrs. to Holland; barley, 37,347 qrs. to Britain. The total value of exports from Galatz in 1876 was £1,215,621, being a considerable increase over 1875. There does not seem to be any return of exports by rail, though Galatz is now connected with the general European railway system. The imports for 1876 were valued roughly at £1,750,000, among which manufactured goods figured at £354,000; sugar, £117,000; coal, £112,000; iron, £80,000; caviare, £66,000; oil, £65,000; rice, £58,000; coffee, £32,000; leather, £28,000; sacking, £29,000; soap, £26,000. Galatz is to cease to be a free port on 13th January 1880, after which import duties will be imposed. Constant steam communication is maintained between Galatz and Constantinople, and regular lines of steamers sail from London, Liverpool, and Hull. There is a British consulate at Galatz. The population in 1873 was estimated at 80,000; if this is correct, it has more than doubled itself in ten years ; it was only 8000 in 1835.