086543575

Chapter 5. M eans of C omm un ica tion . Anybody, having travelled in Denmark or having looked a t the map of Denmark, knows, th a t this country is the Kingdom of islands par exellence. Only Ju tla n d is connected w ith the European Continent, while the rest of the country consists of la r­ ger or smaller islands. by the hundreds are cruising daily between the islands car- rying passengers and goods from one p a rt of the country to another. Regular steamship-lines carry on the connection with abroad with service on New York, Stockholm, Helsingfors, Oslo, Stettin, Lubec and R i­ ga, daily except Sunday be­ tween Esbjerg and Harw ich and regular passengerboats from Esbjerg to Antwerp and Dunkerque.

As a consequence hereof it has been impossible te build a continuous net of railways. I t was necessary, in the meantime, to establish the rig h t railway-connection be­ tween the Capital and the other parts of Europe, North as well as South, and steam- ferries, able to carry the trains, therefore have been used for many years, and Denmark in this respect is being regarded as one of the leading countries. Besides the ferries, steamers

Copenhagen forms the star, ting-point of all the most im ­ portan t railway-lines on Sea- land. The aggregate freight to and from Copenhagen du­ ring the year 1923—24 was 2,1 million tons, while the number of passengers a rri­ ving and departing in the sa­ me period were 10 millions.

21 -

2