| Show u r I TRANS S IBERIAN RAILROAD nrl i a t lln I get 1 Frank Cl Carpontorn Trip Over tho Tinntorii Sot I J J Hon of This Grunt TraiiBCoiitliieiiUtl J lno t a I j 1 11 i fV Abenel the Creates Railroad Sylttm c flit Gttklff U ft Atmr Built W Ilj 1 + Hi finrMoi bit Ham it fill I Kmtutuitlit Hit Atittie Dadtin Tao I i ln and sml herder I cal SrenerYA Night KUt a TTatdOiii Car II Among tin Russia Ships la a JJmfin SnifMtfd Hy tin Mlet fttt I If I I About till Tfiltlli the Stttiont and the Koihnf S < < < ItI Dty la an Isle tor I I I I City tf Stitrlaltixu He CMnttt Here 1 Cheated fly Rmiit I771 e 1ffnt of I li Road t len Asia and Olntr Mdtttr Giving the Only Kant and the I alert tumtAtwt Hilt Gigantic Knttiftite I s 1 ffltlal VmvtWml tfHl Htm 00t011 1Iwa fcr mans u rtn + etr t UK rR > NSSllIR sn railroad Is losing i pushed all along thee ILj + line S Inc the-e the break i I a r jn u Inlt out of the Chi f v war neseJapanese t l the work bas been = more earnest and a large force ol men are grading the routes and laying the tails ai fait at possible The original Intention woo that the road should be finished In tvs The Indications now are that It 1 will be completed long before that lime In my a last letter I described Ihe city Vladlvot I lock the Pacific terminus of the rail v j 1 road It was here that Ihe first work was done In iftji The present tri I tr-i I who was then taking a trip around the J world had come across Siberia along the line of the proposed railway and It was with great ceremony that the first stone ol this the greatest railroad In the world was laid there on the Dlh of May 1891 The road when completed will be I 1 more than seven thousand miles long and It 1 will coil somewhere between Uo and three hundred millions of dollars The Kuulan estimate Is 350000000 J roubles It will give a continuous tall road line from Vladivoitock to bt Petersburg and the probability li that a I branch line will now be run down through Corea and Japan will be brought within adars tide of this terminus When tills It done the Japanese can make a trip to Pills with a water voyage of lets than twentylour hours I have already written writ-ten ol my trip over the new Chinese railroad I This line now runt to the city ol bhanhalkwan i where rt tine great Chine r Chi-ne Je wall Juts down Into the sea There li l a breach In the wall at this palm and though the superstitious Chinaman would I hardly permit the culling I ol the wall for a railroad they have allowed It to go through this breach and It Is I now being pushed on Into Manchuria It I will eventually reach the Russian Iron tier and will probably conned with the i I Y r nw IrantMberltn railroad and then we can i 1 go from eking to Paris I by land T1A AND SILK I 1 l I It Is Impossible to estimate the chant 1 es which Ihls great railroad will make In I Alls The lea lrad of Europe will nn doubtedly go over It and the great bulk ol the exports from China japan and Core will lie carried through Siberia to niiroix1 As It Is now the fastest steamers steam-ers are used for the tea trade The new tM bring the highest prices In the market mar-ket and ocean tlcamets go up to the I rl ll city I of Hankow f 1 seven hundred miles In the Interior of f China and as soon as I they ran load they sail with full steam to London They go by the Sue canal I and It lakes hem about forty He days II 1 1JI 26 f tci mike the voyage I The Chinese hate already I planned a railroad Ihe center of the tea districts ran Tien Tuln where their new military railroad begins and the tea will be shipped right north to Siberia and gel lo Europe within fifteen or eighteen days Tea earned overland Is said lobe much better than that which goes by water and this will make a revolution In the lea trade of the world At present the foreign trade of China amounts to about tire bundled million dollar per year and the bulk of this Is made up of costly articles like tea and silk Thete can pay I high freight rates and they will undoubtedly lie shipped by rail There are now In the neighborhood of sU 1 hundred million teople In China japan and Corel There ire about four million II In S band b-and thlt road hat the trade of nearly one hall the world to draw from Tin ROAD AND MANUrACTLRtES It will probably make Russia n great manufacturing nation and the Human Iron will be shipped over Into China There Is I no Iron heller In the world than that of the Ural mountains and the Chinese are ready to pay high prices for good Iron Most of their tools are now made by hand and they must have the belt ol raw material At present pres-ent a large part of the Iron used In China Is made up I of castoff horseshoes horse-shoes which are sent out from Europe f II aef I It e by the shipload The Chinese make rayon knives and all kind ol Imple menu out of this Iron and there it aRe a-Re demand for It 1 all over Ihe empire There are great Iron deposits In different dif-ferent point along the Tram Slberlin railroad and big ftctorlet will spring up at 1It these points The Russians are good mechanics and they lute vast iron works near Moscow and Tula which make as good hardware and gum as you will find anywhere In the world THE TRANS SIBERIAN KOUTU As Ihe line Is now planned and Is being built It Isis run from Moscow right through the southern part ol SI I barbs I nuking an almost ulrsight tine through Ihre immense territory to the city of ladlvostock It goes through rich Hold milieu It laps vast area ol rich I toil and It 1 will probably build up lrn1n an he empire In southern Siberia The first section of the road It I at the west It begins In I the Ural mountains and there Is I an army at work building It The hut Mellon It I to run front the town ol Omsk on the river Obi I and the contractors are alto at work here In the middle of Siberia there It I another army lalng track and the road IiI It I being asked at hunt as possible I I from kdI r Vladlvoslock I to the well It crosses great river which have to be bridged and It goes through tome of the mull wonderlul scenery In the world It skirls lake lUkal one of the biggest lakes In I the world the average depth I of uhlch It I more than a mile Near thlt like the road passes Ihiougli the moun lain and Ins many tunnels and Hone I dike The mountain are ol granite and the work ol I comtructlon will be very difficult throughout 1 the whole central region and the went therein I but a sparse population and It lithe l Mme In the eat The workmen ha e to be inns from European Russia and 1 all of the mauling nock and Iron have to come Irum there Some of ills I shipped from the west Tint for the eastern section It I being taken around through the Suet canal by tea and there It another lot which It shipped I down Into Siberia If I am told I by the Arctic l ocean The road It I being constructed In the very bet manner The tolls weigh eighteen pounds to the foot The bridges are of t Odtl WICI wood and the road It well ballasted The greatest distance allowed < 1 between the stations It 1 thirtyfive miles and ills proposed to equip I the toad with I enough I rolling stock to foam three sets of army trains every twenty four hours The road is lobe too large extent a military line and Russia will probably me limo satisfy her Gargantuan appetite for more lerrltor I he illations are built of wood In thin Interior though tome of the larger I ones are nf slows The depot at Vladivottock is I a big two story stone and brick building It It I well constructed and It would be a respectable respect-able depot in the United Slates A IlnUIAII KAILKuMJ RID I shall I never forget my tide over the If rfl eastern I section I of the hrau srI railroad sr-I had m > termlt from the chief of police and through Ihlt I was able to buy a ticket In Nikoltk which Is about seventy miles from VlaJlvostock Only third claM trains were running and these had been opened to patten gnr le sl ie only a few days before and so rlt rl I practically took the first trip over the new route I wan accompanied by a bright young Japanese Mr koboto who I spoke Russian and nglttli 1 I and J who acted as my Interpreter I was living on board the steamer In the harbor har-bor about three miles Irum the railroad The train started at II p m and a great storm came up about 6 The harbor har-bor I was full ol while cap and the waves ran high The wind was blowing soda sod-a cold misty Meet ran dawn Into our bones like so many corkscrews nine led the vestel ond started for the shore I cant describe the severity of this wind It almott split the scalp when It touched the back ol my head and I co cred do n In the sampan which I had engaged while the Chin man In a waierprouf coat sculled ut llitouzh the darkness The night I r wes Lgptlanln fi lit blackness A wall ol light rote out ol the tea In the distance where the great barracks wilh their thousands ol Russian troops covered the sides of the hlN Here anlb 1 tier ut cl the mists mist-s the light ofn great black I Jo eo f em f montltr steamer indue rowed under the shadow of lion the block hulks which were carrying Russian prisoner to the Island carrying aim We narrow lyrnlstcd getting the train 1Ve lest the steamer at 9 y jumping Into I the boat which rose and fell like a bolt of paper upon the naves and we had worked our way almost to the shore when I found I had forgotten my passport pass-port The potsibiitiet of a Russian prison came over mr and I insisted that we mutt co back to the ship after It both my Japanese guide and tie China I fuI man objected but fu we Anally turned back and In the end reached the land with only twenty minutes to make the Iraln AT Till STATION Hiring a drotchky with two hOlies we drove on Hie gallop through the mud to the statloi This was filled whit soldiers and police They were common soldiers In uniform army off cers in heavy overcoat and guards by fl h dO t down the scores marched up and clown wife bayonets and guns There were police everywhere and the station looked more like a barracks than a railroad depot Atone mil out was a rant r-ant and at the other was the ticket win dow Alter t shovtlnii my passport and able my police permu I was able to bays ticket to Nlkolt line I distance was at I have said seventy miles and It cost me fl95 In silver The ticket was about the site 1 ol small biulncss envelope enve-lope It wa while a1 I no thicker than note paper Upon it were printed the date and dlslanci and tin names of the stations Shaving it i I tailed out of the dour to the tram going by more guards and pohci at I did so Die train comprised about twentvnve cart of which Mil a duien were passenger co ichcs and the others where freight ulh and baggage cam I made a tI lori lor-i n of the cart and my heart sank at 1 looked > t the oinmodallon and at the place where I had to sleep during time night It was merely a freight car filled I with wooden benches running dnun clear across the car and lacing each other Above the seals them were shrive and 1 faund these were up ter SI 1 = birtlu line lower seats were alt fIr when I we entered and I climbed up on one r these I upper shelves to sleep There I were no cuihlons and no Lea ding I rolled my coat up for a pillow f and wrapped myself in my blanket and lay down the space between myself and the roof mw not wide enough to allow me to sit up and I rolled over on my side and looked with Interest on the queer crowd surrounding son The moll of the passengers ware soldiers but there were emigrants and farmers a half Jose Chinamen one or two Tartars Tar-tars 1 and several 1 Japanese girls who seemed to be ol a very questionable character They laughed and chatted with the soldiers and were loud In their way SLSlICTSD BY THE TOUCH I found that the soldiers were very Inquisitive I I I was approached a lull J doien times by officers and questioned The Iud of the train looked me over very carfully and alien the men found I could speak German 1 had to antwcr all kinds I ol questions The cars which I are now H3u on J the road are more like those of Europe than 01 the United States They are only third and lourlli class andthey look more like bon cars than palace coach The first and second tl class cars will undoubtedly be good and there wilt probably be a Pullman car running over the line when II I < completed At preent the accom modaliont are anything I ut lunurlous and at 1 lay on that board shell and was carried along at the eaten f perhaps fib een miles per hour I thought of the 1enntylvanla Limited between New York and IMUburg with lit library and titling rooms and as I looked at the noodle which shone out f the dl lantern I above me and which formed the only light of the car I compared II with the wonderful electric Unlit system ol the ulolrn Chicago Milwaukee 1 and slI Paul railroad rail-road where the light I U set Into the back r nI of your berth I and where I by moving I a slide you can make your Ixrth at light as day at any hour oi the night I At my bones ground holes I Into the wood rI I thought of the good bed of the Canadian Can-adian Pacific over which l I had ridden In going to Asia and I hI longed I for the railroads nf our own civilised land TheIr The-Ir was sliding and Illsmelling and the fifty odd people whom wahad In the oar seemed < l on the whole to be rancid and I was glad I when the guard gave me dWI oJ r a > rude jerk and told l to get up for Nlkoltk A IJUKER llnkRIAS CITV Nikoltk it one of the largest towns of Interior Siberia It Is great military center and It ins att areas of rich land surrounding IL The soil Is at black at your boots and It makes me think ol what Senator Ingalls said about the fertility fer-tility of Kansas which Is according to him so rich that you can poke your arm down Into the ground up to the shoulder and pull out earth In your fist w hlch It at rich at cuano A great deal ol wheat J It raised about this point l and the Russians Rus-sians have established great steam mills for the grinding of food lor the soldiers I visited these mills during my stay Their machinery had been Imported from Russia and 1 It was of the latest modern l make We passed many lair > racks and wr saw soldiers on guard ever whtere There were 1 Judge tenor ten-or ntletn acres of buildings connected with the mills and the workmen teemed to be Chinamen Tin land around Nikoltk Is I being settled like Russia There are IIUges that un a great deal ol land In common and they nell their Brain to the government Thelownltiell bran a number of store and business blocks The houses are of w owl 1 and they male me think ol our western frontier towns Uo stopped tt the thl hotel I t which was run by a Chinaman It was just da > break when we arrived and we asked lor a room He said he had none acanl and pointing Into the billiard room laaw I lour Russian with their boots on sleeping on the table I asked lor some breakfast and afler a lime was given some fried eggs smoked salmon and a cup of r tea flu lea was served In a gloss and we had a big brass samovar or Russian tea urn on the table After breakfast wa Pak a ride through the city The roads were at muddy at hose of a swamp and lha rt 3dr streets were about two hundred feel r wide On the edge of the clly there were a number of dugouts which I were Inhabited by Chinamen and we found Chinese everywhere ON TIIK 001 or CHINA Tills city of Nikoltk It I not lar from the Manchurian border and It was once a great Tartar capital There Is I now an Immense wall enclosing a space at one end of the town and this was the wall 01 the great Tartar city of the past The probability It I that Rutiia will gradually move her boundary line lurlher south At the boys say In plajlng I nmblesshe It always Inching1 on nl her li uel 1 band b-and I heard a queer story ol how the Russians got a big slice ol Chinese lerrl tory a few tears ago There was ads i pate about the bonndat line and the Russians had moved the line down so I that It Included a vast amount of good Chinese soil A war wat Imminent and the Chinese at usual wanted to settle matters I by compromise I The Russians I consented r 3I they drew a line on the mAp showing the territory Ihey wanted The Chinese threw up their hands In horror and said they could not possibly allow then so much as that All right said 11 the j Russians we will take lest and they then showed them another imp which was made on a smaller scale f IIC In which the amount ot territory ter-ritory taken was the tame The Chinese looked at It and did not perceive the cheat They made a treaty agreeing to 3 r F this I boundary and that U the boundary between China and Siberia today The way the Russians work It I to colonize the I country close I to the line of China and gradually move southward They undoubtedly have their eyes than Core and while they will not probably ran r lake the country they will exercise suc Ian I-an Inlluence over It that they will be able to get what they want WORKING WITH CONUCTO A great part of tha work on this eastern east-ern section of 1 ranrSlbtrlsn road has been done by means of convict but this has been chsnged within the past year eb f eil dt ort The com ncu have been shipped titf to Saghalin and the men are now all paid orkmen including a large number ol soldiers I In I taw them at work and It looked like a slice out of Russia and reminded re-minded me of the work I bad seen on the Volga during Ihe great Russian inline On the way back to Vladlvos lock I had a much better chance to He something of the country and the rail Aonlelhlnr road 1 The station at Nlkoltk Is a long one story building made of red brick faced with stone The engine ol our tram burned wood and about the stations sta-tions there were great wood piles while Ihe wood was stacked In cords at 1 the luck of the engine We hal some foutth class cars on the way going hAck These were even more uncomfortable than the one I have described There none no chance to lie down In them and they were filled with peaants and soldiers sol-diers The baggage car was In the middle of the gt train and I looked tl In vain for a postal car Still there was apt a-pt ulhce box at each nation and I am told tint the postal service it lalriy good i I iioled I sane I I ol the gravel I cars heir I Ides are made so that they can be letdown let-down They are about fifteen feet long and have four wheels to each car Tile road It of the standard Russian gauge I The rails teem to be a little lighter than ours and the lies are ol pine At every station I found policemen with revolvers on their bia and swords at their Miles Many ol the stations are built of logs and a Clod of Russians In caps awns of Chinese with pigtails stood and l gam at the train ni It went by lust out ol Vladitotlock the road runt through law hills It sklrti the beautiful bay ol Peter the GreAl and at yu tide along Ids going from one gulf to another now rushing through forest and now sailing along the edge of the water you are rlltt reminded r of the picturesque fakes ot northern Michigan The road throughout through-out Us length will be ono of Ihe moil picturesque In the world and It will tea te-a great scenic line It has now beta Duet I about filly miles beyond the point where I stopped and the other portions are going on rapid No one really knows lust how soon It will be completed com-pleted but It will undoubtedly form one ol the great elements which are now at work changing I line face of Asia and making the celetllil l 1 world over on Ihe b tit of our m dtrn Cmll C1V1H ecu unit an enterprise VIII 1M Its l I wRlchlnr and whirl d Ie II toil ru mighty iHMsibilitles to not Irvarl only k lull of 1 but lu every Ivlliled motion say every AI11e heathen and I enah ace of the globe balloa tin > the tV r91 I cAt |
