Show in MANCHURIA LN t r 4 loading blanc hurlan flour aboard a lungari river boat prepared by national geographic society washington D C 0 serves ce I 1 three principal focal OB 0 points of the sino japanese disturbance in manchuria sihar Angan chi and chin chowha sihar Is perhaps the most widely known because it has been a stopping place and press box for world gird lers in recent years sihar Is the capital of klang kiang largest of the three provinces of Man manchuria churla and the principal city in a vast only partially developed area of rich farming and grazing land mil gitary activity Is no new sensation to the inhabitants of this brown walled city in the fertile valley of the river sihar was built in iwa to overawe marauding tribes of mongols and cossacks later china sent many bandits into exile in manchuria the medley of native population groups in the vicin ity of forced the construction of huge barracks there and the details of military units to the town so that it lias has long had tl it e aspect of a for tress like every other important Manc manchurian hurlan city sihar owes its present wealth and activity to rail roads when the chinese eastern railway was built as a short cut between chita and I 1 Madi bar was a slovenly settlement of ram shackle hackle buildings back of its crene walls builders of the chinese eastern missed the town by laying the line 18 miles to the south later however a narrow gauge spur was built connecting with the chinese eastern at sihar station sihar came into the recent mis understanding however through a new and extremely busy railroad line constructed during the last decade northward from anfu through Angan chi and crossing over the chi nese eastern main line on a bridge at sihar station the junction point of the narrow gauge line this new line is chinese operated and japanese owned from anfu to Angan chi and entirely chinese owned and oper abed from Angan cht to the city of sihar the new line does not end at har bar but continues in a northeast diree tion for 79 miles to Tai Ta anchen lanchen even dually it will reach the siberian bor der and will connect with a branch of the trans siberian railway at bla town with modern improvements few travelers visited isolated har before the railroad came for a time those who did passed by coffins strewn outside the town walls coffins of natives whose families were un able to pay burial expenses inside the walls the travelers saw a dingy panorama of dirty shacks lining un paved and unlighted streets railroads have changed all that today sihar ic 1 a if busy town great ly changed and improved by modern development while it Is neither as large nor as modernized as the other two manchurian provincial capitals mukden and kirin sihar has sev eral wide paved streets electric lights telegraph and telephone services tile roofed houses with coats of bright paint are rising where old shacks once stood since the new north south railroad has been added to the spur from the canese eastern ballway sihar Is on the way to becom ng one of the chief industrial centers of manchuria mills are grinding out meal as fast as soy beans can be brought from manchurian fields its shops and stores throng with customers and its railroad yards are scenes of constant movements of trains the new line to Tai Ta anchen lanchen broke all records for traffic in manchuria early this year danchus mongols koreans ilus rus s ans chinese japanese and a few europeans may be seen on the streets of the city which Is fast as suming sliming the cosmopolitan air of other chinese trading towns during the horse and cattle fairs mongol cattle traders flock to sihar nearly dou ming bling the population manchurian horses come mostly from the grass covered plains in the vicinity of sihar the region Is the native home of the pony which yelped to build up the near world cm em pire of the great hublar khan shag gy and stubborn the sihar mount has endurance and Is dependable on long marches over cold irregular ter rain helling klang kiang province leads in the production of barley in man churia churla Is second in soy beans and wheat of its cultivable acres only a third have so far been put into use while sihar Is in about the same latitude as seattle wash it suffers from extremes of heat and cold in summer the thermometer rises above 95 degrees for days at a time and in winter it nose nosedives dives to 40 degrees below zero nevertheless the region around contains some of the richest soil in the world and Is ca pable of a good deal of future devel in the river sihar has a stream capable of carrying a considerable amount of water trade in junks and barges during the sum mer months the little villa village t e of Angan chi captured by japanese forces in the drive on possesses an importance far out of proportion to its limited population because it stands near a kind of spark gap supercharged with the economic ambitions and rail way interest of japan china and russia in northwestern manchuria why Angan chi ie Is important Angan chi cht is two miles south of sihar station it is the northern most station on the new chinese oper abed japanese built railway line from anfu Angan chi was practically unheard of until the new line pushing up from anfu during the last decade built its terminal in the town in a land which has constructed more miles of railway in recent years than any other part of the world and which in some places laid new line lines at the rate of a mile a day it may seem strange that the two mile gap between Angan chi cht and sihar sta tion was not closed for many months treaty rights dating from the close of the russo japanese war were involved the anfu Angan chi rail way was built with funds loaned to the chinese by a syndicate of japanese banks who in turn gave the construe tion contract to the south manchurian railway company when the line reached Angan chi the chinese eastern railway jointly con trolled by soviet russia and china objected to the crossing of its main line by a railroad linked with the south Manc manchurian hurlan railway japanese interests consequently when the una line was finally continued to sihar sta tion to sihar itself and to the city of Ta lanchen beyond only chinese capital was employed aside from the yards and station of the railroad lines Angan chi pos besses little to distinguish it from hun bull deeds of other mud walled villages in the windswept wind swept farming and grazing lands of the river basin the inhabitants several hundred in num her are mainly russians although the influx of chinese has been noticeable since the completion of the railway lines to the north and south of it a shipping center Is the chief city on the manchurian Manc hurlan panhandle that penetrates china on the west coast of the gulf of chihli it Is the first important man charlan city beyond where the great wall of china cornea comes down to the sea north and west of rise the mountains and desert plateaus of inner mongolia south of the city stretch the tidal flats of a branch of the gulf of chihli the gulf of Llao tung anyone passing along the narrow coastal plain therefore would have to deal with walled astride the middle of it itself Is 1 a metropolis of about population much of its newer part spreads beyond the ancient walled city especially northward in the vicinity of the railroad terminal As Is alao also a point for a branch line into inner mongolia its extensive railroad yards include locomotive co sheds railway division head quarters a hospital and storage warehouses between the station and the walled city are big military barracks barra cica the provincial government office ie is temporarily located in the university of communications north of the tracks in addition to its importance as a railway and military center ChIn chinchor chow tu fu also Is a shipping point tor for the greatest fruit and cotton raising region of manchuria the nearby llao river valley shallow draft bouts may ascend a tidal aher rh er to its wharves to receive fruit brought by train and carts but most of its water borne home corn com merce Is carried on through the new harbor at with which chin chowsu Is connected by a spur railway una line |