The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1883-12-29 00:00:00

THE GATE OF INDIA.

The city of Herat has long been recognised through-
out the East as the gate of India, its geographical posi-
tion being such that it is there all the routes coming
from the west must necessarily converge. India is pro-
tected on the north by the great range of the Hima-
laya, which, issuing from the mountains of China, runs
westward into Afghanistan, and, turning southward
at the Hindo Koosh, is broken up into the inaccessible
ranges of the Parapamisus. These mountains extend
southward a little beyond the latitude of Herat, and
are succeeded by a level belt of fertile.country, extend-
ing westward into Persia, and eastward to Candahar,
affording easy means of access to the plains of India,
To the South and west of this narrow belt, inhospitable
deserts extend all the way to the Indian Ocean and
Persian Gulf ; so that the fertile valley in which Herat
lies constitutes the only feasible route by which India
can be approached from Persia, from Asia Minor, or
from Europe, whether for purposes of peace or war.
The invaders of India, Semiramis, Nebuchadnezzar,
Alexander the Great, Ghengis Khan, Nadir Shah, and
many others, entered by this route; and in 1837, and
again in 1855, the acquisition of the city by Persia,
under Russian instigation, was only prevented by the
resolute attituAe of England—resulting in the latter
case in war with Persia, when the city which had been
captured was given up. It has long been foreseen
that a line connecting the railways of the east with
those of Europe must one day be constructed, and
that this line must pass through Herat; while it has
been equally obvious that, if Russia had mesnwhite
gained possession of this natural gate, we should find
ourselves in the condition of the man who was unable
to enter his own house from the hall door being forcibly
shut in his face. The construction of this great junc-
tion-line—long ago projected by Sir Macdonald
Stephenson, the well-known pioneer of railways in the
east—is now about to be undertaken by him. The
East Indian line, which was projected and con-
structed by him, and which has proved to be a great
success, both in a structural and financial sense, has a
capital of twenty millions, which is a larger capital
than will be required for the new undertaking, though
it is of greater length. Before fixing the route Sir
Macdonald Stephenson had the merits of all the pos-
sible alternative routes carefully examined, so that the
beat might be selected. This work has constituted the
labour of many years. But the result has been to
create a confidence in the soundness of the under-
taking as a commercial enterprise such as could not
otherwise have been commanded, A revenue
approaching that of the East Indian line will, it is ex-
pected, be got from the local traffic alone ; while the
through traffic, it is believed, will be large when the
whole of the railways of India and the whole of the
railways of Europe are made the reciprocal collectors
and distributors for one another. Mr. Bourne, the
Principal of the new Engineering college at Muswell
Hill, who, under Sir Macionald Stephenson's direc-
tion, made the estimates of cost and traffic for the East
Indian line, has also under the same direction, made
the corresponding estimates for the junction line; and
just as his anticipations of profit have been exceeded by
the reality in the one case, so it may be expected they
will be similarly exceeded in the other.—Larti and
Water.