The Sun.
London, England, 1858-03-18 00:00:00

RAILWAYS IN TURKEY.

Four or five months ago concession was given to
an English company for the construction of a rail-
way from Samsoun, the old Amisus, on the touth-
ern shores of the Black Sea, to Sivas, the old Se-
vasstia.

As the Smyrna and Aidin Railway is destined to
open out the southern half of Asia Minor, the ob-
ject of the Samsoun Railway is to tring the pro-
duce of the northern half to the sea,
The mountain chain which surrounds the coast of
Asia Minor on all sides is most difficult of acces on
its northern part facing the Black Sea. Almost all
along, from the mouth of the Bosphorus to the
frontiers of Georgia, it rises precipitously from the
seashore, so that at a few miles from it it attains
already a height of several thousand feet. Only
just about the middle of the whole length of the
coast, where the rivers of Kizil Irmak and Yeshil
Irmak (Hayls and Iris) discharge their waters to
the Black Sea, the rise is more gradual, indicating
this portion as the natural debouche from the inte-
rior. It is in the bay formed by the deltas of these
two rivers that Samsoun lies.

Situated so favourably for the Black Sea com-
merce Samsoun has at all times played a prominent
part in it ; indeed up to the time that the Persian
trade took the Trebizonde route instead of the long
overland journey Samsoun had the lion's share of the
whole commerce. What Amisus of old must have
been cau still be seen from the traces of the large
works which were made to convert its open bay into
a capacious harbour. Under the Turks it became the
cradle of their naval rower. From the woods in
its neighbourhood came the timber which served
for the construction of the fleets which ruled the
Black Sea, the Archipelago, and the Mediterranean
in the 16th and 17th centuries, and its numerous
seafaring population furnished the sailors for these
fleets.

.Now Samsoun is the great entrepot of European,
chiefly English, goods for the northern part of Asia
Minor, as Trebizond is that for the Persian trade.
According to official returns the value of English
goods alone which came to Samsoun to be trans-
ported to the interior amounted to more than
760,0001. They go up to the great fair of Zilch,
which is visited by people from all parts of Asia
Minor, and from which they are spread over the
country. In return the district of Arghana and
Tokat send their ores, Amasia its silk, and the
borders of the rivers Iris, Halys, and Lycus their
grain, madder roots, dyes, and timber.
As soon as the railway subject began to be
mooted, the Turks cast their eyes on this point,
and actually went out of their way to encourage a
railway from Samsoun to Sivas. There were
several reasons which made such an undertaking
highly desirable in their eyes. Owing to the diffi-
culties of communication as they now exist in this
part of the interior is almost as much sealed up to
the Turkish Government as to Europeans. The
war has not a little contributed to convince them of
the inconveniences of such a seclusion from the pro-
vince most exposed to foreign invasion, and they
f 641- that if kis.. 1:2 Ilacti.rha 1,8,4
Erzeroum they might have walked up leisurely
through the whole length of Asia Minor
without encountering the slightest resistance
anywhere. They expect to bring the rail-
way through this part of their possessions
within the grasp of the Central Government, and
to provide at the same time for the defence of their
frontiers towards Russia and Persia. There is a
clause in the concession which points to this by
obliging the company to continue the railway from
Sivas to Erzerown, as soon as the profits on the
first section to Sivas amount to 7 per cent. on the
capital laid out. There seems to be a kind of
fatality about the Trebizond Erzeroum road. In
spite of the orders often and often repeated, and
in spite of the grants of money made tor the pur-
pose, the road is growing worse from day to day,
so that in some caw_ s, even in the best season, it
is dangerous to pass. But the worst of this
road is, and will always be, whatever is spent on
it, that for several months in the year it is
altogether impassable on account of the snow on
the Kolat Dagh. An extension from Sivas to
Erzeroum would avoid these difficulties, as it would
run on the traces of the old Caravan-road over the
plateaux of Asia Minor, which are several thousand
feet lower than the pass of Baybout on the Trebi-
zonde road.

69 GO

Besides these political reasons there are other
financial ones which prompted the Turks to look
with a favourable eye on this line. The most im-
portant mines in Turkey lie in the district which
will be traversed by the Samsoun-Sivas line. Indeed,
the whole country around and beyond this latter
place is teeming with all kinds of ore. These mines
yield now scarcely anything • in most cases the
madot-mudiri, or superintendent of the mines,
squares his accounts, so that the profits pay the
working expenses. The explanation of thisunsatis-
factory result lies in the circumstance that no con-
trol can be kept over the working of the mines, and
that the superintendents are changed almost every
year, and therefore must make their fortunes as
quickly as possible. The railway will bring the
mines quite close to the central Government, and
the profits will accrue to the capital instead of to
the pockets of the subordinate agents of the Go-
vernment. _ _ _

The company formed in England for the con-
struction of this line sent out last summer Messrs.
Austin, Graham, and Drew, civil. engineers, to make
the necessary surveys ; with them came out likewise
Mr. Elward Price, the well known contractor.
Based on these surveys, the concession was asked
from the Turkish Government, and readily ob-
tained. The line will be 250 miles in length, and
the outlay is estimated at 16,5001. per mile, so
that the whole capital required will be about
4,500,0001. The capital is to bi raised by 201.
shares. The Turkish Government prOm'ses to
take one-third of the shares and place them in the
country. An interest of 7 per cent. is guaranteed
on the capital laid out, and all the ground required
for the line, stations, &c., whether Government or
private property, is to be given to the company
Gratis. You can judge the interest taken by the
Turkish Government in the Sauasoun line by the
favourable concessions granted to the company.
The line will not follow the shorter but more pre-
sipitous road now commonly used into the interior,
but make a detour to ascend more gradually. It
will go round the biy of Sainsoun through the fer-
tile grain district of Charsutnbeh until it touches
the town of that name on the Yoshi' Irwak (Iris)
Then it will ascend by the valley on the lett banks
of this river as far as the town of Amasia. At this
last named place it will cross the river and proceed
on its right bank as high m Tokat, the great smelt-
ing place for the ore of the mining district. There
it will cross again over the left bank, and strike
across towards the range of Tshamlu Bel, through
which tunnelling will be necessary. Having passed
this range the railway descends into the valley of
thesnalys to Sivas.

The difficulty o: the line will consist in the cross-
ing of the mountain rAnge of Tehamul Bel ; but it
has been found that by making a detour a hitherto
little known valley can be taken advantage of, which
will considerably facilitate the work.

SPAIN.
Tho Madi id journals of the 12th publish the text
sat om.
among
ge
of the speech delivered by M. Isturitz in the Con-
gress the preceding day in reply to an interpella-
tion --- _ —
on the Mexican affair. He said that the THE HAVELOCK Miamian FUND.—A meeting is to
Government would not echo the cry of war take place to-morrow, i ; Drury Lane Theatre, with the
agiinst Mexico which had been raised, and though view of raising sub.cripti. tie for the erection of a statue
differences existed between Spain and that
country, they could be settled by ncgocia. His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge will
tphret-
had acted with prudence and
both
pre-
tion as wel as by amp. After express-
tinheemmioirityaryof
mthene :illustrious General Havelock.
side on the occasion, and we have r.easonhtno believe
Thereen will be General Peel, thewill be rae-
ing the opinion distinction
Ministerw at N'ar
anpdrepceaditi.niogtismCailblintehtes
i n can
regard be noto n doubtumthheart4 thean
affair, he said that the differences between the two
countries were only two—first, that of theindemnit
duo to Spaniards, on which the Mexican Govern- dnineeet rank,ie g and will
that a great,t
th
Y amount suscribed towards the object for which the
meeting is to ' be held will ba alike worthy of the ilia—
anent had acted with little reason ; secondly, the tams man, to peepetuate whose memory it is to be
events at Cuernavaca. He next said that England raised, and of the country in whose service he lived,
and France had offered their intervention to pre- , fought, and died.....mQr„ilig Advertiser.