The Hawaiian gazette., 1872-09-11
The Railway of India.

A great deal has been SAID and written res
pectiug the completion Of the Pacific Railway
across the American Continent; and much praise
has been very justly bestowe upon the energy
Z Of the American character which has brought the
work to its present position. While, however,
we are lavish in our expressions Of admiration
for the great qualities which have thus been call
/ ed into existence, We ought not to lose sight OF
! the still greater works which have been accom-
I pshed in India, in the matter Of railways. A
vast work has been carried on silently and IN
obtrusiyely. and under difficulties even greater
than any which have been experienced in regard
to the Pacific Railroad, and we claim for those
by whom these great works have been achieved
some share Of that admiration which is given so
freely and so fairly to our American cousins. The
Pacific line, including as it does the two separate
schemes OF the Union Pacific and the Central
Pacific, is about l 200 miles in length. Two of
our leading Indian lines, namely; the East In
dian and the treat Indian Peninsula, at present
in work have joint mileage Of 2-230 miles, and
when completed it will be 2,76S miles, greater
by more than one-haf Of the whole length Of the
Pacific road Like the Pacific these lines cross
our Indian empire from east TO west, and con-
meet Bombay and Calcutta, just as the Pacific
forms the connecting link between San Francisco
and New York By means of the East Indian
n railway connects Calcutta with Delhi. more
than 900 miles distant from each other in the
south, Madras and Baypore are connected by a
line crossing Southern India; Nagpore, in Cen
trail India, is connected with the port Of Bonn
bay by means of the fota and Punjaub line
Lahore in the northwest and Kurrachee in the
Indus are brought into direct connection with
each other. There are now actually completed
and at work in India 1892 miles of railway, or
about 600 more than the whole mileage between
New York and San Francisco, and there remain
to be completed Of lines already sanctioned l,665
miles. This great extent of railway has been
constructed in a country many thousands of miles
distant from England, where with trifipg ex-
ception, the whole of the capital was provided.
For the construction of these works there was
required to be shipped from this country 1922 !
600 tons of goods, of the value of 23,252O 600
pounds, aud which was conveyed in $3.50 ships.
In America no such difficulty as this was ex-
perienced. The road, as it was formed, was en-
abed to carry the iron and timber required for
the construction. The contractors worked from
an already organized base of railways at home
the material for the Indian lines had to be borne
over thousands of miles of a sea voyage. The |
Of the Indian railways has presented |
Of much more formidable character
than those which have been met with on the
Pacific line. 1t is true that this railway has
been carried over vast plains and mountain rang
es Of which little was known, and in the face of
he attacks of hostile Indian tribes. In India,
he works were carried out in the face Of diff
,ulties connected with the oppressive beat Of the
climate through forests and jungles which were
he resort of savage animals, and the people en-
,loyed were natives Of the country, speaking
language unknown to those by whom they were
Employed, and whose habits and modes of life
United them for labor such as that on which
hey were engaged. Great works such as those
# the Bhore Ghaut and Thull Ghaut incnes
resented difficulties equal to, if not greater, than
ny experienced in the crossing over the Rocky
Mountains. Streams wider and more rapid than
net with between Omaha and San Francisco
ave been successfully brdged, and present some
f the greatest triumphs Of modern engineering