Southern standard. (McMinnville, Tenn.) 1879-current, 1886-02-13
RUssIA'S RAILWAY IN ASIA.
Marvel of Engineering SlsiIl--The Sand
storm of the Desert Work Done.

storm of the Desert Work Done.
David b. ,- in New York riues.I
But apart from its military and polit-
ical significance the Mikhailoosk Bay a.
Askaoad railroad merits attention as u
marvel of engineerin~ skill which has
successfully withstood the formidable
tebbad' or sandstone of the desert,
the terrific force OF which can never be
fully appreciated by any one who has
not actually experienced it The
storm which | encountered on my
way across the hara-Koum desert
to join poor Macdahan before
hiva in 3,3, though slight compared
with those which sometimes occurthere,
would have been ute enough to satisfy
any ordinary traveller. 1t was drawing
toward midnight, and the moon had
Just risen over the gray amending desc
latlon Of the great waste upon which no
living thing was to be seen but our
selves, when our camels suddenly
stopped short, snuffed the air uneasily,
and then lay down with their long necks
fiat upon the sand At the same mo-
ment strange dimness obscured the
ghoslly Splendor of the moonlight, while
weird, unearthly sound, half whisper
md half moan, arose far away in the
silent distance.
"Tebbad! shouted our Kirghiz guide,
iiinging himself on the ground under
the lee of the nearest camel and hastily
mu ing himself in his huge Turcoman
shawl My Tartar servant and | had
barely time to follow his example and
to throw ourselves down in the bottom
of the wagon, when there came
rush roar, mingled with a sound
like the rattle of furious hailstorm
his was the patter of the flying sand
against the sides of our wagon, which
rocked to and fro as if about to capsi
altogether. Against the whirl of that
sandy tempest our thickest wrappings
were of no avail. t smarted in our
eyes, it cracked between our teeth, IL
made our skins gritty from head to foot
as we covered in the rocking wagon
listening to the whooping of the storm,
and wondering whether it would pass
over before we were choxed outright
At last the bowling and rattling died
away, and we crept forth gasping and
hall sti ed to find ourselves to all APP
pearanceS in the midst of stormy sea-
Far as eye could reach the smooth sur
face of the desert was hurled up in mon
strous ridges or plowed into deep hol-
lows, bearing fearful testimony to the
might of tempest which could thus
alter the very face of the earth.
nut even these dreaded st nrms in the
full height of their september wrath
have never been able to delay the desert
trains more than a very few hours at
time The hostility of untamed nature
has been met and parted with singular
deXterity. Light shields of wickerwork,
such rs are used in other parts of Russia
to protect the railway track from the
snow, protect it here from the still more
formidable sand. The loose powderly
drifts have been bound together with
mud from the neighboringg swamps,
while the half liquid mire of the latter
has in its turn been solidified by II
plentiful mixture of sand In this way
the work has been carried forward with
a speed which, though far behind the
exaggerated reports spread concerning
it by husSia for her own purposes dur
ing the late Afghan diihoulty, has never
theless carried the line to point
within easy reach of the Persian
! frontier.
a very slight expenditure of labor
will now suffice to bling it right up to
AS abad, the capital of the new prov
nce transferred to Russia few years
ago by >kobeloff's murderous victory
over Turcomans of Cock Tepe From
ASkabad to Sarakhs, the nearest point
of the Afghan frontier, is q distance of
barely 300 miles, 10 of which will re-
Guire just the same amount of earth
work as any ordinary railway in Euro
pean hussia, while the remaining 100
will need none whatever. The work on
the line, being done entirely by Russian
soldiers, will not cost the government a
cent beyond the actual expense of the
material, while the example of the rail
way constructed by England in 1SSC
across the deserts of northern Beloo.
chistan to the Afghan border, at rate
of one and half to two and half
miles day, has shown with what rapid
ity a railroad may be pushed forward
over level surface where neither tun-
nels, bridges nor cuttings are required.