The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1888-02-29
RUSSlA'S RAIL WAY in ASIA.
A NJ IrveI of Engineering SkiII-The Sand
storm of the Desert-WOrk Done.

A NJ srveI of Engineering SkiII-The Sand
storm of the Desert-Work Done.
David Ker in New York Times1
But apart from its military and polit-
zeal significance the Mikhailoosk Bay &
Askabad railroad merits attention as
marvel of engineering 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 Kara-Koum desert
to join poor MacGahan before
Khiva in 1878, though slight compared
with those which sometimes occur there,
would have been quite 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 uneasiIy,
and then lay down with their long necks
fiat upon the sand. At the same mo-
ment a strange dimneSs Obscured the
ghOstly splendOr of the moonlight, while
a weird, unearthly sound, half whisper
and half moan, arose far away in the
silent distance.
''Tebbad.' shouted our Kirghiz guide,
flinging himself on the ground under
the lee of the nearest camel and hastily
mutfling 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
a rush roar, mingled with sound
like the rattle of a furious hailstorm.
This was the patter of the flying sand
against the sides of our wagon, which
rocked to and fro as if about to capsi-e
altogether. Against the whirl of that
sandy tempest cur thickest wrappings
were of no avail. 1t smarted in our
eyes, it cracked between our teeth, it
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 chOKed outright.
At last the bowling and rafting died
away, and we crept forth gasping and
half stiIed 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 a tempest which could thus
alter the very face of the earth.
But even these dreaded stnrms in the
full height of their September wrath
have never been able to delay the desert
trains more than very few hours at
time The hostility of unframed nature
has been met and parried with singular
dexterity. Light shields of wickerwork,
such as 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 solidifed by
plentiful mixture of sand. In this way
the work has been carried forward with
speed which, though far behind the
exaggerated reports spread concerning
it by Russia for her own purposes dur
ing the late Afghan difficulty, has never
theless carried the line to a point
within easy reach of the Persian
frontier.
A very slight expenditure of labor
will now suffice to bring it right up to
AS abad, the capital Of the new prov
ince transferred to Russia a few years
ago by Skobeloffs murderous victory
over Turcomans of Geok-Tepe. From
Askabad to Sarakhs, the nearest point
of the Afghan frontier, is distance of
barely 29O miles, 100 of which will re-
quire just the same amount of earth |
work as any ordinary railway in Euro
pean Russia, 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
while the example Of the rail
way constructed by England in 1880 |
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
lty railroad may be pushed forward
over a level surface where neither tun-
nels, bridges nor cuttings are required.