Sacramento daily record-union., 1888-08-11
BY RAIL TO MERV.
THE RECENTLY COMPLETED CEN.
TRIAL ASIAN RAILROAD.
On the Cars to Cashmere and Tam.
erlane's Tomb-Modern Mode of
Travel Over Ancient Ground.
written for the RECORD UN1oN.l

Among the victories of peace which a
future generation shall celebrate, the rail
road only yields to the printing press the
honor of being first in the rank OF yiviliz-
ing influences. The extension of the rail
road to the wild steppes of the Caspian,
and its intended projection to the tanks of
the Himalayas. have opened the eyes of
Christendom to the vast revolution in
morals and manners which the introduc-
ton of the system among the barbarous
inhabitants of the country through which
it passes, is destined to effect. Anticipat-
ing the universal adoption Of the iron way
by Asiatic nations, before we review its
latest ramificatlon it is instructive to CON
trast the pacific reception Of It's benefits bv
barbarous people, with The hostile
attitude still manifested towards railroads
! by 4 section of civilized communities, from
whom, on account of their superior en-
| lightenments we should expect better
things. When, sixty years ago, railroads
were first mooted in England, the agrieult-
ural populace was extremely slow to APP
prehend the manifold blessings which Mr..
| Hudson's highways would inevitably bring
in their train. The construction of the
same was actively opposed by the bucolic
! Britons, who in their efforts to arrest the
march of civilization, occasionally resorted
| to displays of puerile forces. Among other
arguments advanced against the utility of
railroads was one which asserted that haul
age by steam would gradually render the
| breed of horses in the island extinct. How
far this prophecy has been justified by full
! fillment may be gathered from the
fact that English metropolitan rail
! roads are among the most extensive en-
! ployers Of horse power of any which exist
| in the kingdom. In George Eliot's "AIid-
dlemarch" there is depicted a typical scene
between the advance party of a pioneer
railroad company, and an assemblage of
| ignorant hinds which but for the inter
vention of the enlighted Caleb might
have ended in blcodshec. And not only
! in England, but even ia this country, there
! has ever existed 4 small but retrogressive
! section Of the community to whom the
wheel of progress has consistently failed
! to recommend itself. The opening of the
/ Central Asian railroad will do more to-
! wards convincing this minority of the
untenableness of their arguments than any
amount of reasoning or eXpostulation. A
railroad has accomplished in Central
Asia what the phalanxes of Alexander
attempted, but failed. 1t is railroad
that was the best chance of tanning the
Soudan. 1t is to railroads we must look
, for the prevention OF that incesSant immi-
| grafton from China which is a standing
menace to Western civilization. And it is
a railroad, Sir Edward Watkin would add.
! that will in some future century seal the
solidarity between the people on either
/ side of the channel" The second mostun-
/ progressive nation Of the world has lately
/ been celebrating the completion of an un-
/ dertaking of which even Americans might
/ be proud. Regarded from whatever point
of view, this latest ramifcation Of the rail-
road marks an era in the history of loco
motion by steam. For hundreds of years
the border land between Persia and Turk
I estan has been the home of law
lessness and brigandage, condition
! from which escape was impossible till reg
I ular communication with the outside world
could be established. This last is now
| being accomplished, and the desert region
which extends eastward of the Caspian sea
bids fair to be converted into one of the
most fertile provinces of Central Asia.
From Ossoun Ada, the Caspian terminus
of the system, the cars leave for Bokhara
with all the regularity of our overland ex-
press. For thousand miles right into
the heart of the mysterious central Asian
region the Russian military engineer has
thrust his woodworking parallel rails,
and it is possible at this moment to reach
/ the tomb of Tamerlane, in the heart of
Southern Tartary, nine days after leaving
st. Petersburg" The construction of the
! central Asian railroad was indirectly in
spired by NJ. De Lesseps, who fifteen
years ago urged on the Russian
authorities the Importance of uniting
Europe and Asia by rail. Could this
union have been accomplished by canal,
no doubt NJ. de LessepS would have under
taken it, but water connection being out of
the question, railroad was the inevitable
| and appropriate connecting link. Al
though the new line is intended to sub
serve the uses Of peace, it was 40 initio a
war railroad, and was undertaken by the
Russians for the facilities which it offered
of concentrating troops on the Afghan
frontier at short notice. The actual work
of laying the rails was performed By SOL
diers specially trained in the art of rail
road building. The Central Asian Rail-
road Is mainly the outcome of the
Pendjeh trouble, and is the only
good fruit which Anglo Russian
intrigue has compelled from that
sterile little vine. So far from the rail-
road being opposed by the Pathan prole-
tariate through whose country it passes,
natives have in many instances hired
themselves out as navvies to the military
constructing party, and in all cases have
abstained from opposing the undertakings
advancement. Of engineering difficulties,
as the latter are appraised by us, the con-
structors of the Central Asian railroad
have had but few to face The gradients
are easy Il in 125 being the steepest) and
the tunnels few and short. A bridge a
mile and quarter in length Is the largest
and most ambitious erection of this class,
and is, like the bridges which cross the
Neva at st. Petersburg constructed en-
tirely of wood. Before the line taps Merv,
there is 200-mile span of rainless desert,
the shifting sands of which at first threat
ened to bury the railroad ties
within a day or two of their being laid
down. To obviate this, on the shoulder of
the embankment, 7-foot clay rampant
had to be constructed on either side of the
permanent way, which, by preventing the
wind from getting the FIRST bite, at the sand
between the rails, as well as opposing
bulwark to outside attacks, answers the |
purpose of an efficient screen. The road is
not ballasted anywhere, the ties being laid !
on the bare sand and the rails being Sc
cure to them by spikes. The rails are of !
steel, manufactured in Russia by an English |
company, and the depots are in nearly
every instance built of sandstone. Ex- |
elusive of the rolling stock and |
rails, the cost per mile of the |
Central Asian Railroad has been Sl425O. |
The rolling stock at present consists of |
ninety locomotives, 1900 wagons and 600 |
open cars with about score of passenger
coaches For fuel for the engines netro- |