Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1888-05-20
A RAILWAY IN CHINA.
THE IMMENSE RESULTS WHICH MAY
BE ANTICIPATED.

Description of Thirty Mile Track Built
In the Central Flowery Kingdom in the
Face of Ohicial Timidity and Conser-
vatism-The Beginning.
Shortly after the tearing up of the Shang-
hai-Wusung road the Kai-ping mining COM
pany, composed entirely of native capital
lists, petitioned the government for pernis-
sion to build railroad forty miles long, to
connect their collieries with navigable water.
As might be expected from government
that had just bought up and destroyed one
line, the request to build another was met
with most peremptory refusal. Failing in
their attempt to build railroad the enter
prising management of the mines set to work
and constructed a canal. Owing to the ma
ture of the country, however, 1t was found
impossible to bring the canal any nearer to
the mines than seven or eight miles Finding
themselves in something Of dilemma with
the canal, the government was again petit
toned in behalf of railroad, but again re-
fused
At length, in 1881, the more liberal and
enlightened statesmen of the empire sue
ceeded in convincing the authorities that the
real transportation of coal to the seaboard
was necessary for the welfare and efficiency
of the northern feet. Permission was re-
luctantly given to build seven miles Of road
to connect the collieries and the canal, but
on condition that it should be known as
tramway, and operated only by horses and
mules The innovation of the fire and smoke
emitting monster, the locomotive, was what
the conservative Chinese statesmen dreaded,
and the fear, that once permitted in the
country, there would be no withstanding the
encroachments of western genius. For awhile
the road was operated in accordance with
these stipulations. Coal was hauled from
the mines to the canal by mules in suitable
trucks.
So far so good; but still this was far from
being what the coal mining company had
petitioned for, and had, if possible, deter
mined yet to have. As time flowed on the
various parts of small locomotive were sur
reptitiously got together. An English engi-
neer was sent for, and in great secrecy the
engine was put together and tested at the
mines. Officials were provided with blinkers
in a manner peculiarly oriental, although
not entirely unknown among ourselves, and
at length the wonderful locomotive was
hitched on to train of coal trucks and
started off along the road. 1t was christened
''The Rocket of the Flowery Kingdom" 1t
was nondescript sort of a locomotive, for,
owing to the difficulties encountered in hood
winking the Chinese authorities, and getting
together the necessary materials, all sorts of
odds and ends were used in It's. construction.
Most Of the parts were gathered up under the
the guise of scrap iron, which always forms
a large item of Chinese importations. The
boiler was rusty, second hand concern which
had once belonged to portable engine in
England. The framework was built of old
shafting Various other homogeneous ele-
ments were used; but with all this the queer
little locomotive was found to be far superior
to horses and mules, both in effectiveness and
cheapness.
In time the government, although refusing
to sanction the running of the locomotive by
official permit, came to regard 1t with tolera-
ton or indifference The necessities of the
newly purchased iron clads comprising the
northern fleet and the importation of abund-
ant coal became SO apparent that the official
eye was gradually brought to wink at the
locomotive. The Rocket of the Flowery
Kingdom was permitted to puff its way back
and forth between mine and canal unmo-
lested. Gaining fresh confidence from this
signal victory, the mining company sent Or
to England for two locomotives, a number Of
coal trucks and three or four passenger cars.
In the meantime the little nondescript engine
travelled over the road three or four times a
day, attracting the people from the surround
ing country by the thousands to see the novel
sight In that seven miles the road passes
through one tunnel 800 feet long and over
several iron bridges When the new locomo-
tives and rolling stock came on from Eng
land the output from the mines and the gen.
eral traffic was stimulated to brisk and
highly gratifying degree
A short time since application was made
for the privilege of building an extension to
the Peh- tang river, owing to the freezing up
of the canal during several months every
winter, and the consequent difficulty of get
ting the coal to Tientsin. In strange and
significant contrast to the trouble in obtain
ing permission to operate the first locomotive
in 1880, the government readily granted. the
petition OF 1885 for adding more than twenty
miles to the original seven. So now there is
actually in smooth and satisfactory operation
in China nearly thirty miles of railroad. 1t
is little thing, abstractly considered, this
short, narrow gagged piece of road, operat-
ing on the sea coast of a mighty empire num-
bering SOC, 000, 900 people. 1t is as well, how
ever, to reflect that five years ago it was a
good deal hitler than it is now, and also to
bear in mind that the management petition
ing in vain eight years since, and the recent
liberal concessions, indicate a big forward
stride-Thomas Stevens in Commercial Ad-
vertiSer
Partisan Elderly Bellies.