Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1889-04-04
TO LONDON By RAIL.
AN ALL ROUND THE WORLD ROUTE
WHICH is PRACTICABLE.

"oA' W WI rs AieatN t4aIG-Ihe ISrl8-
sian Government Already Helping.
Could Distance Jules verne's Travellers.
1t is quite probable that some of those who
read this page will make an all rail tourney
from New York to London or from London
TO New York! A recent writer has been
carefully thinking out the whole scheme. How
can this ever be when 5000 miles of Atlantic
ocean separate the two placesl he asks
England lies to the east of the United
States, but to reacl it by railway the trav-
eler' Will start westward, and, riding day
atter day and night after night until he
reaches the opposite side of the globe, where
west and east meet and separate, and then
Keeping on still westward, he viii arrive at
London, having well nigh traversed round
the world.
This is no idle fancy The scheme involves
no ocean ferrying, no stupendous and i'm
practicable bridge building From the east
ern shore of America to the western border
of England there stretches continuous dry
land, with the exec ption of the narrow and
comparatively shallow straits of Behring,
between America ald Asia, that are a small
obstacle; the narrow English channel, only
twenty miles across, and the rivers which
science already knows how to span
The English end Of the projected line, how
ever, is of comparatively small Importance
The real problem lies in spanning the tre-
mendous distance that lies between the north
western boundary of the United States and
the eastern frontier of Europe
THE PROPOSED ROUTE.
From New York to little beyond the
northwestern boundary of the United States
continuous rail communication is already
open by way of the Canadian Pacific railway.
which Will soon be supplemented by the COM
pletion of a connect on between the Northern
Pacific and the British American line.
Europe, from ths Atlantic ocean to the
Ural mountains, which separate it from Asia.
is now crossed by t le locomotive, its eastern
border being reached by two great Russian
railways, one tern mating at Orenburg and
the other at Ekate rinburg, which last lies
nearly due east from Moscow and southeast
from st. Petersburg. The vast Russian en-
Pire in Asia, stretching from the Ural noun
tains to the North Pacific, and far up almost
to the Arctic circle at Behring straits, a
| distance of thousands of miles, has not as
yet one solitary line of railway 1t is across
this prodigious stretch of country, much of it
well peopled, but much, also, an unknown
wilderness, locked large part of the year in
the embrace of the Arctic winter, that the
Buta great step ii this direction has already
been taken The Russian government feels
the necessity of railway communication
across its Asiatic empire, and the car has
sanctioned u project for the gradual construc
ton of railway from the Ural mountains
TO the waters of the Pacific at Vladivostock,
the extreme southe lstern point of the Rus
sian empire, lying about latitude AZ, directly
opposite the north 9rn, most of the chief
islands in Japan. When that great work is
| accomplished, centrl ii Asia will be brought
into much nearer connection with America
than now, as Vlad vostocl lies almost due
west from Portland, Ore, and the distance
between the two cor tinents is much less than
it is farther south.
But this will not GO for our all rail route,
which must be made by line branching off
from the great Russian Pacific railway at
some point perhaps thousand miles west of
Vladivostock, and running northeasterly
through Siberia to l5ehring straits
The crossing of the Behriug straits Is de-
clared by some exI erienced travellers to be
entirely practicable In the narrowest place
they are said to be only ten miles wide, and
while for part of the year boats can easily
cross, it is asserted that the straits are dotted
with islands, by me ms of which, and inter-
be effected
| Alaska does not, it must be admitted, offer
very encouraging field for railway build
ing, so far as either climate, typographical
features or productions are concerned, but
| 1t interposes no Obstacles which money and
skill could not overcome
THE DISTANCES
The distances over which the railway would
have to be built TO carry out this great scheme
are, in round numbers, about as follows:
Miles
United States boundary to Behring straits 2,OOO
Behring straits to junction with Russian
Pacific railway ay.....-........... 1900
Junction to European line at Ekaterinburg s,SoO
Total yet to be constructed ..... 1000
This looks like Tremendous length of line
to build, and yet about an equal amount OF
railway mileage YVES probably built in the
year 1888 in the United States alone, and in
one recent year almost double that mileage
was constructed
Some of the distances bv our great railway
and its connections would be about as fol-
lows:
Miles
New York to Port Moody British America). a,5OO
Port Moody TO Behriny straits ..... ........ 1900
Behring straits to Urn mountains. ......-. $500
Ural mountains to London. ..-....-.....-.... 5000
Total New York To London, all rail. -. X, 900
This would be pretty long rail journey,
but it would be short compared with many
ocean voyages that are now made; in fact, it
would be only abou5 three and half times
| as long as the journey from New York to
San Diego, which is undertaken every day.
Allowing the moderate average of twenty
five miles an hour, The trip from New York
to London would take about twenty-three
| days. Then the tourist might add seven
days sail from Liverpool to New York, and
thus accomplish trip around the world in
thirty days, which would beat Jules Vernes
| travellers out OF siglt.-New York Journal.
| The Color Cure.
Colors have cons derable influence on the
the physical nature both of plants and ani-
| mails Sundry diseases grow better or worse
according to the color of the apartments oc-
| cupied by the patients. Violet, among others,
| is said TO have very beneficial effect ON the
I health. Recent exp eriments made by Swiss