New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-06-08
AN AMAZING RAILROAD.
HOW THE BARON MADE MILEAGE, AND
HOW THE SERVIANS RUN TRAINS.

shin as chrOnclers-ln-chief OF TopsyturveNdom
If only they had kept on together. what weaI'"
of topics they might have extracted from .his
much-vexed Balk&n Peninsula, People say 'h"'
they have parted because they could fnd no moic
themes on which both their eccentric whinse'
fances could find free scope. They have saulI%e"
England-army, navy, society, courts OF la"'
House of Peers Oscar Wildsm. and every oVici
available phase they have drawn upon the para
doxcal realm of the Mikado for " local coiol
upon picturesque Venice, and upon phah''Sn'-
oorical Rara,aria Tins having exhausted. as
they think this world, they cry for other ""iius
10 conquer; and by way of consolation, lali
10 cutting each other BY the way wouiuh l
that very falling out Of theirs make capital
theme for another operetta? But really, they
ought TO have come to the Balkans for topic
Who was that Czar-Nicholas. was t?-who
laid ont the railroad route between St Petersburg
and Moscow simply by drawing a straight line
with pencil and ruler on the map wen, the
Turks and the Russians never did agree, and 50
when the Sultan wants railroad built he de-
narts as widely as possible from the Cars ex-
ample Or he lets the contractors do so at his
expense; it's all the same In the present in
stance. which is most humby submitted for the
consideration of Messrs Gilbert and Sullivan, the
railroad line is that from Tatar Bazardjik TO
COnstantinOple 1t took long, long time 10
come 20 terms about it. But at last the con-
tract was made and the bland and childlike
Turk agreed to the designing Baron's wicked
scheme. 1t was agreed that the Baron was TO he
paid so much per mile for constructing the road a
good round sum, in consideration Of the mountains
TO be pierced and the marshes TO he filed up. And
it was furthermore agreed that the Baron was
TO select the route himself just as he pleased The
Baron did so. OF that there is no doubt. Some
Of the horseshoe curves" of the mountain rail-
roads of America are widely noted and there are
legends of short trains being perforce SO
that the engine wouldn't smash through the rear
car at places where the road crossed itself. But
such roads resemble that of Gar Nicolas more
than that of the Sultan-or the Baron. For tho
latter has scarcely straight rail in it from end
10 end. Like Tennyson's brook. it curves
about and in and out" avoiding evey mountain
and hillock, lodging every swamp, even fighting
shy of woodland where the timber would be hard
TO cut. And even open. level plains it zig
Gags about In the most amazing fashion.
Why is this thus? Because the Baron said
it should be So His engineers protested, but in
vain The very laborers made remarks, but to no
purpose It was easier to build on level, open
ground than through hills, swamps and forests;
and the contract gave him the privilege of laying
out the route according 10 his own sweet will.
Moreover, OH Commander Of the Faithful this
wretched Giaour was be paid much per mile
for the road, and the crookeder it was the more
miles there would he be paid for. 1t like The
member of the Legislature, who went from his
home in Troy 10 the Albany State House by way
of Lake George. the Adirondac<s, the Thousand
Isles, Niagara Falls, Watkins Glen and Conev
Island, and charged full mileage. The result is
that the railroad line from Tatar BazardjiS to
Constantinople is actually 90 miles or so longer
than the old wagon-roads and lcpaths. That
means of course that the journey over it consumes
some hours Of time than it should This is
by means pleasing to the patrons of the through
trains from Vienna, and the unhappy Sultan is
besieged day and night by ambassadors, engineers
and businessmen, one and all voclferously de-
handing that the road shall he Strengthened at
least to some reasonable degree. And the poor
Sultan Is pretty nearly distracted. There is
use In his protesting that it is affair of his, and
that he never rides railroads. But we do,
reply his prosecutors, land our goods do, and
the mails do His only really effective argument
is that he has no money for the job, which is TN
doubleday quite true especially since he paid Baron
Hirschs mileage. The chances are. therefore, that
Austrian capitalists will have to step in and pro-
vide the money, and then the chances hun
bred to one that Baron Hirsch will secure the
contract for doing the work. Really, you know
Messrs. Gilbert and Sullivan. it is a blooming
outrage that you won't reion your forces and write
this business up.
Nor Is the Servian portion Of the line great
improvement over that on the Grand Turks soil
That part of the line built by French capital
lists and engineers, and the whole well
huiIt Puf = fnic bad nd ru4 into
running order than the Servians came down like
the wolf on the fold and literally confscated the
whole business They did not want Servian
railroad run by Frenchmen, so they summarily
turned the Frenchmen out; and put no compensa-
ton clauses in the writ of eiectment either
Then they manned the whole road, from general
superintendent down TO brakcmen. with Servian
peasants, who had never seen a railroad before
and didn't know the cowcatcher from the caboose
By the way, that's not to be wondered at, for
there cOwcatchers or cabooses on European
railroads. But it's all the same. They didn't
know anything The result is that travellers who
want Servia in a hurry usually get out and
walk. 1t is an uncommonly fast train that doesn't
fall half day behindhand in getting across the
Servian territory.
The causes of these delays are often Of the most
nature. One tram, which entered
Scr1a on time, was as they all are, manned by
Servians as soon as it crossed the border. II ran
two miles past the first station. and had TO back
down 10 IT again. Then il got out OF water, and
stood still while the engineer relied the tank with
water, which he carried BY bucketfuls from a well
nearly a quarter Of a mile away. little further
asked 70 wait half an hour until some people
10 nelghboring house could get ready 10 90 on
~ ana as the man who asked this iniiuen-
TaI ponIlclan, his request was complied with.
II I. haar Gonna efr
l"iSc ao0nt thc Tram, and insisted on running il
at snaii pace for few miles while the firemon
engine to see if he could discover what was
wrong. ~
r. When TINS international line from Vienna to
Sohstanuuopie was projected, there were high
hopes OF It's convenience and usefulness oerhaps
tlese hopes VIII some day be realized. A. present
there Is probably no better way in all ,lc world
stoppages and with almost linitlcss serpentine
wanderlnqs ABOUT from place 20 place, than to take