Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1893-06-01
on TO rnE EAST.


the thoughtful A wriierln Der Stem
dor WoissH Of Vienna STEAKS Of what Is
going on there W one awoking from IA
vivid dream, and then, rubbing his
eyes, looks out upon the wolli to con.
vince himself that Il was not mere de.
ceplion OF the fantasy.
The ox.dfcamer sees before him a
Russian railway map and no reads
kizil Arvab Goktepe Askabad. Ted
sohen, Amu.Darya, Bokhafa, samar-
kaud, etc, with Mcrv Ia bold capitals,
right In the middle OF the sefpentine
line. Merv once the queen Of the
world" and In latest years best
known ne the headquarters Of
thieves, robbers and beggars, Of the
knigh,a Of the doiort, and OF priests hold
ing long-windod discoufscs on ritual
washing aud olose.shuvlng; acity N.
volving more danger FOR the traveller
than the interior Of Africa or ,le
North Pole: And now2 "Mrfv sta.
ton, 7B9 vents from tho Caspian Sea,
225 vorsts from the Amu.Darya."
Here, says the writer, 10 a triumph Of
civilization. achieved with but little
clamor. The traveller now takes the
Oriental express from Vienna 10 Con.
slsutinoplo-a tws-daya' Journey; goes
thence by ship to Batoum In two and
ont-half days; then by wagon In
twenty.iour hours through Trans
Caucasus 10 ';aku, ON the Caspian sea,
and crossing the Caspian by steamer,
reaches Uzun Ada on the east coast
after n voyage Of eighteen hours.
Onward thence by the Trans. Caspian
railway, which brings him In forty
two hours to tho Amu.Darya, the
oXus Of the ancients, right In the
heart OF central Asia.
a ton days. Journey from Vienna to
tile gates VI BokharA Is pronounced one
Of those realized fables to the credit Of
modern enterprise aud the appliances
Of modern civilization, and this way II
came about IL thus related; For many
centuries past the ruroomAns who
roamed over the whole region from
the Oxus TO the Caspian led an indie
pendent, robber life. Russia had grad
ually acquired a footing In rurkestan
proper and on occasion engaged In ex .
petitions from the east coast Of the
Caspian, notably against khiva, but
In the later seventies, the Turcomans
hRrassed their brethren under Rus.
sian protecii0n-the Jomud TuTco-
mans-and even the Russian hshing
settlements on the Caspian. With
the object OF chastising the
marauiers, the Russians al.
vauced upon the so.called Achal
oasis with Kilil Aryat as their aim,
but with disastrous results, until the
"whi,e General" Skobolen, oak
Pasha" the Turcomans called him,
appeared on the scene. Like whirl-
wind he swept over the country,
stormed the fortress OF Goktepc, aud
filled its bitches with thousands OF
the rurcOman slain. The fame OF Ak
Pasha, the lnvincible, was borne on
tue winds TO iur,hesi Merv; but after
the triumphs Of 1880 there was 4
change Of policy at 81. Petersburg.
5kobeleT was recalled, and the expedi.
tionary troops foil backward to their
permanent quarters on the Caspian
sea aud In the Caucasus. Five year,
later tho unexpected huppened' the
TurcomAns Of Mury voluntarily placed
themselves under the scepteF Of the
czAr, the Trans.Caspian railway was al
once begun ana successfully carried
through Ia defiance ofthe great DIM.
cultios presented by tue shifting sands
of the desert and the absence Of water
TO- long distances. The price wa.
naturally fabulous, ami at times al
many A. 30 900 Turcomans were EN-
ployoi In the work Of construction,
The project, as we are well aware
was ut hrst stlgmatized as a rasn and
improbable ono from any point OF
view, military Or commercially but that
these conclusions were more or less Il
not altogether shortslghtrd Is begin,
ming even thus early to be plainly
manifest.
As TO the military importance OF tho
"a lway, before II was begun nj all
uohcrnlien wrote: "rne trlnspo,ta
ton facilities are 40 low that, Ia cas-,
of q conflict with England, an army OF
100000 men With their equipments
would require three years from the
declaration Of war before they coul
6s brought into the ield." As is shown
rom tho facts the general ere,
widely ~ ms calculations. He oAlcu
lated on nix trains Of sixteen ua,s
while Ia 1856 the rolling-slock con
sisted Of 81 locomotives, 022 froigh
cars, $50 opun freight wagons, an
numerous other vehicles, With al
average speed Of 25 versts, present ~
plIsnces would admit OF Ut least OIL
times as great a capacity a
rohernaieil calculated on.
However, It is not the subjuga
uons by var tut rather those 10 l.
achieved by peaceful agencies tha