New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-11-19

ruler are making In the arts and Industries
Of Western civilization. 1t has long been
known. Of course. that Abdurrahman Khan =
ambition is not only to reun!tc the Afghan
tribes into homogeneous nation. as Dost Mo-
manned also aimed to DO. with Indifferent sue
cess but also to bring them as FAR up toward
the European standard Of civilization "a may
be possible I'm the lifetime ~ one generation
a task never before venturcd upon by an Ameer
Of Cabul
The picturesque popular conception OF A.
ghanistan is that Of the poet:
And many an Afghan chief. who lies
Beneath Tho cool pornegranhi" trees,
Clutches his sword In fierce surmise,
As on the mountain-slde h" sees
The Meet foot Mari scout. who Gomez
t. tell how he hath heard aiar
The measured roll u British drums
Beat az the gates Of Candahar
And that is doubtless quite right. 50 far as II
goes But equally true would be- picture show
ing the Afghan CHEZ sitting Ia an easy brlu7h
chair in a room AZ modern Ia It's appoint
ments as any In Bcgrayia. seeing from afar the
smoke and hearing from afar the whir ana
rumble and roar of steamdriven mill ana iac-
tory foundry and forge. and roliing-mill ana
mint and armory. covering acres oi ground
between the Asmai and Shere Darwaza heights.
and employing "A small army Of swarthy and
snewy Afghan workmen These works were
founded and conducted under the super
vision Of an Englishman. "A Mr.. Pyne But the
idea az founding them arose in Abdurrahman's
brain, and to him alone is 10 be given the
credit Of this remarkable advance in civilization.
1t must be borne in mind that all the plant
the machinery-for these works had 10 be i'm
Z, To-, Irns nd Naty( aku Ia
not an easy place to reach. There is no railroad
for many a hundred miles. and the good roads"
propaganda has not yet extended into Afghan
istan Every piece Of machinery. even the pom
derous engines. had 10 be carried on the backs
Of camcls and elephants. across deserts. through
forests. up steep and narrow mountain passes
So too with the thousands OF tons OF iron and
steel used in the completed works 1t IL all
brought In pigs and ingots from England. to be
worked ND by native labor into cannons and
rifles and swords, and also the implements OF
peace. Coke and caustic soda and other raw
materials" also are imported from England
Why not have continued TO import the finished
articles and avoided the toll and expense OF
building and conducting these works. savage
or a free trader would have done So but Alb
durTahman IL neither. He wanted his people
to learn TO do these things. And then perhaps
some day they will find coal and iron In their
own mountains. and depend no longer upon the
outer world even for MATERIALS
Saws a visitor who accompanied the mission.
and who was allowed to inspect all parts OF
the works writing in THE Times OF India:
I'VE were first shown over "A workshop. 200 by 30
feet. in which gun boring was being carried on.
Several brcechloading guns were being operated
on though the majority OF the workmen were
absent Mt the Ameer's residence. where they had
take two IIotchkiss siX-pOunders and three
pounder guns which were yesterday completed
I'm the shops All the guns that are now being
made are Of the breechloading type, for solid
drawn cartridges AT the other end Of this shop
the saw-mils were at work The machinery COM
prises log frames. three 42-inch circular saws,
planning and mortising machines. and dovctail-
ing machines for box making etc. The men
seemed thoroughly to understand their work
and even those who. owing to the early hour
had not started their days labor. set their ma
chimes In motion for my edifcation. We next
entered the engine rooms. and it positively takes
ones breath away to see such engines In this
remote part Of the world. At present the power
employed Is as follows For the cartridge shops,
general woodwork, planning and mining the ma
chinery Is composed CT pair condensing
engines Of 100 horsepower one semi portable
engine Of 10 horse power. semi portable
engine Of horsepower and one pair of con-
densing engines for rolling mills Of IS horse
power One blowing engine of 10 horsepower
is utilized for blast purposes for the whole OF
the workshops. thus efecting immense saw
ing in labor. From the engine rooms we went
into the boiler houses. where there are two
tubular boilers Of 45 horsepower EACH one
Cornish boiler Of 30 horsepower, one tubular
Of 16 horsepower. and one Roots boiler OF 30
horsepower These are all fired by wood. not
the difficulty in procuring 1t In
sufficient quantities. All the buildings are Of