Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-03-02

was laid there on the 18th of May, 1891.
The road when completed will be more
than seven thousand miles long, and it will
cost somewhere between two and three
hundred millions of dollars. CThe Russian
estimate is 35OOOO.0OO roubles). 1t will give
continuous railroad line from Vladi-
vostock to st. Petersburg, and the proba
bility Is that branch line will now be run
down through Corea, and Japan will be
brought within days ride of this term
mus. When this is done the Japanese can
make trip to Paris with a water voyage
of less than twenty-four hours. I have al
ready written of my trip over the new
Chinese railroad. This line now runs to
the city of Shanhaikwan, where the great
Chinese wall juts down into the sea. There
is q breach in the wall at this point, and
though the superstitious Cinnamon would
hardly permit the cutting of the wall for
a railroad, they have allowed it to go
through this breach, and 1t is now being
pushed on into Manchuria. 1t will eventu-
ally reach the Russian frontier, and will
probably connect with the Trans-Siberian
railroad, and then we can go from Pekin
to Paris by land.
Tea and SILK.
It Is Impossible to estimate the changes
which this great railroad will make in
Asia. The tea trade of Europe will I'M
doubtedly go over 1t, and the great bulk
Of the exports from China, Japan and
Corea will be carried through Siberia to
Europe. AS it is now, the fastest steamers
are used for the tea trade. The new tea
brings the highest prices in the market,
and ocean steamers go up to the city of
Hankow. seven hundred miles In the in
terror Of China, and as soon as they can
load they sail with full steam to London.
They go by the Suez canal. and 1t takes
them about forty-five days to make the
voyage. The Chinese have already planned
a railroad to the center of the tea districts
from Tien-Tsin, where their new military
railroad begins. and the tea will be shipped
right north to Siberia, and get to Europe
within fifteen or eighteen days. Tea car
ried overland is said to be much better
than that which goes by water and this
will make a revolution in the tea trade of
the world At present the foreign trade of
China amounts to about three hundred
million dollars per year, and the bulk of
this Is made up of costly articles like tea
and silk. These can pay high freight rates,
and they will undoubtedly be shipped by
rail. There are now in the neighborhood
Of six hundred million people in China,
Japan and Corea. There are about four
million in Siberia, and this road has the
trade of nearly one-half the world to draw
from.
The Road and manufacturer.
1t will probably make Russia a great
manufacturing nation, and the Russian
iron will be shipped over 1t to China.
There IS no iron in the world better than
that of the Ural mountains. and the Chi
nese are ready to pay high prices for
good iron. Most of their tools are now
made by hand, and they must have the
best of raw material. AT present a large
part of the iron used in China is made I'D
of cast-off horseshoes, which are sent out
from Europe by the shipioad The Chi
nese make razors knives and all kinds of
implements out of this iron, and there is
great demand for 1t all over the empire
There are great iron deposits at different
points along the ans-Siberian railroad
and big factories will spring up at all
these points. The Russians are good mo
chanics. and they have vast iron works
near Moscow and at lula which make az
good hardware and guns as YOU will find
anywhere in the world.
The Trans-siberian Route.
AS the line is now planned and being
built, it is to run from Moscow right
through the southern part of Siberia. MAX
ing an almost straight line through this
immense territory to the city of Vladivos-
took. 1t goes through rich gold mines
1t taps vast areas of rich soil, and it will
probably build up an empire in southern
Siberia. The first section of the road Is
at the west. 1t begins in the Ural noun
tains, and there is an army at work build
ing it. The next section is to run from the
town of Omsk on the river Obi, and the
Contractors are also at work here In the
middle Of Siberia there is another army