The sun., 1896-01-26
BY RAIL TO ST. PETERSBURG
BARRING 4 - HOURS, FERRY
ACROSS BEHRING SEA.
1.ssis's Great 10000 Milo Railrosa and
What One OF tho Engineers Says OF q
Connecting Lilac Through Alaska

Connecting Lilac Through Aiasha
From the scdtfie Pos. IntelNoenoer.
DR.. l.. w. Hoenock, who registers as from
Paris. France, Is tho chief engineer of ono OF
tho divisions Of Russia's great railroad, return.
ng TO his point Of duty from visit TO his moth.
or In the gay French capital. Speaking Of this
greatest railroad In the world. of which he IL
chief engineer OF tho line from Irkutsch to
vladivostock. he gave these particulars;
Tho total length of the linc," he said. ia
9.s84 miles" and then he paused with a sra-
cious smile for the reporter TO recover his
breath. 1T Is going to be built in five diyis-
ions. and each division will be built from each
end Of the line oo as to complete II as early as
possible. Tho distance have mentioned IN
from Vladivostock to the Ural Mountains, and
then We have n line Of 200 miles over the noun.
tains. This will run from Yekathrinburr a,
the point on tho Asiatic side to Nicholasky on
tho European side. We cross tho mountain.
at height of about 12,5OO feet. or few feet
higher or lower. and we shall have no tunnel,
but winding escents, such as you have at Lead.
Vile and elsewhere. At Nicholasky We shall
have connections with the present railroad
running to Moscow and st. Petersburg"
And is there enough business for such an
immense .nterprise7"
'what an American idea. This IL built a. Q
great strategic line to bring Russia near TO the
centre of tho Asiatio powers and right at the
doors of India. When tho main limo is IN.
ished NO will build feeders. Tho Russian
Government now has an understanding with
the Persian Government TO run q limo 10 Her.
at We will have another branch line running
into Afghanistan over tho Thibet Noun untAins
A third limo will 60 into Bolooohistan, between
Afghanistan and Persia. In short, a. said,
when these are completed wo shall be In the
centre Of these Asiatio dominions, and India
will be at our mercy"
"what is England's attitude toward this On
croachment2"
please don't ask mo anything political I
may not answer you. am an engineer. the
only foreign engineer on the work. and Of that
cannot speak. Tho scientific and the more
important work on the line is done by three
men who have been sent specially from tho
nei9hborhood OF the Don and the Dnieper, tho
province of the Don Cossacks. while the com.
mon work Is done by convicts under the guard
Of soldiers. We ballast tho line partly BY
wood and partly by gravel
What Is the approximate cost OF tho whole
II cannot Judge Of that. Tho cost is no OBJ.
e TIM
line is not built for commerce alone commerce
Is only secondary; the military features come
sion In Asia The whole line Is being built in
the most substantial manner. and is from point
incident about the plan of the first Russian
railroad2 Several engineers laid before En-.
ff pt the present. Car plans for railroad between
those two points, all of them by different routes
according to the different ideas of the difficult
pencil and said Here's Moscow. here's st.
and draTnS sir1sht 9 line from
Well, the present Emperor has adopted much
the same syste-l. running the line practically
straight from one strategic point TO another.
that the Russian Government is building sew.
eral merchantmen TO ply between Nladivostock
and some port in Alaska. We are now build.
more are to be built at Cronstadt; they will
all be finished within year OF 30. 1t is not
@ Ss maa ss x g. IS 70
a railroad to some point north Of Alaska. and
wherever it makes Its terminus. that We shall
make our port"
"But that is simply proposition. isn't It,
to run a railroad across the islands Of Behrin6
Sea to connect with Russian railway"
part Of the grand strategic plan. and il is be-
Ing carried out by an M understanding between cen
build I the line north of sitks the Bshrna
po!n: mako connections with those ships Rus
la 10 Viadivostock in twenty-four hours.
This will bring the two coun tries very near
t8sre Might be an alliance soe day
our old enemy. England. At least. hope so;
Butt But don't don ,,: kn1w: and as before remarkcd'l
Later on it was ascertained from other
sources that one OF the important lines de-
scribed by Or. Hoencck as feeders was TO be
constructed by Seattle capital. The main line,
described. Is being done by the Government,
but the branches are being let TO contractors
business men Of this city has secured one OF
these. and the syndicate claims to have for It's
object not only the prosecution OF The enter
patriotic one of opening up a new market Of
75,o000oO consumers for Seattle products