The indicator., 1897-09-11

AS 10 passenger traffic, take the cost
and time of the journey from London
TO Shanghai for example. Under pres
ent conditions. by the most popular
route, the time is two days from Lon
don to Brindlsi and from Brindisi to
Shanghai thirty-seven days - forty
nine days in ALL 1t costs first class
$377.5O, or second class S2l2. BY way
of Marseilles 1t takes thirty-6ve days
to Shanghai and costs S3i7.50 for first
class and 1924 for second class by
way of America it takes from thirty
four to thirty-nine days from Liver
pool to Shanghai and the voyage costs
1880 first class.
How will this service be by the ST.
berian route? From London to Wierz-
bolowo there is day and a half of
travel. which costs s35 first class or S25
second class. From Wlerzbolowo by
st. Petersburg. Moscow, Samara, Tsit-
sikour to Vladivostok. G.4i5 miles. IN
fourteen days ttwenty mics an hour.
will cost only s54.5O for first class or
s32.70 second class. 1t will be neces-
sary to add for the extra cost of en-
press trains slG.35 for first class and
$3.50 second class. and sS25 for thir-
teen nights in the sleeping car. From
Vladlvostok by Nagasaki to Shanghai
on the Russian steamboats, or the Jap
anese packet-hoats takes six days fer
the price of $40 first class or S37 in see
ond class. All the journey by this way
from London to Shanghai will thus on
ly last twenty-five days and will only
cost sl5i,1O first class and s1O3. 10 In
second class.
In the price by steamers meals are
included adding then for meals nm
the railroads, sixteen days, S4S for first
class passengers and s24 for those of
the second class, there will he totals
of s2O2 and of S127.75, which is more
than third cheaper than the journey
by the other two ways.
Although as early as 1857 the desir-
ability of opening a way of communi-
cation through Siberia was recognized
and surveys were made with that end
in view, it was not until March of 1891
that the present route and plan of the
great Siberian railway was approved
Two months later on May l2, the
work was formally inaugurated at
Nladivostok under the personal suDcr-
the present czar. Nicholas IL. wheeled
away the first barrowful of earth and
laid the first stone of the mighty work.
The construction of the road was
placed in the hands of Il committee of
which the czar was and is still the
president and the rapid execution of
the colossal project is largely due to
his great interest and enthusiasm.
An army of 10000 men, besides OFF
GERS and engineers has been constantly
employed in good weather on the three
sections into which the work was di-
vided, and they have built an average
Of two miles a day. Considering the
difficulties encountered and. in many
instances. the primitive methods en-
ployed, this is very rapid work.
Every sleeper has been sawed tedi-
ously by hand in old-fashioned saw pits
with one man above and another be-
low In the construction of high en-
bankments the supporting piles have
been driven in by a most primitive
contrivaDcc. This consists of Il giant
wooden tripod over a pulley on top of
which runs rope with heavy fiat
bottomed stone attached. This stone
is raised and dropped en- the pile until
1t is driven into the required distance.
AS this method has been used on each
pile an idea can be obtained of the
immense amount of time and labor
that has been expended on this fea-
ture of the work alone.
II is matter of serious interest to
the United States and the whole world
that Russia is preparing to become
one OF the great maritime powers of
the Pacific. Evidences have long been