The herald., 1898-08-07

Its outfit, like that of the other eastern
sections had to be brought by sea and
river; hence, as the rails are laid the rate
Of construction increases. On the west
where the plant was delivered by rail ard
road, there is also an increase in the rate
Of construction, but in a less degree; here
branch lines were made connecting with
the foundries in the Urals, so that the
steel and iron required could be easily
got on to the new road, and in many in
stances where material had to be brought
up by steamer, wharves We're built by the
rivers and branch lines run TO them.
In 1895 there We're 62 600 men employed on
the line, of whom nearly 1000 were nav
vies, but more were really at work for it
For instance, the minister of agriculture
has to supply and deliver free the timber
that may be required, and the amount of
this is considerable; for, strange as it may
seem, all sleepers have been sawed out by
hand, thus making much waste, the log
being rested on two props with one man
standing on it while another pulls the saw
down to him below
Many other primitive arrangements have
been, Of necessity, adopted. In driving
piles, for example, the piedriver is in many
cases lofty tripod with a pully through
which runs rope, with at one end wheel
and at the other fiat stone that is
dropped onto the pilehead as if it were a
monkey, only there are no grooves and no
catch. The barrows, too, are often without
wheels. being merely pushed along wet
plank. In some of the groups of navvies
the whole evolution of the spade can be
seen, some of the party using long handled
wooden shovels, others having the wooden
blade protected with a strip of tinplate or
sheet iron. and others having an iron
blade
The western road is mostly of sand and
clay, and the ballast consists of IA per cent
of clay. The sleepers are much squarer
than Americans are accustomed to and
thicker, and have the broad-based rails
spiked down on to them. This necessitates
the sleepers being at equal intervals and
closer together than ordinarily, so that
great lengths of rail- have to be pried up
together to make good the ballast where it
may have sunk or been washed away.
The line is single one al present but 1t
is intended to double it in time. On the
banks the earthworks are sixteen feet wide
In the cuttings they are seventeen feet six
Inches. The ballast is ten inches deep and
the rails weigh sixteen or eighteen pound,
TO the foot-a very light line to what we are
accustomed to in this country, and which
will have to be replaced by heavier one
if the trains are to be run at any speed.
AS the road was made the bridges were
built last and the trains were worked in the
different sections the passengers being fer
red across the rivers from section to sec
ton in the summer and carried in trains
across the ice in winter. On this principle
II Is expected that there will be steam COM
munication all along the route some time
during 1900, the intention being to travel to
lrkutsk by rail and on by the short line to
Listvinitchna on Lake Baikal, which will
be crossed by steamer to Lysovskaya,
where the train will be taken again to
Stretensk, whence the steamboat on the
Amur will continue the journey to Khaba-
rocka, and from there the train will COM
plete the trip.
One feature of the line is the number of
large rivers it crosses at right angles. ST.
IBERIA is a land of fine waterways, which of
late years have been much developed
Among the many schemes which led up to
the trans ntall line was that by Ostrov-
ski, which met with much favor. His plan
was to lay railway between Perm and To-
bo,sk, thus uniting the Kama and Irish.
between Tomsk and Krasnoiarsk, thus con-
Meeting the Obi and Yenisei, and between
Omsk and Barnaul, thus joining the Irish
to the Obi In this way he obtained per.
feet network of internal communication by
river and rail; and on his system, though
not exactly in the places he suggested.
much has been done and is being done. An
other work on the same lines, which viii!
have great results, is Funtusov's canal con-
meeting the Ket with the Pass on the para!-
lei of Yenisei. This canal, difficult to
make, but only five miles long, will lead
from the Obi to the Yenisei and open up q
waterway of over 1900 miles, joining Tim
sen with Irkutsk and intersecting the whole
of western Siberia.
Another useful canal has been proposed
by Captain Virgins. whose work in con-
nection with opening up the sea route into
Siberia is well known This canal would cut
through the isthmus of Zalinall opposite
that made across the isthmus.
Captain Virgins is an optimist with re-
gard to Siberia, his preconceived notions of
which were, according to his account. ut
terly fallacious. lie had pictured to him
self a barren, inhospitable climate, unfit
for any human being except the offenders
against the law who were compelled to live
there, and who had necessarily to suffe:
much privation. Instead, he says, II found |
settled communities with municipal govern
ment enjoying every amenty of civilized |
life, some living, not only in expensive lux
ury, but even in eXtravagance"-in fact |
there exists in the towns civilization equal |
to what is to be found in any part of E,u- |
rope.
1t was in 1874 that Captain Virgins started
to open up the Kara sea route. 1t was per- |
ilous voyage toward its close, one long con- |
tinuous battle with ice and tempest. The |
crew were worn out and inevitable disaster |
eemed to threaten them The week ended |
ir gloom. Sunday morning came and there |
was talk of abandoning the attempt; but |
to the Bethel flag of the British and |
Foreign Sailors society he had hoisted, the |
captain summoned the crew to service, and |
after preaching from the text, BE of good |
cheer, it is l, be not afraid" he called for |
volunteers to finish the journey. The whole
crew agreed to go on with him, and the |
Kara sea was entered with the Bethel flag |
lying. Twelve years afterward he made
his wonderful voyage two thousand miles |
up the Yenise to Yenisesk.
An article on Siberia without some refer
ance to the convicts may be unusual, but it
must be enough here to point out that in
one respect the railway will certainly anne
Iiorate their punishment by rendering un-
necessary the wearisome march of thou
,f a n n l,n1i 1i-b-