The herald., 1898-11-04

We look to stirring events In the rar
rost in the near future. These will be
tha 1rst results of the construction OF
the Trans-S Siberian Railway. Since the
commencement of this great work the
center of European political ampltlon
has been transferred from the LeVant
+o tha western shores of the Paclnc.
prussia has had a foothold there since
7S5S The elimination of Murav1ef S
schemes in the annexation OF the
Amur country brought his country
frst upon the spot. The Trans-Slbe-
rian was this great mans dream.
Alexander III. signed the order Tor
Tho building of the road March H. 1881.
Tho idea took definite shape after the
completion of the Ural railway in lSSo
This had its eastern terminus at T1ou-
mon and was built on account OF the
rich iron and gold mines of the Ural
To the end the great project had Its
bitter opponents. The scheme was TOO
vast for even some of the great mlnos
of the empire. Some different plans
were proposed. The most interesting
made use of the rivers OF Siberia, ana
A. route was possible requiring only 500
yersts of railroad, but there was con-
siderable canal construction. such a
route would be useless in winter ana
summer on account of ice and drought
and besides not materially reduce the
seven weeks journey from the Ural to
the Pacific, and would but imperfectly
meet the needs of Russia alone. The
railway will change the travel Of the
world. Pekin will be II days from
Paris, and Hong Kong 20 days from
London. Now it is 25 days by the
Suez and 33 by America. Manila will
be 2e days from New York, the shortest
route. The earth may be girdled in half
the time of Jules Verne's hero, not SO
many years ago. The total expense of
a first-class passage from London to
any point in the far Orient will be less
than $2OO-about half the present
rates.
The line that is now rapidly nearing
completion varies in two respects from
that originally plotted, and one of these
changes is of the greatest Importance
politically and economically. This is
the short cut through Manchuria,
which will be discussed later. The
other change is the adoption of the
plan of ferrying trains across Lake
Baikal, instead of circuiting the SOUTH
ern end. The successful use of great
train ferryboats by the Toledo, Ann
Arbor and Northern and other rail-
road companies on Lake Michigan has
determined the Russia engineers to
employ them on the largest fresh water
body in Asia. The conditions appear
to be somewhat easier on Lake Baikal.
The distance across is but forty miles,
against seventy-two on the American
lake. Ice is a difficult factor only in
the month of January, but it is be-
lieved that the crossing of these boats
twice in the twenty-four hours will
keep an open lane, and that the use of
water ballast, as on the Michigan
ferryboats, will keep the boats steady
in the most violent of the sudden
storms to which the Baikal is subject.
The most annoying factor is the dense
fogs that prevail from midsummer to
the time of freezing, but with all this
an estimated saving of SS,000000 in the
cost of the road has led to the adop-
ton of the ferryboats, which will be
huge affairs-over 800 feet long and so
broad, of 1000 tons displacement with
a speed in clear water of 1876 knots
of which the Lake Michigan boats will
be the prototype.
The Trans-Siberian has its western