New-York tribune., 1898-11-27
A RAILROAD nv ASIA MINOR.
THE PLANS OF A GREAT SYNDICATE IL
CONNECT THE NETHERLANDS WITH
THE PERSIAN GULF.

THE PERSIAN
| The 81. Petersburg correspondent or the
"Bcrlircr Tageblatt" writes TO that paper OF 'ie
/ new railroad system Of Asia Minor, syria an"
! Mesopotama. which. he declares 10 oes'"eu "
he Of the highest Importance to German interests
in those countries. The completion OF sue"
railroad system Is work Of comparatively
short time. Within few decades the Meu'er-
ranean Sea will be connected by rail- with inc
Persian Gulf: Mesopotamia will have Nne
Trans Caucssia Persia and Possibly India VIII be
connected with the system. Germany. by build
ing the Anatolian Railroad. made a beginning In
the economic development OF Asia Minor. ana
II ia considered OF great importar ce that Ger
man enterprise should follow out the lead mus
made; and for this reason, says the correspond
ont German entreprencnrs should carefuiN
consider the grand project which the huss'a'
Count Kapnist is AT work on with the assistance
NJ English and French capital. and which. II Is
expected will make Asiatic Turkey economcaiiY
completely dependent on this mighty syndicate
II the plan Is carried out in its entirety the
German prospectors in Asia Minor might AS wei
pack up and go home because the Engnsh'
French and Russians will have routed them
completely.
The starting point OF this great synd'cates
road on the Mediterranean Sea Is IrlpoH OF
Tarabulus. in Asia Minor. not Alexendretta OF
Beirut az IN the case Of certain previous proJ-
ects The harbor OF Trlpo according TO the
renorts Of the engineers. is capable OF pe'"s
made with small outlay. a superb maven ioi
almost any number Of ships Of the heaviest
tonnage Tr,poli also has the advantage oi
being situated on the great caravan route 10 the
Euphrates From TripolI the railroad VIII run
along the coast Of the Mediterranean to the
% tba ar{,a Ma oh q
stream and over the Lebanon Mountains, reach-
inc an elevation Of two thousand feet, TO the
c,.v q, HONS situated on a basaltic plateau:
thence through the steppe past Palmyra anu
Reheh 70 the Euphrates through the Nailey oi
the Funhrates to FL Kahn. and from there
through the plain Of Mesopotamia to fit, "here
II vy,u cross the Euphrates and Will run 10
Iskandrie
Here ii Is planned to have Junction:
northern line is to diverge 10 Bagdad ana 10
Hanilin on the Persian boundary. while sou'h-
crn branch will run to Kerbet ana Nedchei' '"e
holv cities OF the Schiltes. The main line VIII
continue from Iskandrit down TO the lever Oh
Kurna a. the confluence of the Tigris and the
Euphrates. where 1t will again Gloss the Eu-
nhrates and run along the Schat-el-Arap 10
Busra thence in a semi-circle along the coast
OF the Persian Gulf to Kuet. which place Is CON
sidered the best harbor on the Gulf ana can Oe
Transformed into new emporium OF raut'
Tho entire length OF the main line Will be
about SO miles OF the northern branch ABOUT
1o5 miles and Of the southern about 80. so that
the entire railroad will include about loo miles
of track.
Their, are no special engineering difhculties 10
he overcome in building this road. The regular
sneed of passenger trains is expected 10 be ABOUT
Will
sihla 70 90 from the Mediterranean Sea to the
Persian Calf in a day. The cost is estimated at
ebout 80 1S2 OOO in which the cost of building
The annroaches at the harbors dredging them.
etc is included The annual gross receipts are
expected to reach f1Goo0N and the net re-
CENTS fSSOOO0 Receipts from the ports OF
rrinol and Kuet are not included in these hg-
ures.
Count Kapnst's syndicate IS enceavoring 70
obtain in addition the concessions for five other
railroads in Syrian -Mosopotaman territory also
the exclusive rights TO exploit the minerals in
the territory tapped by the railroads. the
greatest profits however. are expected from the
privilege which the syndicate is also working to
secure Of draining and irrigating the land in
the Tigris- Euphrates basin.
There is already a concession in Russian hands
for a Persian railroad to run from the Russian
boundary. through Teheran and Hamadan, not
far from Hankn the terminus Of the northern
branch OF the Kapnist syndicates line so that
there would naturally and easily be a connec-
ton made with the railway system Of Russia
and Bagdad and all Mesopoamia would soon
be in close relations with Tlfis.