The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-08-07

to be started on the Baikal, which,
though under 200 miles long. is expect
ed to take four years to finish. The
West Siberian is open throughout; the
Middle Siberian is open to Mini Udinsk
and will soon be running trains into
Irkutsk. The Amur line is rather hang
ing fire, owing to the much more prom
Using route afforded by the Trans-Man-
churian, but the Ussuri section, as al
ready stated, has been in working or
der for some time. and, short as it may
appear On the map. ii exceeds 40 miles
in length.
Its outfit. like that of the other east
ern 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 and road, there is also an in
crease in the rate Of construction. but
in a less degree; here branch lines We're
made connecting with the foundries in
the Urals. 80 hat the steel and iron re-
quired could be easily got onto the new
road, and In man where ma
terial had to be brought up by steamer,
wharves were built by the rivers, ana
branch lines run to them.
In 1895 there were 81. 900 men EN-
ployed on the line, of whom nearly 81
900 were navvies, but more were really
at work for il. For instance. the minis
ter of agriculture has to supply and
deliver free the timber that may be re-
quired. and the amount of this is con-
siderable: for, strange as il may seem,
all the sleepers have been sawed out by
hand, thus making much waste, the log
being rested on two props, with n
man standing on IL while another pulls
the saw down To him below.
Many other primitive arrangements
ave been, OF necessity, adopted. In
driving piles, for example. the pile
driver Is in many cases a lofty tripod
with a pulley through which run a
rope. with at one end a wheel and at
the other a fiat stone, that is dropped
on to the pile e as IL il We're a
monkey. only there are no grooves and
no catch. The barrows, too, are often
without wheels, being merely pushed
along a 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 SHOW
els, 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 Il
per cent. of clay. The sleepers are
much squarer than Americans are ac-
customed to. and thicker, and have the
biodu bdstu rams spihtu DOWN on 10
them. This necessitates the sIeepers
being at equal intervals and closer to-
gether than ordinarily. so that great
lengths OF rail ave TO be prised up to-
gether TO make good the ballast where
II may have sunk or been washed away.
The line is a single one at present, but
II is intended to double IL In time. On
the banks the earthworks are is feet
wide, in the cuttings they are IL feet
s inches. The ballast is 10 inches deep.
and the rails weigh Is or IS pounds to
the foot-a very light line to what we
are accustomed to in this country.
and which will have TO be replaced by
a heavier one II the trains are to be run
at any speed.
As the Dad was made the bridges
were built last, and the trains were
worked in the different sections. the
passengers being ferried across the riv-
ers from section to section in the sum-
mer and carried in trains across the
ice in winter. On this principle IL Is
expected that there will be steam com
munication all along the route some
time during 1900. the intention being 10
travel to Irkutsk by rail and on by the
short line 10 Listvinitchna on Lake