Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1900-09-15
GREAT RAILWAY ACROSS THE SIBERIAN LAND
MUCH MORE REAL THAN THE GREATLY HERALDED CAPE TO CAIRO ROAD FOR 1T IS ALL
BUT COMPLETED.

The great Cape to Cairo railway is at
the present hardly more than a dream;
the great ~trans-Siberian railroad is al
most an accomplished fact. Within a
few months it will be possible to journey
all the way from Calais, France, to Port
Arthur, on the Pacific coast, on railway
lines alone, with the exception of the
crossing of one Of the Siberian lakes
that of Baikal.
The idea of the trans-Siberian rail-
road originated with the late Car AleX>
ander, who was one of the first en-
perors of Russia to take an Intelligent
interest in his Asiatic possessions. In 1891
the present czar. then czarovitch, was
making a tour of the world, and on his
arrival at Vladivostock received a tele-
gram from his imperial father to remain
there and cut the first sod of what will
be known in the future as the trans
Siberian & Chinese Eastern railway. The
document which was sent commanding
the czarovitch to this great
national undertaking is an interesting
one. 1t reads as follows:
Having now commanded the immedi-
ate construction of a railroad through
the entire length of Siberia. with the
object of connecting those richly en-
dowed provinces of Siberia with the in
ternal network of railways. l command
you to announce such as my will on your
return to Russian territory after having
visited the foreign lands of the east. At
the same time 1 lay upon you the'act of
inaugurating the construction. at the eX-
pense of the crown of the Ussuri section
of the grand Siberian railway at Vladi-
vostock. May your suspicious partici-
patton in the Inauguration of this truly
national work which 1 have undertaken
serve as a fresh witness of my heartfelt
desire to facilitate the relations between
Siberia and the other portions of the en-
pire, and in such wise make known to
this region Which is so dear to my heart.
my l~iveliest care for it's paciic'progress.'
The course of the line as originally sug-
gested was to leave the European sys-
tenn at the Ural mountains, near Chelia-
binsk, then traverse the great Baraba
steppes of Siberia to Tomsk, passing
through Kurgan and Omsk. From Tomsk
a hilly country had to be negotiated,
passing through Krasnoiarsk and Mimi
Udins to Irkutsk.
Close to Irkutsk lies the famous Lake
Baikal. the highest fresh water lake in
the world, which is surrounded by noun
tains of considerable height.
Great difficulties confronted architects
of the railways here, as there was no
possibility of building the railway around
the lake except at tremendous cost, and
involving enormous length of time. 1t
has therefore been decided to abandon
for the nonce the plan of building the
railway around the lake. but to carry
the trains across by special steamers.
These steamers are similar to the ice
breaking boats used in the Baltic sea,
and We're built by a firm of English ship
builders. In the summer they will, OF
course, steam across in the usual way:
but in the winter they will not only carry
the trains, but will also keep the passage
from one side Of the Lake to the other
free from ice.
Having now reached eastern Siberia,
the line will make straight from Street
lnsk and Tchita, whence it would follow
the course of the River Amur, and finally
terminate at Vladivostock.
The wal between China and Japan,
however, had the effect Of greatly alter
Ing the original plans. Russia. ever on
the grab, was successful in obtaining a
concession by which rights she could
build a railway from Tchita, across the
Manchurian plains. to the Pacific coast
at Port Arthur. The concession of the
port to the Muscovite power was one Of
the finest diplomatic strokes Russian
ministers have ever done. Vladivostock
was abandoned as the terminal point of
the railway, and at the present time work
Is being rapidly pushed forward in Nam
churia, in order to complete the section
running to Port Arthur.
The section of the line running across
Chinese territory commences about $50
miles east of Tchita, where it takes a
southeaStefiy course, passing through
Novo T~surukhaitui and <sitsigar to
Hardin. Here is a junction where a
branch line runs direct to Vladivostock,
the main line continuing through Grin
and Moukden to Port Arthur, while an
other branch line is projected from the
main line to Pekin.
The total distance of the line from it's
connection with the European system is
something like 1000 miles, so that the
total distance from London to Port Ar
thur by rail works out at $500 miles.
One of the most remarkable features
about the trans-Siberian railroad is that
there have never been any estimates as
to it's cost The engineers simply say so