Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1900-01-25

what it is at the present time Some
are OF the opinion that II VIII De very
uncomfortable to sit in the car Tor Two
whole weeks, but everything that can
add to the comfort and welfare OF the
passengers win be provided in the spe-
cial Siberian trains that will leave
Paris weekly. These trains VIII D.
styled extra far east. There will be
library, dining, bathing, and gymnasl-
um cars. Certainly, travelling with
such comforts ought not TO be more te-
dious than a long voyage by sea. AS
for transportation of freight, the cost
Of transportation is more impoi AL
than the time it takes. In this re-
spect, the Siberian railroad VIII not be
able to compete with the sea- In 1897
the cost of transporting freight from
Shanghai to London was Alb francs
($912) per ton, In February, 1898, the
understanding between the steamship
companies was broken up, and the tar
if fell TO % francs $3.50. Although
such low rates for transportation can
not continue long, and even II II
reaches the normal sum of ~ francs
(S7.72) per ton, the Siberian rallroad
will not be able 70 attract to itself the
freight-carriage trade, for in order to
do so it will have TO take not more
than one-four hundredth Of c0peck
per pood for each yerst, and with such
a tariff no railroad can cover It's run
ming expenses. Thus we cannot expect
to have the freight-carrying trade be-
tween China and western Europe, but
the trade the Siberian railroad Will de-
yelop between China and Russia is
quite another thing. OF the total sum
of Chinese foreign trade, amounting TO
1,375, 900 900 francs 1926, 375 ,000), Rus
STA has per cent; the Siberian rail-
road will undoubtedly increase this
proportion For the rest of Europe,
the Siberian line will be of great i'm
portance as a means of quick and
cheap passenger and mail communica-
ton between the different points of the
old and new world, which alone is suf-
ficicnt to make it play a great role in
international affairs"
The Sibersk Iostok also crticises
severely the cheap construction on
certain parts of the line saying:
I'm the haste of construction and the
anxiety to get everything cheap, on
both the Siberian and the Trans-Baikal
lines a special kind of light rails,
weighing II pounds to the foot, instead
of the usual "a pounds to the foot, was
used Wooden bridges were built
wherever it was possible and crossings
were made far apart Under such con-
ditions quick travelling on the road is
almost an impossibility, and more than
twenty miles an hour cannot be made.
Only one passenger and two freight
trains a day are run. To add to the
danger they have put on the line one
of the heaviest engines in existence
the compound system. The light
weight rails, the steep inclines, and the
high gradings combined make travel
ing risky. On steep inclines, the COM
pound runs at a rate of fifty versts
(thirty-three miles, an hour, turning
the rails out, and there is no way of
stopping it. At the station of Polovl-
noy eleven cars were thus destroyed
In such a condition do we find the ST.
berian railroad at the present time
Fast travelling is impossible, as the
rails are too light while. on the other
hand, slow travelling cannot always be
controlled, as the heavy engines can
not be held back on the inclines. The
committee Of Mintalovski have come to
the conelus',~ +Nat everything must
he reconstructed"