The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-08-15
THE RAILWAYS OF CHINA.
Roads which Might Be Used by the
Allied Forces.

| line from Pekin to Niuchwang which IN ght
be utilized by the allied forces as an al
/ tentative route to the Chinese capital.
using Shan Hal Kwan instead Of Tientsin
as the base Of operations. The letter is as
| follows:
by the courtesy and kindness of the
officials of the imperial Chinese railways,
have recently been able TO make an inter-
esting journey over the whole system, from
Pekin right through 10 Niuchwang and
back. The main thing which struck me
during the whole of the journey was the
splendidly efficient manner in which every
| thing is being managed. The whole line
is. of course, so far as its practical working
| is concerned. under the supreme control of
Mr.. Kinder. the engineer-in-chi assisted
| by a carefully selected foreign stan. 1t is
| a fine tribute to the efficiency of the staff
to say that, in spite Of the difficulty Of
! properly training the Chinese staff and
| other manifold difficulties inseparable from
| such enterprises in China. there has been
only one really serious accident to train
| since the North China railways were first
I opened.
In all departments the management and
working show extremely good results. re-
! suits that will compare very favoIably in
| deed with similar undertakings in any
| other part OF the world. For instance, the
| bridge works at Shan Hai-Kuan can and
| do construct all the bridges needed for the
new extensions to Niuchwang and S.n
Ming-Ting, and do it much quicker than
| such work is ordinarily done in England.
| The bridge work for the section of the
Luhan line, recently opened TO traffic was
all done at Shan HaiKran and the works
were turning 1t out at the rate of 200-fe= t
| double track spans in month. The whole
| OF the spans for the Lukou bridge, twenty
seven in number and most of them hun
| dred feet long, were turned out in slightly
over eleven months. The works sIe under
the control of W. Howard. an Englishman.
| The traffic department is also deserving of
| word of praise.
| People who have never seen tirv-ssSS.,.-
csc workman to knew him can have very
| little idea how ineffabiy stupid he can
| really be when he lays himself out for It.
AS an example of their thickheadedness
i and the extreme difficulty of getting them
to understand any innovations. | was told
\ by Mr.. Foley. the traffic manager. that
| when the double line from Pekin to Tien-
| tsin was opened it took long time to
drive an understanding Of the difference
| of working between single and double.
| track line into the heads OF the Chimes.
| staff. II was almost impossible to con-
vince them that the one line was meant
| for the up and the other for the down
| traffic, the prevailing idea being that the
| old track was meant for the conveyance
of the common herd while the new one
was to be reserved for high officials and
such like.
THE single line had always been worked
| by the electric staff system. ensuring that
only one train could be on the same sec
| ton of line at time. but the opening
OF the double line of course did away with
the necessity for this and it is now work
ed by semaphore signals alone. This was
a mattr which che native guards and
| drivers could not be brought to under
stand for a long time. and in several in
| stances the driver Of a train absolutely
| refused to leave station until the staff
had been handed to him. and this in spite
| of most lucid written and verbal instruc-
| tons in the new system. Then. OF course,
| the whole traffic of the line would be de-
ranged until a responsible foreign official
| could arrive on the scene and induce the
man to start his train. At the outset
| there was in one or two instances some
| little difficulty in persuading the drivers
that ii might be ineonvenient to use the
up-line for down traffic. But by the ex-
ercise of a good deal Of patience and tact
| these initial difficulties have been over
| come, and the line is worked as efficiently
| and safely as any railway in the world.
| Travelling on the Niuchwang extension
| is necessarily somewhat slow for the pres
| ent, and it takes something like forty
eight or fifty hours to get through from
| Tientsin to Niuchwang distance of some
400 miles. but even this slow rate of tray-
| cling is not bad for a line which is under
construction for the greater part of its
| length.
| THE roadbed right through is exceeding
| ly well made, and where the line is fin
ished and ballasted the travelling is very
| smooth and comfortable at any speed. The
! road is now open to regular traffic as far
as Kinchou. 2S7 miles from Tientsin. but
! through traffic at Niuchwang is carried on.
| Wheh the rainy season sets in, however.
| in month or six weeks time, the traffic
will certainly suffer good deal of inter-
| ruption. especially at the crossing OF the
| Sha-ling No. some five miles from Kim
| chou, where the permanent bridge is rot
| yet completed. and traffic is taken acrGss
the river by deviation This will have
20 be removed before the floods. which are
very severe at that place, come down.
| ut is perfect mystery where all the
| passengers come from. On sections of the
line. which apparently run from nowhere
to nowhere. the trains are simply packed
with a seething mass OF Celestial hu-
mainly. From Koup antze, the junction
| between the Niuchwang and Sin Ming
| Ting branches, to Shan Hai-Kuan there
must have been something like l 800 ma
tive passengers on the train. and l was
| assured that this was nothing extraordi-
nary. The goods traffic appears to promise
equally we'll The line taps the great Nlu
chwang grain and bean growing districts.
| which supply almost the whole export
| trade OF Niuchwang, and will of necessity
| get a large share of the carriage of these
| products. which at present are brought
down to the port in small boats, slow
| and tedious method of transport.
While at Niuohwang l visited the ter
| minus Of the Chinese Eastern Railway.
| which is b ing constructed by the Russians.
| The work of construction appears to be
| being pushed on with all possible speed
| The railway works Were as active as a
| beehive. numbers OF passenger and
other rolling stock were being built with
| every appearance of haste. One thing
| that particularly struck me was the fact
| that most OF what are described as passsu-
| ger cars are peculiarly suited for troop
| traffic. in fact seem to have been specially
| built for that purpose. l also noticed
several cars fitted as ambulance wagons.
| with the Geneva Cross conspicuously
| painted on the outside. The locomotives
| are of heavy American type, all COM
| pound and adapted for the use of either
wood OF coal as fuel.
| the terminus locally called Russian
] town covers an area of three square
| miles. an area much in excess of any pres
| ent or future requirements.
THE Niuchwang people are quite con-
WINGED that the whole OF the country down
| to the great wall must ultimately fall
! into the hands of Russia, and from the
1 1raWtrr