Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-04-24
THE BEIRA RAILWAY,
Englnnd's Back Door Route
RhOdesia.


RhOdesia.
From the London Times.
The Beira railway. which is now attract
ing public attention. was the outcome OF an
agreement made between Great Britain and
Portugal on June II. 1891, mainly for the
purpose of fixing the respective frontiers
following on the taking over of Lobengula's
territories by the British South Africa Com
Pany, though the final arrangements re-
Specting these frontier questions Were not
made until a later date. Under the agree
raent In question the Portuguese govern
E1ent undertook. among other things, the
construction of a line of railway which
would connect Rhodesia with the sea, at
Beira, and it further guaranteed not to
impose any transit duty on goods higher
than three per cent The original conces-
sion was granted the Mozambique Company;
but eventually 1t was transferred through
Mr.. H. T. Laun. to the Beira Railway
Company. which was registered In London
in July, 1892, with debenture capital only.
The line from Beira to the Portuguese from
tier was constructed in sections, and when,
in July. 1886 the Mashonaland Field Force
passed this way, they Were able to use the
sections lying between Fontesvilla which Is
fGrty-f1ve miles I'D the River Pungwe, to
Chimoio. a distance of $50 miles from Beira-
The complete line up to New Jmtali. the
frontier then fixed upon. was finished
by July. 1898. The total length of the
Betra line is 203 miles, a greater distance
than was originally contemplated, partly
because the boundary between the British
and the Portuguese spheres of influence
had. in the meantime, been moved seven
teen miles westward, and partly because of
the detouTs which had to be made owing
to the billy nature of the country. Thus
between Fontesvilla and ChimoiO the dis
lance. the crow flies, Is seventy-fve
miles. but the line winds 40, while 1t rises
steadily from Beira until at Umtali 1t
reaches an elevation of $40 feet. In the
circumstances it is not surprising that the
average rate of speed for passenger trains
| is only twelve miles an hour, and for goods
| trains ten miles hour. The complete
| journey from Beira to Umtali generally
| takes two days. night being spent at a
stopping place en- route
| AT CmtaI the line connects with that of
| the Mashonaland Railway Company. which
| runs thence to Salisbury, the capital D
| RhOdesia. a distance of about 10 miles.
! This Cntali-Saiisbury line was construct
| ed under contract with the British South
| Africa Company, which guaranteed the
| payment of interest on the debentures.
| The raison d'etre of the whole line from
| Salisbury to Beira is, of course, the deve-
| Opnent of RhOdesia, which thus gets a
| 3i3-mile railway journey to the sea on the
| east coast as an alternative to the 1850
| miles from Bulawayo TO Cape Town on the
| south Eventually the Cape railway. which
| now has its terminus at Bulawayo will be
| extended via GWelo to meet the line at Sal
| isbury. and Cape Town will then be in di-
| rect railway communication with Beira, a
| total length of 1900 miles of continuous
| railway being available for this purpose.
AT the present moment, however, there Is
| no railway between Salisbury and BuIa-
| wayo, a distance of $50 miles, and the or
| binary traveller proceeding from the one
| which accomplishes the journey in five days
| and costs az. or by bullock wagon, which
| is both slower and cheaper. The Beira-
| Cmtali line was originally constructed on
/ n BIO -,
| ing the wheels to about the same extent
| on each side. The Umtali- Salisbury line,
| however. was made on the three:foot six
| inch standard Of the Cape railway system
| and the Beira railway Is now being relaid.
| so that it now corresponds with the same
| standard. with the exception of some sixty
miles. thus avoiding the delay. inconven-
| fence and expense of transshipment. Good
| progress has already been made with this
| work, but without any interruption in the
| service. the only difference until the trans
formation has been completed. being that
the change from the one system to the
| other Is now made before Umtali is
| reached
] The influx into Beira of the considera-
I Bile body of troops who will form Sir Fred
| erick Carrington's force will naturally tax
| the resources Of comparatively new line,
which has hitherto been used mainly for
| the conveyance of goods But the ReIra
company has forty-eight engines available
| the rolling stock IS constantly being in
| creased. and, though the present supply CT
| orulhdry railway carriages Is limited. there
| Is an abundance Of trucks, which. with a
| covering to protect against the sun, seem
| 10 be preferred by the average soldier in
| his journeys across country to the ordinary
| railway carriage. and would no doubt be
| especially preferred to the diminutive car
| rtages still run on the two-foot section OF
the Beira line. The only difficulty that is
anticipated is n respect to the conveyance
of horses. but there Is a certain number
| of horse boxes available, and there are also
some covered-in goods trucks. which Nigh,
be adapted for the purpose Happily. too
the line is under the charge of an agent
Mr. A. L. Lawley, who possesses indomi-
table energy and resource. and 1t Is regard.
ed as certain that from his headquarters
at Beira he will do everything that is phys.
ically possible to facilitate the TRANSPORT
of the troops and their belongings