Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-04-06

and obey you," said Colonel Peter Odwo-
ski, the Russian officer in command at
Sien-Hwa, you must forget that he is a
man, and kill him as you would an animal.
If the nations followed the methods of my
government there would be no Chinese
problem. 1t would be settled. and in the
right way
/ am inclined to believe that the colonel
is right in one respect: Let the other ma
lions take Russia as an example in the
matter of dealing with China, and there
would be no Chinese probiem-nor China
man, either.
1 left Sien-Hwa with the assurance from
Captain Turgeon of the French mail
train" that upon my return from Bulan,
which was my original destination, pro-
viding / did not ovefstay the stipulated
two weeks, should find him preparing for
a return of the detachment under his COM
mand to Pekin. Candidly, / do not believe
him. Not that the French officer would
deliberately depart from the truth, for
regard him as a thorough and refined gen.
tleman, but from what l have learned since
reaching st. Khasata, that French detach-
ment is not intended to return to Pekin,
at least for some time. More than this,
there are other French attachments of
cavalry, artillery and infantry, which will
be sent out fromtime to time as escorts
for precious mails-official communications
from the Russian and French embassies in
Pekin to the Russian and French armies
that are congregating in western Manchu-
withdrawing their troops from China
promises to be a most convenient one for
the powers concerned. In the meantime
things will remain quiet in Pekin and the
grave and learned diplomats of many ma
lions will fix up the Chinese question
in their minds
Say what you please, after crossing the
ALASKAN range of mountains. skirted. on
their southern edge by the headwaters of
the great Hoangho, you have entered terri
tory which, even though not recognized as
Russian on the maps, is certainly con-
trolled by the minions of the ST. Petersburg
car. When you have reached the summit
of this wild range, coming up the almost
impossible road from Chantai. on the
southern side, you have entered the SEEM
ingly fmitless region of Mongolia. Mon
golla is not in what is termed China proper,
or the middle kingdom but is a depend
ency of that great empire which today
finds itself the bait for an international
nibble. In extent it would make several
states like Texas, and in population it is
estimated to exceed that of Great Britain
and Ireland. For hundreds of miles along
its northern border runs the Trans-Siberian
railway, the iron grip of the bear on the
continent of Asia. On it's eastern frontier
is Manchur1a, also dependency of the
Manchu dynasty, but as tightly in the
clench of the Russian as is the shrine of
st. Sophia. And here in st. Khasata is the
northern end in the first link of the mill
tary chain that reaches from the very Rus
sian embassy at Pekin to Lake Baikal, in
south Siberia.
Between Sien-Hwa and this rugged and
picturesque mountain town Russian out
posts and patrols We're met with frequent
ly. AT night the train. which was carrying
stores and provisions brought by the French
mail, was halted in the jaw-breaking
fashion peculiar to Muscovite sentries BY
daylight We were seldom out of view of
the Russian flag. The road, even over and
through the mountain range, was in a re-
gion thickly populated, and scores of vii
hn T10rA 80
near at hand We're like the towns and cit
les beyond the Hoangho-deserted But the
more distant ones teemed with thousands
OF natives, bundled up In fur and heavy
matclOth against the cold.
Just after completing the descent of the
range our party was attacked from the
wooded foothills, at long range, by rifle
lire. Thanking parties of horsemen were
Immediately sent out and each changed
direction to the right and left riding into
the tall timber which, In it's winter green
ness, clothed the towering peaks, as well
as the lower tablelands and foothills, in
pursuit of the now heeing Cinnamon With
but three or four men wounded, and none
of them seriously, the horsemen rejoined
the column later in the day, bringing with
them a number of queues as trophies of
the chase. Lieutenant BeIenberg a Ger
man in the Russian service, and as fero-
c1ous-looklng specimen of mankind as one
wouIo care to meet on Broadway-iet alone
the wilds of Mongolia-had dangling from
his horses cinch strap the CORY head of
Mongol.
1T will make a pretty ornament for the
next village. gate post" said Belenberg.
with grin that attempted to be humorous,
but which was anything else.
But Belenberg was a man of information.
Cashfered from the Prussian army IN 1890
and presenting himself at St Petersburg
his talents We're recognized, and he was
soon laying out roads along the route of
the Siberian railway.
Russia's Great Projects.
THE Siberian railway is not the only
great project of the government in Asia"
said Belenberg to me, as rode along.
Another great trunk line is actually being
built-a direct link between interior China
and Russian territory. This line will run
from Samarkand to Hankow, via Chod-
schend, Margitan, and through one of the
Pamirs. 1t will be necessary to drive
tunnel through the Kashgar mountains
From Kashgar, which is the center of the
transit trade between East Turkestan and
Russian Central Asia, the railway will
either pass through the broad Tarim valley
or go in southeastern direction to Chatan
on to Tschortschen and Tschorjo1yk at the
Lobnor lake. From there the line will have
to be carried through one of the passes in
the Allyn mountains to the Tsaidam pla-
teau, along the Semenow mountains past
the kuku Nor lake to the Hoangho valley
and the town Of Lanchou, which is the
capital of the province Of Kansu, which
From Lanchou it is proposed to carry the
railway through the towns of Fenghsiang,
Hishiang and Hsiangan to the province of
Shensf with 100000 inhabitants From
this province the railway Is to proceed
through the Hankiang river valley to Han
kow. a center of inland Chinese trade
Hankow has steamer connection with the
rich province of Szechuan, which has a
population of 100000.
Who can say" concluded Belenberg
that in five years from now my govern
ment will not control as completely as 1t
does the Ura1 region the vast territories of
East Turkestan, Jungaria and Mongolia +?
The other nations powerless to oppose
this undertaking of the car. What does
he care for Pekin or the spheres of nfiu-
ence in the coast provinces when he con-
trolls two-thirds of the Chinese empire?"
In his quarters here in st. Khasata
Lieutenant Belenberg exhibited charts of
Manchuria and Mongolia. upon which were
indicated the various military posts of the