The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-06-08
BUYING MACHINERY HERE.
The Jnpnncse Railroads Sending to
America for E0UTumcnt

America TOT pElfHf-
E. c. Bellows, the United States Con-
SUI General at Yokohama. Japan, has for
warded to the State Department the fol
lowing communication on the subject Of
the railways Of Japan:
In japanese imports of machinery and
locomotive and other engines. the United
States is surpassed only by Great Brit
ain, which continues to receive more than
/ half the money sent out of Japan for
these manufactures while the United
States received a little more than one
( fourth in 1900 and a little less than that
proportion in 1899 The whole amount
, paid nv Japan for this class of manUfac-
lures n 1890 was S5.61E54G, about one-fith
being f0- locomotive engines
The railways Of Japan are of two
classes: Government lines which. at the
! close of 1893, amounted to 1920 miles; and
! private railways. which at the same date
included 2.SO6 miles. The latter are op-
/ Grated under Government charters, which
may be permanent or provisional During
| 1889 permanent charters were granted Tor
( 1862 miles and provisional charters for
| 2GII, miles, showing a decrease in ac-
( tivity Of construction Of over 65 per cent.
/ as compared with 1895 This falling off
/ in building operations is probably due to
| financial circles and 1t Is likely that new
| enterprises will be projected with the
| easing Of the money market It has been
| estimated that 1000 miles OF railroad
would not suffice for the needs Of the
/ country. The following statement. sum
| ming up the latest statistics Obtainable,
/ shows the situation at the end of 1893;
| Government dOubIe-traCk lines, 15S
miles; Government sIuEle-tTack lines. SO
| miles: private doubIe-track lines, 81
miles; private single-track lines. 2,12
miles; total, 3.6S3 miles. Besides this,
! there were roads not yet opened for traf-
/ fic, but for which charters had been OBJ
/ tanned, as follows: Government lines,
go miles; private lines, ., 4S3 miles; total,
| BIB miles
For constructing these lines the Gov
| eminent has paid out on lines already
/ opened for traffic S34,7O9, f65, or an average
! cost of SiI67G89 per mile. The paid-up
! capital of the private companies amount
| ed to SS6, SO, 5S7, making an average cost
| of $50, s33 per mile. IN March of this year
! an additional seventeen miles of Govern
ment railway was opened to the public,
/ this being the first Government line in
I Kiusiu. The Government railways are
under the direct supervision OF the Rail
/ way Works Bureau and the HOkkaido
/ Railway Office, while the private railways
J are controlled by various companies I'M
/ der regulations prescribed by the Govern
ment There are 103 of these companies
! Of which 70 have roads open for traffic
/ Is have not entered on practical opera
| tions, and = have PROVISIONAL charters
only
The japanese have taken kindly to the
! railway, and crowds of people enter and
1 aIight from every train coming into the
/ principal stations. The strong feeling OF
I caste which prevails makes 1t necessary
| to furnish first. second, and third class
/ cars on every train and the frst-class
cars are usually subdivided into compart-
! ments. making possible a degree of pri-
vaCy unknown to the ordinary traveller
/ in America: but even the f!rst-cIass cars
! are less luxurious in their Furnishings
than the common cars on most of the
/ poorer roads in the United States. Sleep
ing cars have been introduced during the
/ past year on the Government line between
/ Tokyo and Kobe. and are eagerly patron
lied and profitable. The charge for a
/ berth is $. in addition 20 a frst-class
ticket Dining cars are being constructed
I a japanese expert EIr- Kyuichi Muir
dEdInl VINO has lately Travelled in the
ieaclES countries Of the world to study
thelr railroad construction and manage
J TneuJ, IS reported to have said that the
! tinted states surpassed all other cCun-
( tries IN the equipment of its roads IL e.
cry respect, out ne objected TO American
locomotives because Of their greater con
I sumption of coal America furnishes more
than tWG-thITdS OF the rails used in japan
having surpassed IN low prices and
Germany. which formerly held this
trade.