The Washington times., 1901-07-28
RAILROADS IN JAPAN.
An Engineers Talk About Their
Development in Twenty Years.

s. Sugiura. of Tokyo. Japan, is on a
visit of inspection TO the local railway
shops. His visit to St Paul will complete
seven months tour of the principal rail-
way centres of the United States and
Europe.
Mr.. Sugiura, though only thirty years
old, is the chief engineer of the largest
railway system in Japan. he goes back
to his home delighted with American rail-
roads and thoroughly converted to Amer
lean methods. He said last night: .sThe
American railroads are in point of equip
ment vastly superior to the European
roads. Your passenger trains are superb
and so thoroughly typical of the great
wealth of your country"
Continuing, Mr.. Sugiura said American
equipment and American methods are
rapidly supplanting the European meth
DDS first introduced on Japanese railroads.
Until about six years ago almost all of
the rails and locomotives on the Japanese
roads came from England; now the rails
come from the United States Two Amer
lean firms have monopoIized the locomo-
tive business, and the American passen-
ger coach is rapidly taking the place of
the English compartment carriage
The English and German engineers. who
at first built all the. railroads in japan.
have been replaced by native engineers,
who were educated in the Emitted States,
or in the National University. where
American methods are taught. and at
present the only European engineers en-
gagged in Japanese railroad construction
are those employed by the Government
on the construction of a yiaduct for
street railway in Tokyo. Japan has a
al - nE1
Twenty-Five per cent of his mileage has
been constructed within six years, and
Mr.. Sugiura says that within the next
six years 1000 miles more will be in oper-
alton.
The first line was built twenty-nine
years ago. 1t was only twenty miles long,
connecting Tokyo and Yokohama. 1t was
built by English capital, and the material.
and even some of the laborers, came from
England. Since the war with China, ia
pan has built her own railroads The
roads are all narrow gauge, the Govern
ment fixing feet inches as the stand
ard. and controlling, through the licenses
Issued, both passenger and freight rates
The passenger service is divided into
three classes. For the first class, used
only by the nobility and tourists the rate
Is ~ cents per mile. The middle classes
travel second class and pay 1L cents per
mile, and the third-class refe is :. cents
per mil=. The service is good and the
speed of the trains is gradually Increased
each year The principal trains are now
making an average of twenty-five miles
per hour, including stops.
Railroad building of the future In Japan,
Mr. SuSiura says, will involve some great
engineering feats. The present lines are
built along the coast and must be con-
nected by lines extending across the
mountains of the interior Mr.. Sugiura
said last night although his company
pays an annual dividend of 10 per cent on
a capitalization Of 81. .o0o. 900, the coastruc-
tion of the connecting lines Is considered
to be too expensive to make them profit
able. and they will be left for the Gov
ernment to build
The japanese Government has opened
a large steel works with the hope OF
manufacturing its own rails and engines
within the next six years. Both the ma
ttonal universities teach engineering, and
from each graduating class the Govern-
ment sends about twenty students to
America to complete their education and
to assimilafe American ideaa.-St. Paul
Pioneer-Press.