Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-03-29
New German Railways.

The Germans are actually building rail-
roads in Shantung. The English and all
other nations, except the Russians are
talking a great deal, bat doing little. The
Germans pushing their railways TO the
coal mines. They have one road going to
Wehsien a walled city 10 miles to the
northward, and the trains are now running
over part of ii. All the supplies and ma
terials of the road come from Germany.
The gauge is the same as ours and the
rails are Of the American pattern. The
ties and bridges are of steel, and the work
is being thoroughly done. The owners are
private citizens, although the German gov
eminent reserves the right TO purchase the
road upon completion.
The completion of the road to Weihslen
will open up some of the biggest coal :ields
of China. The empire is underlaid with
coal, but many of the fields lie far i'm the
interior. The mines Of Shantung are with
in sixty miles of the sea and there are
other mines further west which this road
and its extensions will open up They Will
compete with the Japanese mines and
those at Kaiping i'm North China. The Jap
anese mines are being run to their full
pacity. They are now largely under the
sea and it is expensive to get the coal
out. The haiping mines are quite aeop and
the port at the mouth ofNthe Peiha IS by
no means so good as Kiau-Chau.
How Coal is Mined.
In the Shantung mines the coal lies ear
the surface. Some of the veins are large
and I'm one mine the Chinese have been
turning out a thousand tons per day. So
far no modern mining has been done The
coal has been dug out with picks and car
ried up ladders in rawhide sacks The
Germans will bring in the best % mining
machinery, and with the cheap labor which
is so abundant in Shantung they cannot
but make great profit.
Coal is one of the chief commodities OF
trans-Pacifc trade. There are a vast huln-
Der of steamers which must be supplied,
and at present coal is brought from Eng
land and Australia as wen rs from Hhlna.
indeed, ii is said the Australian coal feet
is one of the largest of the Pacific. At
the same time factories are going up at
Shanghai. Hong Kong and other ports,
and in the coming industrial development
an enormous amount OF fuel viii he
| required. 1t may be that the coal mines
of Shantung will form the foundation Of
! a great manufacturing busin ass run by the
| Germans. The country is rich IN silk of
| various grades. and failures and weaving
! mills might be worked at a profit
The trade of a province like Shantung
has great possibilities. The country con-
| tains 10000 600 people, and by the treaty
! Germany has practically acquired lien
| on their commerce. Today the S''Iantung-
csc are poor, but with the development of
| the province they will grow rich and their
demands may keep the mills Of Germsn ny,
| which are at present idle, working.
l am told that the ShaatungcSe are
| among the best of their race. Their plov-
| ince is the Holy Land of China. 1t is noted
| as having been the homes of Confucius and
| Mencius, the greatest OF Chinese philoS-
| ophers, both of whom are buried I'm IL.
The country is dotted with sh1ines end
| its people are noted as being religious.
Pilgrimages are made to the grave If Cen
| fucius from all parts of China. and the cx-
| tension of the German system of railroads
! to include this will bring in big pas
senger revenue.
Il
the kaiser will be satisfied with Shantung
| alone. Leading Germans of Japan and
China have told me that .hey expected the
| German sphere of influence to extend as
| far south as the Yangtse Hiang. they
| have already established stores and husi-
ness houses at all the ports and are making
| a great fight for the monopoly of the Chi
| nese trade.
| PRANK G. CARPENTER.