Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1902-10-30
RAILROADS IN CHINA
AMERICAN ENGINEER FROM CAN.
TON DESCRIBES ROAD.
CONSTRUCTION ADVANCING
Outbreaks Are Not at an End by ANY
Means-Treachery Bidins Its Time
New Lines by Other Nations
Oriental Contempt for Other
People

Grant B. Caylor, civil engineer il
the employ of the Anglo-Americar
Construction and Development com
pany, now building a railway from
Hankow to Canton, China, has just
arrived in Minneapolis. In an inter
view WIN representative of the press
Mr.. Caylor described his adventures
IN the celestial empire in graphic Ian.
guage. In regard to the advance OF
railway construction he said:
Il have been working on all sorts
Of railway surveys and similar enter
prises since l went away. l was for
two years at Kait-Chai, running lines
in the German concession, but more
recently have been hammering away
at the Picking Syndicate route in
Shansi. For two years was associat-
ed with the Hankow-Canton survey
and construction.
THE Chinese don't love US Christian
pigs a hit better than they used to.
We often had to fight our way AROUND
villages on the Hankow proposition.
The natives didn't use firearms
against us, but they had all kinds of
clubs and stones, and innumerable de-
vices for making life miserable to for
eigners.
Railway construction is going ON at
a rapid rate, in fact, and if all the pa
per railways arranged for Chinese ter
ritory were built, there would be as
many miles of railway in China as
there are in the United States. AS to
the lines actually built or building,
there are the German Kiao-Chow-
Ylchon-Tsinan, a triangular system in
the Province of Shantung; the Lu-Han
or Peking-Hankow lines, 1000 miles
long to connect Picking to Hankow;
the Niu- Chwang route, a
BritiGh line, connecting the Shankai-
kWan coal fields with Niu-Chwang;
the Observation-Disclosures line of which
1000 miles are in China territory; the
Observation-Disclosures railway, to con-
meet the Observation-Disclosures line
with Talienwah and Port Arthur.
Among the projected lines which
will be built are the Talyuan Flu
ShSAiS0SoAS0 AoA1N cIS a VI dASu I'll IUt
Peking-Hankow line; the Tien-Tsin
Chinklang railway, an Anglo-German
enterprise, and about score of others
which may never reach the grading
stage.
"The building Of railways and the
opening of the country will, of course,
do more to mOdernize China than all
the missionaries and ministers we can
send there. A regulation Irish con-
struction boss, who bangs a native
over the head with a shovel when he
gets gay, is more really respected than
a courteous minister of state.
"The fact is that the Chinese laugh
at us when they are not mobbing us.
The Chinaman has a point of view that
no white man can understand He
thinks he has the laugh on you when
you would swear it was on him, but
what fun is there in having the laugh
on man when he points his finger at
you and does most of the laughing
himself?
"The Chinese seem to be saying to
themselves: Well, we'll let these
fools dig and sweat about here for a
few years, and then tear their old
works all up as soon as we're ready
Talking about being ready, the
Chinese are not ready. They were not
ready when they started the boxer out
breaks, but they thought they were.
The military demonstration of the
powers merely showed the patient
Chink that he had been premature, so
he apologized, sat back and began his
preparations over again. Now he is