The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1902-03-09

traordinary expense. In fact Mr.. Hensy
insists that no greater obstacles would bt
come In the construction of the White Pass
road. and Mr.. Heinze expresses the opinion
that 1t would be a simpler matter to bu.ld
a road TO connect with a Siberian road al
East Cape than 1t Was TO construct the
northern Pacific Railroad. or several othe.
stretches OF rail in Colorado or Montana
OF course many OF these opinions are
largely theoretical. for at the present time
the actual knowledge nf the condition OF
affairs e confined exclusively to Alaskan
TERRITORY. They know that a railroad could
be- built from Vancouver to ape Prince OF
Wales and they believe that Boring Strait
can be ferried. even IN the severest wealth
er. should it be found impossible TO span
IL with bridges. What lies on the other
side Of the strait. however. is entirely u
matter OF conjecture. for the vast territory
north OF V~ladivostok. the Pacific Terminus
of the Transsibertan Railroad. is prac-
tically an unknown land 10 them.
Importance Of Report.
Under these circumstance it is not
strange. that the several projects for all
rail routes between the two continents
should be held in abeyancs pending Mr.
made public early in the spring. When he
has told what conditions he has found ex-
listing in these thousands OF miles or un-
known and un!nha bited waste. the promo
ters will he able to determine how far they
desire to 20 with their projects. III the re-
port Is CT a favorable nature there is
every reason TO believe that several com
panies. some of which have already been
organized. will become active competitors
against Mr.. DE Wind and his financial
hackers for the privilege of constructing
the road. in which race the TranssibeTinn
Company, whose bills are now before CON
Sress. would ~ a righi-of-way and It's
Government lam grants ex1ehains r%
strait. an which. in all probability. the
projected road would desire TO cross. Woud
give 1t a great advantage as ~Tu,o' 20
tain control Of the most desirable part OF
The territory. which would then be OF the
greatest value
ever that the value OF the Transaiaskan
Railway franchise does not depend entirety
upon the favorable report from Mt de
new road 10 to pass Is rich enough and
promising enough to authorize tie moor
porators TO carry out their project OF con-
strlcting their line.
of Country.
1t IS a mistake TO imagine that Alaska
is worthless except for furs and gold. The
gold and the furs represent but two
factors in the resources Of the country. re-
sources that are so vast that IL will be
decades before II will be possible to approx
maze AWNING ike n eXtcIl vi Atcil
value. From one end Of the country to
the other there are great stores of all kinds
of minerals. coal and coppe-, silver. lead
and iron. Governor Brndy. IN his recent re-
port TO Congress. has shown that the roun-
Try not only has great agricultural posi-
bilities. 20 per cent of the land being agri-
cultural in character. but that 1t possesses
other advantages that cannot fail TO
be appreciated by the settler Gs soon as
proper railroad transportation can be ar
The section that the new company
has selected IL one OF the most promising
in the Territory.
It was with a similar purpose in view
that the Transsiberian Railroad was laid
out. and the success OF that great Russisn
the fransalaskan road. Like Alaska. 81
IBERIA has resources that have never been
expored; much less exploited. Its hills are
.meralds. as well as the less precious but
more useful coal. iron and copper. Like
Alaska. too. Siberia possesses agricultural
possibilities that were undreamed OF before
he railroad was constructed. while her for
lands are a vast storehouse of wealth.
What Hea4ord Said.
Even such a conservative investor as
he Bank OF France is so well persuaded
no railroad project can be too great to
be feasible SO long as It brings a desirable
and hitherto unsettled territory within
each OF home seekers. that it has ron
luired by NJ. dc Lobei IL he finds that he
ne Is able to construct such a route as that
which has been proposed.
The late Mr.. heafford. in discussing the
traf1c possibilities of the proposed inter-
road. said:
Tt is about $500 miles from Chicago by
way of Seattle and Vancouver to and
20 ST. Petersburg is $50 miles: St. Peters
,urg TO Berlin is s0 miles: Berlin to Paris
$ So miles. a total Of 1850 miles. Then IL
me desires TO return to Chicago by way OF
london. Liverpool and New York the dis ,
anGe would be: Paris to London. Is miles: |
.onSon 70 L%lve.pesi. ss miles: Liverpool
;hicsgo. sl2 miles: this being $40 miles.
.hich: added TO 1850. make a grand total |
5000 miles from Chicago to Chicago.
eight days to travel from Chicago
o Bering Strait: thirteen days from Bsr- |
ng strait to st. Petersburg; one and one |
nd three-fourths OF a day from Berlin 70
'aris: or: let US say. 10 reach Paris from
,hicaso ly this all-rail route. a total of
add eight hours from Pari. to Lon
on. four hours from London to Liverpool. /
We days and eight hours. from Liverpool
York 10 Chicago. and you will see that
GU have succeeded in completing the cir
ut OF the earth In a few hours less than
ourney has been made without a change
I cars"
Other Giant Enterprises.
S~tupendous as these in~tercontinentaI
appear. however. the fact must not
e overlooked that enterprises which are
list rs revolutionary in their effect ara
cling carried out In other parts of the
Grid. For example. there is the Cape To
afro Railroad. the road that Is to extend
rom one end of Africa to the other. Yet
nat this project. gigantic as II is. will
nally be completed seems n foregune con-
n individual than Cecil Rhodes has given
Is guarantee that the plans which nave
cen publicly approved will be faithfully
arried out.
The route selected for the African rail-
bad system extends from Cape Town to
900 miles in length. Already. for example.
ne rails run northerly from Cape Town
a distance OF fully Loo miles. while the
,aos which run southwark from cairo are
lily LOO miles in length. making. as Will
E seen. TO less than 800 miles OF com
road. and leaving a tribe over aNo
tiles vet to be constructed
How seriously the Transvaal war has in
rfered with Mr. Rhodes's project is a
lestion which can only be answered ap-
and yet. whatever Its effect
ay have been In discouraging further out
y OF capital: the delay can be but tenn
at the constructive work will be con-
as soon As internal conditions make
advisable. for IL IL predicted that the
70 already constructed roads will be Joined
fore another ten years have passed
Estinated
II has been estimated that II will cost
4 less than 81 900. 90 to build and equip
e remainder of the road. and yet this
proximate cost OF s14!0o per mile IL s,ight
in railroad building in other parts
the world. This condition. IT may be said
due to the fact that there are absolutely