The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-10-03
PLACES OF PROGRESS.
4 Bicycle Path From Athens to Plraeus
 and a Trollav to the Pvramfds-

 gress is invading the land of Xenophon, Of Pericles and of Phidias. When the improvements now being undertaken are completed it will be possible to ride with ease from the Greek capital to its seaport towns,
 The highways now connecting the two cities are narrow, poorly graded and poorly kept, making transportation by any kind of vehicle or wheel extremely unpleasant.
 Through the generosity of Mrs. Sym gros, a wealthy Athenian, a new boule- ward is now being constructed from Ha- drian's Arch on the Boulevard Amelia, Athens, extending in direct line and gradually sloping grade to the shore of Phalerum Bay, at point midway be- l tween Old Phaiefum-the bathing place of the ancient Athenians-on the south shore of the bay, and New Phalerum, the bathing place of the modern Athe- nians, on the northwest shore.
 The boulevard will be about 3,417 miles in length and 98.42 feet wide, and will cost $5S,S23.50. It will be divided ! into promenade, carriage drive and bicycle path. The grading, culverts and bridges are well under way, and it is | hoped to have the whole finished by next December.
 The new boulevard will intersect a seashore driveway which now connects Old Phalerum with New Pha1erum and 1 f Sc, in 4ha near future this driveway will be vii dened into broad avenue, which will pass the geological gardens now in course of construction, near Old Phale- rum, and connect with an attractive driveway which passes along the face of the bluffs and promontories on the west shore of the bay, and along the an- cient walls of Piraeus, down to it's har- bor. When finished the whole will form one of the most attractive drives in southern Europe, and will make the means of communication between Ath- ems and the sea much more easy and agreeable.
 The largest single electrical plant in Asia has just been installed at Seoul. in Corea. It is built for the Seoul Electric company by an American firm, Collbran & Bostwick, who hold the property un- der a mortgage.
 The company operates an overhead trolley road of some twelve miles, and with the same power furnishes incan- descent and arc lights for the city. This generating machinery consists of two one hundred and twenty kilowatt | hn Wncfinp- house Manufacturing company, and were made in this city. The boilers are of the Babcock & Wilcox type.
 The special point of these machines is that they produce direct current at five hundred and fifty volts for use of the cars, and at the same time alternating current at three hundred and eighty five volts for the electric lighting.
 There are something over fourteen hundred incandescent lights besides the arc lights in use. Over two thousand volts of alternating current are freely produced, which is most advantageous for a city like Seoul, where lights are scattered over long distances.
 The consulting engineer is Japanese, a graduate of the Massachusetts Insti- tute of Technology, who, after comple- ting his course at that institution, spent considerable of his time in the study of electric light heat and force flames be- fore returning to his native country, where he was engaged to fill the posi- ton he now holds.
 Of all the cities in the Far East, Seoul is about the last in which one would ex- pect to find progress or improvement of any kind. A. B. de Guerville, the we'll known traveller and writer, in speaking of it in one of his letters, said that it was a dirty city, so foul that a descrip- tion of it and it's sights would scare even as realistic 8 pen as that of Emile Zola. The people are amiable and in- telligert, but cling to old customs with great tenacity.
 Nevertheless, it is in Seoul that the first large electric plant in Asia Is in- stalled. It is reported that the natives received the innovation with suspicion, but that after few weeks they became highly interested in the electric lights and in trolley cars, and now patronize the company quite generously.
 The picturesque Chamonix Valley has been invaded by an electric railway, and the old- timers who have been visi~ ting it yearly for half a century are very much scandalized over the matter.
 The road runs from St. Gervais4 to Chamonix, and, although it rises fifteen hundred feet in about twelve miles, it does not employ the rackAand-pinion system, but relies upon adhesion alone, supported by three powerful brakes. It takes less than a third of the time occu- pied by the old diligence to cover this distance, while at the same time 1t gives passengers far better opportunity for enjoying the magnificent views that are to be obtained in ascending the valley Of the Arve. The modern tourist finds fault with the railroad management be- cause 1t requires five hours for train to cover a distance of fifty miles.
 The railway line is to be extended for another six miles along the valley to the village of Argentiere in the course of the next two years, and this will be a great boon to travellers going on toward the Rhone Valley over the Tete-Noire as it will make 1t possible to get through to Zermatt in one day, which is at present almost out of the question. l ,,A