Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-08-29
A CONTINENT GOBDLED
How the Gar and People Are
Capturing Asia.
MANCHURIA BUT A BITE
ENORMOUS EXTENT OF RUSSIAN
TERRITORY.
Big Cities and Railroads Of Siberia,
Turkestan and eau
caSia.
MANCHURIA BUT A BITE
Copyright, 1908, by Frank G. Carpenter.)


Special Correspondence Of The Evening Star.
ST. PETERSBURG.
I want to tell you what the Russians are
doing in Asia Your papers are full of
Manchuria, but they say nothing OF
the Russian advancement in the south
| and the west. The car is pushing his
empire in every direction. He practically
controls Persia. Prince Hilkoff, the min
lister of ways and communications. tells
me that the railroads will be extended on
through Afghanistan to India, and that
the Samarkand line. which is now far on
its way through Turkestan, will eventually
penetrate China, and be part of great
railroad system connecting the western
part of that empire with European Russia.
Some colonizing is being done along the
Monaghan frontier, and the trans-Siberian
railroad going few miles north of 1t Will
eventually bring all the country beyond
the great wall into the hands Of the czar.
Russia in Asia
Have you noticed how fast the Russians
are swallowing up Asia? Manchuria is
one-tenth as large as our country includ-
ing Alaska and our island possessions, but
it is only one-twenteth of Russia in Asia.
By far more than a third of that continent
belongs to the car Asia has seventeen
million square miles and Russia has al
most seven millions. 1t has more than six
millions and half without Manchuria,
and it practically controls almost One-half
of the continent.
Figures are prosy, but these figures mean
much. In central Asia alone the Russians
have territory half as large the whole
United States In Siberia they have enough
land to cover the face of Europe, with a
million and a half square miles to spare,
and eastern Siberia alone is larger than the
United States without it's outlying colonies.
Ci of 10 irtn hnJ
twice the size of our country without the
islands, and they have one-fourth as great
a population.
Just over the mountains about the Cas-
plan sea Russia has province known as
North Caucasia, which is bigger than Kan
sas. 1t has population of 100000 Trans
Caucasia is larger than Kansas and Massa-
chusetts, with population of 100000, and
western Siberia is about one-fourth as big
as our country.
Russian Cities in Asia.
There are many big towns in these Ash
attic dominions. Take Tif1is, in the eau
casus. 1t lies just over the border from
Russia in Europe, but it's people are Ash
atics, although Its governors are Russian.
1t has 10000 and is a great center of trade.
Baku. In the oil fields on the Caspian sea,
has 10000, while Tashkend has $4,000.
Have you ever heard of Kokand? 1t is
near the end of the Trans-Caspian road,
north of India and not far from China 1t
is a great trading center and is growing
like green bay tree. 1t has 50 600. Samar-
kand, little further west on the same
line, has $4,000, and Namangan, beyond
Kokand, has q GOO. One of the projected
railroads will run north from Tashkend to
connect with the Trans-Siberian, and this
will greatly increase the size of that city.
The road has already been built from
Samara to Orenburg, and it will Join the
Trans-Sberian at Chelia binsk
There are number of good-siZed towns
in Siberia. which growing rapidly.
Tomsk has 80, 0O0 Blagoveschensk, on the
Amoor, is of about the same size while
far from Lake Baikal, has $1,000. There
are a number of other cities of from % 600
to 10000, and the new city of Dalny at the
end of the Chinese Eastern railroad has
something like $4,000. and it is as yet hard
ly opened to settlement.
Vast Resources.
undeveioDed resources. 1t can only be
fields of Siberia and Manchuria could
probably feed Europe were they developed
and fitted with means of transportation
The southern provinces have large cotton
plantations, set out within the last few
years, and over the Caucasus they are rails
ing wine by the millions of gallons and
tobacco by the millions of pounds. In
several provinces there the output of wine
amounts to 17O00,000 gallons year. In
two districts alone they are annually rails
ing 81 100000 pounds of tobacco, and in a
third they have set out 100000 acres of cot
ton. They have also mulberry Plantations
and now raising cocoon silk by the