The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1903-07-25
SIBERIAN RAILROAD IS
DOING A GREAT BUSINESS
Frank 6. Carpenter Chats With Prince FilIkof
The Line Pays misunderstanding Develop
ment of Sberia---New Popular Wants.

Il takes about three weeks to get it
TO the seaboard. 1t is carried IN re-
frigerator cars, some cooled by ice and
some by chemicals.
1--WE have already 1000 cars devoted
TO this trade alone, and during the
season we run two fast butter trains
every day. We have refrigerators at
the stations to store the butter. we
are already shipping almost a billion
and half pounds of butter a year ana
the business is in its infancy. 1t Will
steadily grow and in time improved
breeds of cattle will be introduced.
FRUIT FOR THE FAR EAST.
Another feature of our traffic" con-
tinued Prince Hilkoff, lis the ship
ment of fruits to Siberia. There are
people there who had never seen APP
ples. grapes and oranges until the COM
ing of the railroad. These fruits were
only sold in the larger cities. They
had to be brought by the post or by
steamers. and it was impossible TO
carry perishable fruit. Oranges then
brought as much as 70 cents or 81
apiece. They are now sold at reason
able prices all along the railroad.
How about grain. your excellency,
rate to compete with ours in the mar
kets of Europe?"
'I think we shall be able to do So"
replied the minister of railroads. 1--WE
are already shipping grain northward
to Archangel and from there to differ
ent parts of Europe by sea. Our grain
market of the future will be largely
in the far east. There is an enormous
demand for wheat and other cereals
in China, and that trade will probably
be developed"
AMERICAN TRADE WITH SIBERIA.
How about the prospects of Amer
lean trade in Siberia? Does it offer
any field for our commercial invasion?'
Yes" replied Prince Hilkoff, Amer
lean goods are already sold in many
parts of Siberia. This is especially so
of farming tools. There is a demand
for reapers and mowers and there
should be an opening for all sorts of
goods supplied by the western COM
merce between eastern Siberia and the
Pacific slope. That part of your coun-
try is almost destitute of good coal.
We have excellent coal in Siberia,
which we can ship you at a profit and
in return the vessels can bring back
American merchandise and machinery.
American furniture is also in demand
and there is no reason why all sorts
of American goods should not be sold. ;"
SIBERIAN COAL MINES.
How about the coal areas of the
Trans Siberian railroad, your eXcellen-
cy?"
1--WE are finding new coal fields ev-
cry year." replied Prince Hilkoff. "One
of the great arguments against build
ing the road was the probable lack OF
fuel. 1t was said that we would have
to cut down the forests to feed the en-
gines. The prospects are that We will
have plenty of coal for all time from
the beds along the line of the road.
The coal We are now using comes from
deposits near the track. Some Of it
is excellent coking coal, and near it
are large deposits of iron, so that we
expect to have a manufacturing indus
try away out there in Siberia"
a LOOK AT THE NS-SIBERIAN
ROAD.
1 here asked some questions about
the improvements of the Trans-Siberian
railroad and his eXcellency took me
across the room and showed me a
number of maps in illustration of his
talk. 1 can only give the gist of his
conversation. The road when COM
pleted with its Manchurian branches
will be 5,542 miles long and the route
from ocean to ocean, that is, from
Havre to Vladivostok, will be $500
miles in length. At present it takes
little over two weeks to go from st.
Petersburg to Port Arthur. and the
time will eventually be cut down to
ten days. General Miles made the trip
from Picking to st. Petersburg in eight
cen days, and he told me that trav-
cling was very comfortable all the way
through Within a short time we shall
be able to go from London to Paris to
Shanghai in sixteen days instead of in
the thirty-five days required by rail-
road and sea via the Suez canal. The
latter trip to Shanghai costs $3.50. The