The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-07-12

! sixteen days instead OF IN the thirty-ive
days required by railroad and sea via the
Suez Canal
The latter trip to Shanghai costs &45o.
| The Transsioerian fare Is 500. making a
| saving Of SO. in addition to the twenty
days.
There is TO doubt but that the most of the
travel to the far East will be by railroad
| in the very near future.
I understood that the trains are good.
The express, which goes once a week. has
sleeping cars. dining cars. a library. a GYM
nasium and all the comforts possible to
railroad travel
The trains go a, good average speed.
and everything is done for the comfort Of
the Passengers.
PRINCE DOES NOT APPROVE
OF BAIKAL EXTENSION.
At present the cars are ferried across
Lake Baikai. but there is talk of building a
railroad along the banks Of the lake and
connecting the two ends OF the line.
l asked Prince Hilkoff what he thought
Of this scheme. He replied:
I do not approve of it As It In now
We cross the lake on n steam ferry
The distance Is only twenty-four miles
whereas if We extend the road II will mean
hundred and fifty miles OF new line and
this VIII have little advantage over the
lake, as il will take longer to 90 by train
than by the ferry.
THE great objection has been that the
lake is covered with Ice In winter but this
can be obviated by ice breakers- We had
ore from America which worked well for a
year or SO. when its paddle wheel broke
This stopped the traffic for a time and
was the cause OF the proposition TO build
the railroad around the lake.
several good steam Ice breakers would
Keep the lake open the year around and
they would be Infinitely cheaper than the
new railroad. which would cost millions of
dollars"
What is the railroad doing for Siberia.
your Excelency?" asked.
III Is opening up the country and II will
result in its development.
Numerous branch lines will have to he
constructed and In time there will be a
great empire out there inhabited by Rus
slams. The territory IS enormous. Siberia is
two and one-half times as big as Russia in
Europe. 1t Is half as large again as the
whole European Continent and consider
ably bigger than the whole United States.
with Alaska and your new colonies added,
The northern part of 1t is not worth
much. being composed of polar marshes.
the subsoi Of which il always frozen, but a
Lille south Of that there is vast belt of
pine and fir trees and farther south the
wide strip through which the railroad goes.
Much of the land there compares with the
northern part OF the United States. which
adjoining country on the other side OF the
line belonging to the British. 1t will raise
wheat and all sorts of hardy cereals.
I'VE are finding it excellent for dairy,ng
and ii is impossible to tell what 1t may no,
be in the future. A large part or the
value Of Siberia Is in its minerals IL has
gold. silver. copper and iron-
1t has coal. rock salt and precious stones
and II Is. in short, world in itself which
We have not yet prospected-
POPULATION Or SIBERIA
STEADILY INCREASING.
How about immigration" asked.
The population Is steadily increasing"
replied Prince H!,koff
We arc shipping in q vast number of
settlers over the railroad. and the steamers
take many from Odessa down through the
Suez Canal and about Fladivostok and 9TH
er parts OF Eastern Siberia.
The immigration began along about 1850
and in 1854 about 1lg,0H had iminigrated.
After that the number coming in increased
much more rapidly. and at present villages,
towns and little cities are growing I'D all
along the line of the railroad
The total population OF Siberia Is now
about 100000. OF which a large proportion
is Russian. The Transsiberian alone car
ried 10000 immigrants last year. and we
shall take more this"
How about the settlement Of Manchu-
ria? VIII you not establish Russian colo
MES along the line Of the Eastern Chinese
Railroad?'
4 have nothing to do with the Manchu-
rian end Of the nne." replied his Excellency.