The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-08-09

,as 3nlpHo anu iaylng out trunk lines in Asia. During the present year more than ten million dollars is. to be spent on the
 trans-Siberian Railway and Sz2,oo0,ooo on
 otner lines. So much is published about
 the trans-Siberian enterprise that the other new roads are lost sight 4of, al.
 though they are costing many times as
 much. They are planned to open up the
 country on the other side of the Caspian
 Sea. where 1.500 miles are now fin course
 or construction and an equal distance has
 been surveyed. The Russian roads are gradually approaching India. In an in-
 terview which had with Prince Hiikoff,
 the Czar's Minister of Ways and Com ]. munications. he told me that the time J would come when the Angio-Indian lines and the Russian lines would be joined
 He thinks such union will stop all talk { or trouble between the countries, and that an enormous trans-continentaI trade
 VIII De the result. He says the trans Caspian road, which runs from the Cas- plan Sea to beyond Samarcand, is paying
 well. It has a great trafic in cotton and other goods. and the lands through which 1t passes are growing rich.
 Y Cheap Railroad Fares.
 Russia has now about %. 900 miles of rail ways, of which all are controlled by the { Government, and two-thirds belong to the Czar. The freight and passenger rates are carefully regulated. and the passenger trafic is the cheapest of the world. A gone system, by which the fares are cal cuiated, has been introduced, each gone being thirty-five miles in width. After the first few hundred miles it costs only ID cents to cross one of these zones mak- ing the ordinary long-distance fare less than four-tenths of a cent a mile The rate from here to Warsaw, about as far as from New York to Detroit, Is 6. From St. Petersburg to Odessa, or as far as from New York to Omaha, is $6. 50. and from St. Petersburg to -Sebastopol is H.5o. The third-class rate from Moscow to the petroleum fields about the Caspian Sea is less than $1o. and to Irkutsk, a distance farther than from New York to San Francisco, SIS.
 All the above fares are third class. The second-ciass Is only one-half as much again, and the first-class is only tw6 and one-half times the third-class rate.
 On Russian Train.
 I have travelled many thousands miles on the Russian trains go first class
 and take a sleeper when can get it, and
 as 1t is the accommodations are not the
 best. The tranS-SibePian express has fine cars. it is true. but the ordinary sleeper leaves much to be desired. On some roads one is expected to supply his pill lows and bed linen. He carries his own towels and soap. and as for combs and brushes he would be brave indeed who dared use such things in common with the average Russian. The second class / cars are a. little worse than the first and on some of the roads the third class cars are fitted up with benches and are without modern conveniences. Some of , the cars are lighted by candles. The peas.
 ants carry their baggage with them wrap. : ped up fin cloths or in great bags and the cars are packed full of such things. HYeFXOne takes . VErith
 E'ble. for only thirty-six pounds can be checked free and the balance is charged for according to weight and distance As to sleeping car tickets. they must he bought at the offices and not of the con. ductors. The ordinary rate is from A collar to dollar and half a night, or.
 It you want a compartment to yourself, S A passenger has a right to his com. pertinent from D. m. to g a. m. If one Is without bed linen. he can. if he wishes. rent blanket, a pillow case and two sheets for 50 cents a night.
 On Seeond-Class Sleeper,
 The other night rode in a second-cIass sleeper from Moscow to the Voiga. The hrst-class accommodations were all taken and the second ciasg was cheaper. Be- sides wanted the experience, I got it My car was divided up into compartments or pens open at the top like the box Ptalls of a stable. Each compartment had four long berths. two below and two sbove. There were no curtains. We un- pressed In the open and lay down facing each other. The cars were filled with Asiatics and Russians. There were a half doZen pig-tailed Chinese in silk gowns Persians in turbans and long cowls of fine wool. Armenians in red fez tar booshes and TaFtars with long gowns heited in at the waist. wearing hiRh caps of black astralkan. Not few of the Tar ters carried daggers. and there were also Russian soldiers and officers with guns and swords. Fortunately the windows were open and the wind from the plains Kept the air comparatively pure.
 shall not soon forget my two room mates. They had dark faces, Roman noses and long. curly black boards. They iald aside their astrakan caps a short time after entering and a little later on pulled off their high boots. showing boots of soft black leather within. asked them whence they came and they an swered by signs. telling me that they lived in Asia and were Kirghiz. re- piled, pointing to myself. that was on American. saying "Amerikanski." They were surprised and seemed glad to meet me. noticed that both men were we'll to do Their clothes were of the finest broadcloth they had inlaid daskers. ana their watches were gold.
 On the other side of me, with a board "au between. slept a Jurk. and with him | a Mohammedan Tartar from Kaznn on the Volga. Both these men kneeled and prayed as the sun rose. They had theiy | faces toward Mecca and bumped their | heads on the cushions again and again as l they went through their devotions. An | other Tartar read the Koran aloud until | late in the evening His tone was a sing | song and he was still reading when I | dropped off to sleep.
 Well-Built Railroads.
 This road from Moscow to Mini Nov gorod is in good condition: it is we'll bal lasted and the road bed is weeded as carefully as we weed our gardens. I saw women on their knees scraping out the weeds between the ties with knives and everywhere the trackmen are smoothing the ballast and repairing the rails Many Of the Russian roads are too lightly from ed. but this is being improved, and the roads are re-railed
 The ties are wooden, and some of the rails are of American steel. Most of the rolling stock is made in Russia and there are great car shops in Moscow and in other parts of the Empire engaged in building 1t.
 I am told that the cost of construction has been high. So far about $2.0O0. .0OQ. .OO0 las been spent upon railways and of this 8 per cent has come from the Government sfther directly or in the form of O1laP-