The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1904-03-21

1 great mistake Though the road is
| long and a single track the sidings are
| ample and the gauge is such that any
l amount of rolling stock can be utilized
i upon it from the other Government
| roads. When traversing the road in
| 1900, at the time of the Boxer revolu-
| ton, we had ample opportunity to learn
| much at first hand of it's capacity for
| transporting troops. Day after day
| for several weeks, as we loitered along
this great highway, we saw very regu-
larly two military trains a day going
eastward, each carrying a full regi-
ment of 1900 men, with a fair proper
ton of horses and military stores, and
there was no visible reason why there
should not have been twice that num-
Der, except that at that time there was
only one steam ferry boat for trans
porting trains across Lake BaikaL. But
upon that ferry boat have seen 80 cars
at one time with 1900 soldiers. The
boat, however. was able to make only
two trips day. But later a second
boat of equal capacity was put on, so
that 5000 soldiers a day could easily
be carried across, while in the winter,
when the lake is frozen over from jan
uary to May, the track which is laid
Ter than in summer.
Lake Baikal is, however, a serious
interruption to the Trans Siberian rail-
road, and for the present greatly dinin-
ishes its military value. The lake is
400 miles long and on an average 80
miles wide. 1t is surrounded on every
side by precipitous mountains several
fI7a,r - ,0S !,
Grated only by two or three river val
leys coming into it from the east, and
by a single gorge. through which the
Angara River conducts it's waters into
the plains about Irkutsk. Such is the
contour however, that from the point
where the railroad reaches it, at the
head of the Angara River to the avail
able terminus of the railroad upon the
other side, is a distance of so miles,
which the steam ferries have to trav-
erse to make the connection. To get
around the south end of the lake with
a railroad involves the building of
nearly 200 miles of track through one
of the most difficult regions in which a
railroad was ever constructed.
This, however, the Russian Govern
ment has set about accomplishing and
before another winter will have accom-
plished, so that there will be a contin-
uous track from st. Petersburg to
Vladivostok and Port Arthur. But this
obstruction is temporarily overcome,
for the present emergency, by laying a
track across the ice, which will be reas-
onably free from interruption until
May 1. For hundreds of years a con-
unuous stream of sledges has crossed
the lake between these points upon the
ice during the winter There will be
no difficulty, therefore, in transporting
to the seat of war this coming spring
100000 well equipped troops from East
ern Siberia and European Russia to
augment those already in the field
numbering, I suppose. about 300 00O),
and the equal number who may be
brought into the field by filling up and
modifying the skeleton regiments in
Eastern Siberia. Such is the elephant
which the japanese whale has attack
ed. The situation is the most remark
able in the worlds history. The issue
will depend upon the patriotism of the
Russian people and the ability of her
military leaders.
OF the patriotism of the Russian peo-
pie few who have not travelled extern
sively in the country have any proper
conception. With the exception of a