Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1904-02-22

the direct outcome of the completion
of her railways will be far less than Is
generally supposed. 1t must be borne
in mind that line of railway does not
shorten the distance between any two
points it merely lessons the time req.
uisite to cover it, and renders the
journey less fatiguing. The extent to
which this occurs depends partly on
the distance to be conquered and part.
ly on the quality of the line and the
accommodation 1t affords. 1t must
further be noted that the Siberian rail.
ways, as at present designed, are
cheaply constructed, lightly built, and
that they consist of a single line of
rail. In these facts we have endless
causes of delay, and the further pos.
sibility of the whole means of trans.
port being rendered temporarily use.
less by an accident or breakdown. II
most not be forgotten that in reckon.
ing the time necessary to cover any
given distance by rail, allowance must
be made. not only for the delays due
to changing engines. taking in coal and
water, and in the case of single line.
waiting for trains going in the oppo.
site direction to pass at given poirts;
but 1t is further needful to allow dou.
Bile the time necessary for train to
perform the journey, for the reason
that, when arrived at its destination 1t
hA,nn,ag ,galney se nl a.,
its starting point, preparatory to set.
ting out on a second journey with u
fresh load. ..
Reckoning the distance from the
Trails to Vladivostok or Port Arthur
at 1000 miles, and taking the average
speed of the trains as being twelve
miles an hour, which is the maximum
possible over SO lightly constructed O
road for heavy traffic, the net running
time requisite to cover the distance Is
thirteen days. To this must be added
the time necessary to coal and water,
to wait for connections or passing
trains, and to allow for unpreventabla
delays, for which an allowance Of four
days will not be too great. The jour.
ney will thus occupy seventeen days.
AS the empty trains will have to return
to the starting point before they can
perform a second journey and the
amount OF available rolling stock must
necessarily have a limit, the time for
the return journey must be added to
that occupied in the journey out and
we find that the capacity OF single
train is limited to the performance Of
one trip out and home in thirty.four
days, say five weeks. There must in.
variably be considerable delay at the
termini owing to the necessity of over.
hauling stock and making good any
damage sustained; and the question
then arises, how many trains will be
available for the conveyance of an
army? With stations twenty miles
apart 1t will be possible in the case of
speed of twelve miles an hour to dis.
patch trains at an interval of four
hours, or II the traffic be continued
without break, six trains each day:
and placing the carrying capacity OF
each train at 500 men with their i'm.
pedimenta. We find 1t is possible to
despatch 5000 men daily on the four
weeks journey. To keep this activ.
ity in operation until the first train
finds its way back at the starting point
again, after an interval of four weeks.
would entail the existence of 16S
trains. which in that period would
nave carried $4,000 men, provided ev.
erything had worked without a hitch.
II would be possible for Great Britain
to despatch the same number of men
In fifty transports from England to
any part Of the Far East In forty days.
without causing any exceptional
strain on her resources. Indeed. dur.
ing the war in South Africa. Britain
executed this feat by landing 170,600
men and their horses and impedimen.
ia 1000 miles away from her shores
within the space of fifteen weeks. ia.
pan could of course throw an equal
body of troops into Russian or Chinese
territory with much greater speed;
and the facts quoted show that any
Russian attempt to mobilize a large
force in the Far East must be antici-
pated by the action of her rivals In
that quarter.