The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-01-15

longer structures than the mora str.sp, would seem to warrant owing to ths [ floods during the rainy season. The aaa [ bridges. Sree and small hava 4 tatai length of 23,sOO feet
 In going over tho line in luna o,r train left tho regular embankment for Inc | first time at Usan, about ten miles be- | yond suwon. A four-bpan bridge wac | under construction. Tho piers had heAn | completed and the worlmen were driving | the piles preparatory to swing the steel girders Into place. From thls point we were frequently obliged 10 run down | the regular roadbed over a rough track laid in the fields. across a stream on n 1 rlckety wooden structure, then climb un a stifr grade, to continue our Journey on 1 the proper track.
 Koreans Do Heavy Tasks.
 On the bridges the Japanese were at work, Koreans doing only the heevv tasks, pumping out the coffer dams. car rying and the like, The excavation was all done by native coolies under Japa- nese foremen. Near Suwon was a quarry which furnished the limestone used for the piers and culverts. and the stretches of rock-faeed embankments.
 The road has been built by some tven- ty Japanese contractors employing forces of from 800 to 1000 men each The Ko- reans in every case have done none of the skilled. merely the coole, labor. The construction work was carried on by two distinct bodies of men, the one following the other. The first laid the track, under favorable conditions putting down as much as a mile a day. This of course, along a roadbed already graded The sec- ond division followed the first straight ening tracks, regarding cuttings the first angle having been too great with the consequent danger of landsdes in the rainy season They sodded the embank- ments, built the stone facngs where the line runs along any considerable body of water, added the finishing touches, in fact, and generally put the line into it's final shape.
 Large Amount of Rolling Stock.
 In February there were five engines belonging to the Seoul-Fusan road. These with twelve passenger coaches ana about fifty box and open cars have all been built in America. Many were in use on the Chemulpo line pending the completion of their own.
 When the line Is formally opened on the first of January the company will have ready for service twenty-eight To- comotives There will be fifty-eight pas senger cars first and second class and second and third class coaches. Of the 230 freight cars TO are flat. The bodies of the cars have been built some in Amer ica and some In Japan 75 pounds in weight, are English and American with few thousand tons mllled in Japan. Cir ders and bridge material are also either English or American.
 The company will run two through trains a day from Seoul to Fusan and vice versa, two south and two north bound Fifteen hours Is the schedule time for the ETA mile journey. There will also be one train daily from 9eoul to Suwan and return and to Ta-ku and back from Fusan. For the present, of course, there will be neither sleepers nor dining cars.
 The line runs through rice country practically all the way Little valleys ter raced with paddy-fields open into broad plains. The water trickling from highest to lowest runs off to poin the sluggish streams that wind their way through wild flower garnlshed meadow lands.
 There are altogether fifty-three stations Suwon the largest town the MulSden of Korea, Is some distance from the line Taiku Is the only other place of any size. The smaller stations are marked only by lonely white building, at more important points there are clusters of houses with plaster walls and thatch, or possibly tile roofs. These are the homes O the engineers and contractors. Pot pines and plants In porcelain trays adorn- ed their narrow gardens Shiny haired, brown little women clattered about at their daily tasks. As the train slowed down the chattering group on the plat form would scatter, and the men come running toward us, bearing letters some times, but generally seeking them. The mail clerk on the train would pull out packet, or if the railway colony was a large one, pouch and give 1t to the local distributing agent. The group would cluster together agail and as the train went pumping down the track the lucky one turned away reading the letters they had just received
 Chartered in Korean Towns.
 The Japanese laborers have been quar- tered In the Korean towns. These vil- lages are mere collections of mud and thatch huts with an occasional brick wall and tile roof to contrast with the hope less squaior of the surrounding novels. h. these hamlets the rice farmers live. At harvest time they carry their grain tL the markets and there sells to the wholesaler who makes the circuit of all the country fairs and buys practically the entire crop of the district. They send the grain by pack pony, or collie carriers, or bullock cart to the nearest shipping point then by junk down the innumerable little streams to the sea; and thence to Chemulpo or Fusan whence 1t is finally exported
 The opening up of this rice country by general Tightening of freights will be one of the greatest benefits of the rail- road It may take some time to over come the Koreans prejudice against making any change whatsoever In his daily or annual routine, but the awaken Ing Is sure to come in the end. Once this trade Is booming there will be an ever increasing demand for foreign inn ports; kerosine will come more and more into general use, for not only will 1t be cheaper than before, but the lower freight charges will make the export of vegetable oils profitable and the natives light his home.
 The Seoul-Wiju road is really a part of the same line, a continuation thereof. For the present the construction is In the hands of the army, while the 'Kei-Fu" line has been butt by civil fans. The gauge Is the same, the work if not as thorough at present, destined to be quite as permanent. In building this line the Japanese have been fortu- nate in being able to use, in many cases the road bed built by the French engin- eered Korean company.
 Results Are Satisfactory. All along the line the rai.way troops are at work. The results attained thus far have been most satisfactory. In eight months they have pushed forward | their line at a rapid pace. The grades are nich too cfaan tha brfdVec ara all