Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1906-01-20

| thorough investigation OF the different
| railroads French German. British.
Belgian, Portuguese, i'm Africa. and had
| prepared a most elaborate report, OF which
a few general conclusions have been pub
| lshed. NJ. Salesses found after careful
| examination OF twenty-four distinct rail
ways, that a one-metre gauge has been
! almost universally adopted as the most
| suited for African colonies. In the ma
1 jority of cases the railways have been
| constructed and are managed by the
4 colonies themselves. The chief exceptions
are those of Jibuti. Rhodesia, ST. Paul
de Loanda, Belgian Congo, Dahomey and
Dakar st. Louis; but in the opinion of
| NJ. Salesses, the condition of things in
Rhodesia is only temporary. The inter-
vention of companies is the exception.
England and France are far in advance
of Germany, Belgium and Portugal Eng
| lands work in South Africa is compared
| with that of France in Algeria and In
| Tuns. The British railways of Khartum,
| Uganda and Rhodesia are said to repre-
| sent an enormous work. superior TO that
of the Jibuu and Madagascar railways
combined On the other hand. France has
advanced in West Africa nearly as rapidly
| as, and at less cost, than England. France
has there almost 1900 kilometres, while
England has $50. In fact, France, with
smaller domain than England. has done
more to exploit It,
A correspondent of a Paris paper. who
seems TO speak with a certain authority.
says that the negotiations for an inter
national agreement. which were begun be-
tween Russia and Great Britain before
the war with Japan, would have been con-
cluded long ago but for that fierce strug-
gle. He says that they were resumed as
soon as peace had been concluded and
adds: IL believe l am not venturing too
far in affirming that the bases OF the
understanding were already arrived at
when Sir Charles Hardinge left the Brit
ish embassy at st. Petersburg to come to
London to hll the important post of per-
manent under secretary OF state at the
Foreign Office. II domestic peace were re-
stored in Russia and IL the Russian gov
eminent could recover the composure nee
essary to devote it's attention to foreign
affairs, the agreement decided upon in
principle would be Immediately concluded
on bases similar to those of the Anglo
French agreement-.that is to say, on mu-
tual concessions by. the two contracting
parties"
The London Times publishes a suggest
i've article on the new Chinese army by
its special correspondent who was lately
| with General Nogi. He describes the work
| of that army-which has been mostly
created within the past four years, and
owes its organization to the genius of the
Viceroy Yuan Shikai-as little short of a
revelation. At the maneuvers recently held
| at Ho-chien-fu city n hundred miles up
| the river from Tientsn, thirty officers rep
| resenting foreign armies attended on the
| invitation of the imperial authorities. The
writer describes the Chinese transport and
commissariat arrangements as admirable,
and the discipline of the infantry as all
that could be desired. He says that ut is
safe to assert that better fire discipline
could scarcely be conceived. The manner
| in which the drivers handled their teams
and brought the guns out of line one by
| one was a sight for gods, and a great con-
trast in the screaming and jbbing team
| work characteristic of the Japanese artil-
! lery." The WORK of the engineers he also
| describes as excellent The worst points
of the new army, he adds. are the cavalry,
| which requires years to perfect, and the
| weapons, which are often old-fashioned
and too diversified in patterns. He gives
high praise to the way In which great
masses of men were handled in the final
parade before the vice@oy.
The opium traffic in Australia has re-
ceved a severe blow. Some ii ago, the
| different states agreed to forbid the sale
and growth of the drug and now the
| commonwealth government has prohibited
the importation of opium except for medi-
| cinal purposes. The Chinese are the chief
J customers for the drug in that part of the
world, and in one or two of the large cities
| there used to be found opium dens' which
were as vile resorts as could be found any
where The consumption of opium was
considerable. Tho drug is grown locally
but, in addition to what Is thus produced,
there was imported last year no less a
quantity than twenty-eight tons Aus
tralans have long been fully awake to the
havoc the drug causing, and this
change in the law, following so soon upon
the ordinance enacted in the TransvaaI,
is somewhat of a triumph for the Anti
Opium society. Australias action will
result In some loss of revenue, Queensland
alone having derived at least $50 900 year
from the traffic. But the gain is worth
the sacrifice. OF course an increase in
the medical demand may be expected.
Victor Hirtzler, who served two years in
the cars kitchen at the Winter palace in
st: Petersburg, has given some interesting
details to the cuisine OF the imperial
household and the precautions taken
against any attempt to poison the autocrat
of all the Russias. The head chef OF the
imperial kitchen holds the rank of general
in the Russian army. receives a salary of
more than $780, 900 year and is an important
official OF the state. Under him there is an
army OF some 800 men as chefs, underchefs
and subordinates, and also the keepers Of
the wine cellars. Every dish that is pre-
pared for the imperial table must first be
partaken of by a major of the army, the
food is then placed in a closed shaft, which
the major also enters and it then ascends
to the dining room of the car, where the
major again partakes OF 1t. and no Ill eff
fects ensuing, II is then served to the i'm
perial household. The menu is ordered each
day by the car, who is hearty eater. and
who occasionally demands that new dishes
be invented by his chef. The dining room
in which the regular meals are taken ID
small made of cast iron, is bombproof and
is sealed like a bank vault between meals.