The Washington herald., 1907-03-17
Japanese Are Developing the
Country Very Rapidly.
ROAD ROMANTUNG T0MUKDEN
A Military Railroad Turned Into a
Commercial Enterprise-The In
duxfFies of the Province and Its
Mineral WeaIth-Raising Beef for
the Philippine Islands.

from WHICH Luey QfONe the 4NuS9i1'sss
They have just completed a new railroad
from Antung, on the Korean border, TO
Afukden and this viii do very much to
ward the commercial development Of the
Southeastern Shenking province through
which the line passes
The new railway from Antung to Muk-
den covers a distance Of Isl miles. 1t
was first constructed lightly for military
purposes, but has now been rebuilt, al
though no tulneling will be done, in all
probability, until survey Of the perma-
nent railway has been made. The
gauge throughout Is two and half feet.
The rails and rolling stock are supplied
by the Baldwin Locomotive Works. The
system consists OF $50 locomotives and the
two sizes of freight carr, carry two and
FIVE tons respectively. The total carrying
capacity at present is only 1900 tons
The lire was opened to general traffic.
both freight and passenger. last August
TWO runs are daily made from each end
Of the lire, in addition TO more or less
regular ones between some of the in
termediate points The journey from
Antung to Mukden takes two days. The
through trains both leave In the morning.
one at 8 o'clock and one at 8. and reach
Tsaohohu (Sokako) twelve hours later.
Operation after dark IS subject to a great
deal Of risk, SO passengers are obliged
to spend the night at Tsaohohu, resum-
ing their journey on the following morn
ing at the same hour as before
U-a.nhnIrrr 2 tta- of Chinese inns
and one japanese hotel, but none OF these
is particularly inviting TO the foreigner.
The traveller must bring his luncheon
with him from Antung. as neither food
nor drink can be secured until reaching
TsaOhohu. and unless he is sure 10 be
satisfied with "a japanese cuisine he must
equip himself at Antung with two days
sustenance.
The greater part of the freight handled
up to the present time consists OF rail-
way supplies The amount Of general
goods carried is almost too small 10 be
considered. And the supp0sitiOn that the
absence Of cUst0m-hOuse NJ Antung
has been taken advantage Of 60 ship
large quantities of merchandise into the
region made accessible by the railway Is
not borne out by the actual conditions
The rate. 10 sen IS cents ton per mile
for most commodities. is almost pro
hibitive
The standaTd-gauge railway 20 connect
Antung with MUkden. il is expected, will
follow the same general course as the
present one. Since its completion. how
ever. will probably require. the larger
part Of three years, the new South Man
churian Railway Company. which has
Just taken over the system Is 90 con-
tinue the operation Of the present line
and will undoubtedly carry on improve
ments. With its present narrow gauge
however. this railway. even when worked
to lis utmost limit. can give no more
than a very small stimulus 10 the min
eralA agricultural, Industrial. or CONNER
cial development Of the region which IL
traverses.
Mineral Wealth.
Southeastern Shenl1ing is said to be un-
usually rich in minerals. The mountains
contain abundant deposits of coal iron,
copper. lead. silver. and gold The work
ing Of all these deposits has for a long
time been more or less regularly car
ried on by the natives; their methods
however. are of the cfudest and the out
put consequently small Granite is also
oilarried, and is known 10 be OF excellent
quality: but as yet it has been little
utilized. except for local purposes. owing
to lack Of transportation facilities.
The coal thus far unearthed has been
found to be a superior grade of anthrI-
cite, and it's utilization only awaits CAPT
taI and the means Of bringing It To the
market. One of the largest carboniferous
beds vet discovered in this region, and
till recently scarcely touched, lies near
Peushihu (HOnkcikOl. an important sta
ton on the Antung-Mukden Railway It's
development on a somewhat extensive
scale was first undertaken by the Chinese
in the latter PARK of 1903. vita the result
that some fourteen pits were opened
There is another large bed OF coal at
Niutan- short distance to the southeast
where about 1,CO0 coolies were formerly
employed in digging. most of the output
being sold to the Russians.
The OkuTagumi, a japanese concern. a
year ago obtained permission from the
Chinese government to work a mine near
Penshihu. They have hardly commenced
operations. the entire output thus far
not exceeding so tons. but intend at an
carly date to use some $l00C00 in the con-
structiOn Of shafts and other improve
meuts. The coal is said TO be OF the
best quality. and that taken out so far
mas been sold to the Japanese govern
ment for use at it's, iron foundries. The
OkuragUImi plans In the near future to
establish a gas plant at Mukden. and the
coal mined here will be employed in this
connection.
Mining UBprofitabIe-
Silver has been found chiefly at Antung
and FenghUangchen near the Yalu River
and was was at one time mined by the
Chinese; but the work was abandoned
owing to the large lawless element which
existed among the coolies and which
made operation both unsafe and unproft-
able. Thus far the iron wealth seems
practically to have lain untouched by
the pick Desultory attempts have beer
made by the Chinese To utilize it. but the
limited returns on the capital invested.
the fault Of crude methods. as well as
the difficulty of scinging the product to
market. have made il impossible for the
virgin article 10 hold its own against
the old scrap iron entering the country
from NiuchwanG
Most OF the minerals named are said to
be present In large and paying quantities.
and their utilization only awaits a cheap
er and quicker outlet The investment of
capital in the development of these re-
sources. however. viii hardly be attrac-
tive TO the foreigner. unless the Chinese
government mitigates its present restric-
tions or the mining industry.
Agricultural Development.
Agrieulturally Southeastern Shenking
stands far from the head of the list. as
compared with other parts OF Manchuria,
both in relative arabic area and in fer
tility of soil. The principal products are
maize. millet and beans. and these seem
TO do scarcely more than supply the local
demand as none of them, except a small
quantity OF beans in the form of oil and
cakes, ever reaches the seaboard for ex-
port.