The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1909-07-18
THE MANCHURIAN RAIL WAY|l
BY FRANK c. CARPENTER.

AM at the southern terminal of the
Trans-Siberian railroad. The trains.
\ starting here, go northward through
Manchuria to the main line at Hardin.
and thence on via Moscow to ST Peters
burg. The railroad journey is the longest
of the world. 1t covers about COCO miles
and is made in comfortable cars. The
y South Manchuria line was opened in 1903
Just about a year before the war be-
tween Russia and Japan began. 1t was
closed for time, but since then the SER
vice has grown better and better. Today
one can go from Dalny to Moscow In
about II days. and the distance to Lon
don can be covered in less than two
weeks. There are fast steamers running
from here to Shanghai, and the road has
brought that city and Nagasaki within 16
days of London.
On the South Manchuran Railway.
During my stay In Manchuria l have
taken number of trips over the south
ern end of this railroad system. 1t has
been greatly improved by the Japanese,
and l doubt If there is another road SO
good In East Asia. The tracks and cars
are far better than those of Japan and
of America
And why not? They are almost al
together American. When the Japanese
rebuilt the system after the war, they
standardized 1t and put new american
rolling stock upon the whole line, They
bought $1,000 tons of steel rails and 1900
tons Of bridge materials. They purchased
also over 200 American locomotives, 70
first and second class cars and also one
or two thousand box cars, fiat cars, gon-
dola cars and cabooses.
During the past few months. a number
of our modern sleepers have been added
In going to Mukden the other day rode
in an up-to-date Pullman, which had
been sent out here knocked-doWn and
put together at Dalny. The car was
lighted with incandescent electric globes
made In Cleveland, O., and every berth
had Its individual light. 1t was cooled
by electric fans from the same estab-
lishment Our engine was from the Amer
lean locomotive works at Richmond and
1t hauled us over rails made by the United
States Steel trust. The car had read
ing room with the latest Asiatic papers
and American and English journals Con-
nected with the train was a diner" in
which, for 81 cents, l got a better meal
than | have ever had on any American
train, and the service, In general. was
superior to that on our best trunk lines
l wish you could see how clean the
Japanese keep these new Pullmans. They
dust them inside and out, at almost every
stop. They even wipe off the wheels and
rub up the brasses again and again,
during each trip, treating the cars like
so many new babies, brought out for dis
play. The road from Dalny to Mukden
+rao
line will be substantially built.
Railroad Building In Manchuria.
The Japanese are good railroad con-
structors. They are putting UP magnih-
cent bridges with the finest of stone work
abutments, and are finishing them with
steel work made In America. The roads
are ballasted WIKI quartz and other hard
rock, broken into pieces the size of a
sugar lump. All along the line from FORT
Arthur northward quantities of this bal
last are to be seen. 1t is corded up into
mounds and rectangular piles, carefully
smothered over. The piles are painted at
the corners. and they have their num-
bers In white paint on top, and so ar
ranged that If any Of the stone should be
stolen, 1t could be detected. This stone is
broken by the Manchurian Chinese They
cover the faces of the hills like blue ants,
hammertng the rocks into pieces. They
break them up at some distance from the
road, and carry them down in baskets
slung to poles which rest on their Shout
ders. The earth for the embankment Is
transported in the same way. There are
no scoops and steam shovel; and Chinese
cheap labor seems to serve quite as we'll
The stations are we'll made, with plat
forms and stone facings; and all the i'm
provements seem built to stay.
Around the World in 38 Days.
When Jules Verne wrote his story,
Around the World in Eighty Days"
1t appeared. to the ina gination as the
most visionary of impossible voyages.
1t was like the remark of Puck, the
fairy. when he said he would put a
girdle round the earth in 40 minutes
Both Of tn csc feats have been more
than accomplished. BY the telegraph
and cable. We can outdistance Puck;
\ and by means of the Trans Sib erian and
South Manchurian railways can cut
the time Of Phineas Fogg down more
than one-half. The trip around the
world has been made in 40 days. and
by the latest time tables just distrib-
uted on this part of the TRANSIT
berian systemfi 1t can be done in 49,
Let me take you on 3S-day-trip
round the world. We shall start in the
Pullman sleeper here in Dalny at
a. m. Monday morning. On Tuesday
We huu OURSELVES at Hardin, and go
east on the international train de luxe
for Moscow. We reach there in II
days and FL hours, after starting, and
take another sleeper across Europe
for Calais and London. We are there
inside Of IA days, or just two weeks
from the time we set foot on the train.
Allowing six days for crossing the At
lantio We reach New York in 20 DAVIS.
Five more take us to Seattle or Van
couver. and from there a ten-day voy-
age on fast express steamer will
bring US to Yokh ohama, Japan. We
can cross the Island of Hondo to Shin
onoseki by rail In "a hours and there
get steamers which in two days will
take us back to Dalny, our starting
point.
In every part of this trip we have had
az good meals as at a frst-class Amer
lean hotel, and we are as safe as in any
American steamer or railroad You can
now go from Pekin to London in one
more day than from Dalny to London,
and the comforts are equally great. The
Pekin trains traverse the province of Pc
chill and cut through the great Chinese
wall where 1t runs down into the sea
at Shanhaikwan. Thence they cross Man
churia to Mukden, where connection Is
made with the South Manchurian sys-
tenn.
The frst-class fare from Mukden to Pc
kin Is under $18, and from Dalny to
Shanghai by steamer 1t Is just $20 The
fare to Moscow Is $142, including the
sleeping berth fees, and the meals on the
diner, with very low a la carte rates.
One can have a full dinner at a fixed
price. or give orders for portions at the
following rate: Soup, IL cents; fried fish
-. l. fr%A L.