The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-01-02

| Copyright, 1909 by Frank G. Carpenter
| (Cop. Tislt. 1905, by Frank @. Carp enter.)
ha1s travelled s.s past few o m09 at
new railways of China. The en-
/ pire has on the iron boots of modern
| progress, and It is laying out roads In
every direction. It has already more
/ than four thousand miles IN operation
and double that in course Of construction
| The systems already under way will give
easy access to all the big cities, and,
with the additions which are bound to
come, they will eventually gridiron the
country.
Today the Chinese have the poorest
railway facilities OF an the great nations,
Their empire In larger than the United
States, and It has four times our popu-
lation. Nevertheless, It's railways COM
pare with ours In the ratio OF about one
100000 miles Of railways. When China
Is in as full swing she win need Oh. 900
miles, and her iron tracks mileage will
not stop at 100000.
On the Manchurian Railways.
began my railway travel In China ON
| the chief Manchurian system I landed
at Dalny and went north to Mul1den.
| The trip was over the road built by the
Russians and remodeled by the Japanese.
1t is HOO miles long and goes north to
Hardin, where 1t connects with the Trans
Siberian system, taking passengers from
| Dalny to London In sixteen days. This
road came to Japan at the close OF its
war with Russia It Ia now financed
and operated by the Japanese ana ID a
living evidence of their ability as prac-
teal railway managers. Its tracks have
ax.A ftnof r
lean steel. New bridges have been put
! up, using materials ordered from the
United States, and the rolling stock Is
mostly American. The express trains
have Pullman cars, lighted by electricity'
and the travel LIS as comfortable as any
where in the world. The road Is well
financiered The gross receipts last year
were about So 100000, and its net earn
ings were 16 per cent on the common
stock. The chief officers of the road are
Japanese, but the present policy Is 10
use Chinese for all subordinate posltions.
It is found that they are cheaper ana
more experienced. They speak the IAN
guage of the country and do better IN
handling the traffic.
The New Road to kirin.
A branch of this Manchurtan railway
is to Kirin which lies north of Mukden
eighty or one hundred miles to the east
ward. Kirin has 100000 population II
is surrounded by rich agricultural
country and is q great lumber center.
The new road has been financed by
combination of Chinese and Japanese
capitalists, and Japan is lending most Of
the money The civil engineers are
taken from both nations, but the ROAD
will be Chinese.
In addition to this line preparations
are making for constructing g standard
gauge road to Autung, on the borders OF
Corea and there connecting with the
Corean railway system. There is already
q two-foot track running over this route
This win be torn up and where the new
road line is laid the trans-Siberian trains
will be shifted to it and will go directly
to Autung. There they will be ferried
over the river, then so down the roads
already built through Corea to F'usan,
within nights ride of Japan. This will
bring Toxic into railroad communication
with Europe.
From Mukder to Pekin.
stopped some time at Mukden, and
thence went by express to Shanhaikwan,
Tien-Tsin and Pekin. The depot facili-
ties of Mukden are indescribably bad.
There are no arrangements for baggage
and passengers must stand out in the
rain while waiting for the trains. The
cars are crowded and l had difficulty In
getting accommodations. Thore was no
sleeper, and the passengers for Tien- Tsin
! and Pekin were forced to sit up all
! all night To avoid this 1 stopped off at
! Shanhaikwan, where the road goes
through the great wall, and took the
! day train on the following morning.
The road from Mukden to Shanhaikwan
| is well built and fairly we'll managed.
! The conductors and trainmen are Chinese,
| as are also the station masters and la
borers. The district through which we
went is infested by brigands and we had
| soldiers on the cars, as well as at the
stations. Landing at Shanhaikwan, we
were in China proper, and from thence
on to Tien-Tsin we rode over the first
railroad successfully operated on Chinese
soil.
chIna's First Railroad.
The first track ever laid In this coun-
try was a little stretch of twelve miles
running from Shanghai to the port of
Woosung, on the Yangtse-Klang. 1t was
constructed in 1915 by a British COM
pany, at a cost of 100000, and was OPP
! Grated but a few weeks. The native Of
fcfals were opposed to railroads and they
tried to keep out this opening wedge.
The story goes they paid coolie 800 to
allow himself to be turnover by the cars
and killed At any rate, the man threw
himself in front of the cars, and was
taken out mangled and dead. Upon this,
decided it should be abolished.
The railway from Shanhaikwan to
Tien-Tsin, or rather that part of 1t from
the Kalping coal mines to Tien-Tsin. was
constructed about ten years later, being
started as tramway, with cars hauled
by horses, and finally changed to steam
railroad This scheme was backed by
Ia Hung Chang and WI Ting-fang, and
it's original capital was $250000. The
English engineer in charge was w. c.
Kinder. who, until now has been in con-
troll of the great coal mines at Kaiping
and practically of the ~Pekin-S hanhailS
wan-Mukden railway system. When Mr.
kinder changed his horse road to steam
he was afraid to order an engine from
abroad, for fear that the anti-progress-
i've officials would object. So he made
IN a locomotive out Of scrap iron and
used IT. This locomotive Ia still kept in
the shops at Kalpins 1t Is labeled
Rocket of China and 1t should have
a place in any national museum which
the empire may build later on locomo-
lives were ordered from the United
States, and after some years one was
built at Kalping. When the latter was
being painted the Chinese workmen dec
GRATED the smokestack with two big
eyes. Upon Mr.. Kinder being asked why
they did so the men replied:
Engine must have eye. No have eye
no can see. No can see, how can
walker"
Nevertheless Mr.. Kinder blotted the
eyes off the engine.
How the Boatman's Union Held Up IL
Hung Chang.
This first line originally came from Kali
MING RI the Pet river being used for car