Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-07-18
CENTRAL ASIAN ROAD
Russian Soldiers Built Rail-
way to China.
HOW THEY MANAGE 1T
De Lesseps First to Advance Idea
Baked by England.
OFFER OF AMERICAN REJECTED
Drifting Sand and Lack of Water
Occasioned Difficulty Of
Construction.

Occasioned Difficulty Of
Construction.
| BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS
| Special Correspondence Of The Star and the
Chicago Record Herald
kRAsNOvODsK, Turkestan.
| June Is. 1910.
Shortly after the Russian occupation of
Turkestan. in 1865. the necessity of a
railway for the transportation OF troops
and supplies was realized and various
plans were suggested.
In 1873 Ferdinand de Lesseps submitted
| to Emperor Alexander II the details of q
! scheme for a line from Moscow to Cal
cutta, distance Of about five thousand
| miles, that portion which lay west of
India to be built by Russia and the. re-
| mainder by England. De Lessepss formed
a company with French capital to I'M
dertake the preliminary surveys, and the
Russian government gave him a conces-
sion. for six years, while he unfolded the
| scheme, with the promise of permanent
charter and liberal guarantee.
But the British government declined to
concur in the project. When the French
istan they were prohibited from proceed
ing and returned to Europe. After a pro-
longed controversy de Lesseps abandon
ed the project and transferred his at
tention to the Panama canal.
American Offer Declined.
The necessity was too great. however.
to permit the enterprise to be abandoned
In 1870 Russian military engineers sur
veyed the first section to Merv In 1880
Gen. Skobeleff. who had been appointed
chief, was given carte
blanche to go ahead with the work,
which was completed to Samarkand In
1883. and to Andian in 1892
An American contractor named Berry
offered to build the first section at his own
expense. with material from the United
States. and operate it upon completion
for an annual guarantee of $4,000. But
as the road was required for military
purposes chiefly. the government rejected
his proposal
Gen. Annenkoff, controller of the trans
port department of the Russian army
arrangements during the war with Tur-
key. was invited to take charge of the
work.
The Central Asia railway runs from
the Caspian sea, to Andijan, on the
western boundary of the Chinese en-
pire. a distance of 1855 miles. Two hum
dred miles west of Andijan the track
branches off northward to Tashkend. the
capital of Russian Turkestan and the
residence of the viceroy, and thence
extends nofthward and westward along
the shores of the Aral sea to the city
or Orenberg. where it connects with the
great Siberian railway at Samara.
SO it is possible to go from Andijan to
Moscow without changing cars, or to
Vladvostok. the Russian port on the
Pacific, or to Picking or Tientsin. line
has been surveyed from Tashkend east
railroad to Omsk, on the northern
boundary of China, and some time 1t may
be built.
Perhaps the reader may understand the
Central Asia railway with the Union and
Central Pacific lines in the United States.
The great Siberian railway corresponds
to the Northern Pacific or Great North
ern. and some day line will be built
from ConstAntinople to Calcutta, which
will correspond with the Santa Fee or
Southern Pacific, through Asia Minor,
Persia. Afghanistan and British India.
Half Way Across Continent.
The Central Asian railway extends
about half way across the continent of
Asia. over the roof of the world" and
through one of the oldest settled por-
tons of that continent. A scientific COM
mission from the Carnegie Institution, at
Washington, which spent two years
among the ruins and the deserts Of Khiva
and Kzil-kum, and through the GASES of
Merv, Bokhara and Samarkand, estimate,
from the archaeological evidences, that
this section Of the earth's surface has
been inhabited by human beings for at
least 10000 years, and that several cul-
lures or periods Of civilization have sue
ceeded each other, each with its own in
dividuality.
The principal cities along the line are
Ashkabad, which Is the capital of the
Russian province of Trans-Caspia. Merv.
which is surrounded by twenty square
miles Of ruins; Charjui, Bokhara, Samar-
kand Kokand. Andijan and Tashkend.
There are altogether eighty-f1ve stations.
but most of them are for the convenience
of the railway management rather than
for the accommodation of the public.
Along Persian Border.
Passing southeastward from Kranso-
vodsk on the eastern shore of the Cas-
plan sea, the track follows the northern
boundary of Persia for 30 miles. 1t is
only thirty miles across to that historic
country.
From the city of Ashkabad. fine
wagon road has been built to the sacred
city of Meshed for the accommodation
of multitudes Of pilgrims who visit that
place every year. After leaving Persia
the track trends northeastward to Box
hara and then follows an almost direct
easterly course to the Chinese border.
At Merv branch line runs down to
a place called Kuskh on the frontier of
Afghanistan. where the Russians have
fortified themselves and maintain large
garrison of troops. 1t Is only short
distance from Herat, the second impor-
tant city In Afghanistan, and the Russian
military authorities are always ready to
throw a force of infantry. artillery and
cavalry over this line at a moments
notice.
This f.ct is the cause of great nervous
ness in India and with the British gov
eminent. Afghanistan is a bumper be-
tween Russia and England, and while the
amir is theoretically a protectorate Of
England, it would be convenient for Rus
STA to interfere with the situation in a
serious manner If England should at
tempt to make the relation any closer
Branch Roads Planned.
There are other branch roads con-
templated and surveyed and the material
for their construction is piled up at con-
venient places whenever it may be needed.
England is the only power that Russia
fears and alfhouoh their relations af