Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-01-02
AMENcAN FkE1fHT IM THE HEART Or Cf1nA


ingS were 1.6 per cent On the common
stock. The chief officers Of the road are
Japanese. but the present policy is to
use Chinese for all subordinate positions.
1T is found that they are cheaper and
more experienced. They speak the lam
.uase of the country and do better in
handling the traffic.
A branch of this ManchuIian railway
is to Kirin, which lies north of Mukden
eighty or one hundred miles to the east
ward. kirin has 10000 population. 1t
is surrounded by rich agricultural
country and is great lumber center.
The new road has been financed by a
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.
u
IN addition to this line preparations
are making for constructing a standard
gauge road to Antung. on the borders OF
Korea. and there connecting with the
Korean railway system. There is already
a two-foot track running over this route.
This will he torn up. and where the new
road line is lad the TranS-Siberian trains
will be shifted to it and will go directly
to Antung. There they will be ferr1ed
over the river and then go down on roads
already built through Korea to F'usan.
within nights ride of Japan. This will
bring Toxic into railroad communication
with Europe.
stopped some time at Mukden. and
thence went by express to Sllanhaikwan,
Tientsin and Picking. 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 were crowded and I had difficulty in
getting accommodations. There was no
sleeper. and the passengers for Tientsin
and Peking We're forced to sit up all
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 we'll 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 we'll as at the sta
tons. Landing at Shanhaikwan. we
were In China proper. and from thence
on to Tientsin we rode over the first
railroad successfully operated on Chinese
soil.
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-Kiang. 1t was
constructed in 1876 by a British COM
pany, at cost of 100000, and was OPP
Grated but few weeks. The native Off
Gals were opposed to railroads and they
tried to keep out this opening wedge
The story goes they paid a coolie 500 to
allow himself to be run over by the cars
and killed. At any rate. the man threw
himself In front of the cars, and was
Yv,HS,
a mob tore up the road and the officials
decided it should be abolished.
The railway from Shanhaikwan to
Tientsin. or rather that part Of IL from
the Kaiping coal mines to Tientsin, was
constructed about ten years later, being
started as a tramway, with cars hauled
by horses, and finally changed to a steam
railroad. This scheme was backed by
Lii Hung Chang and WI Ting-fang, and
it's original capital was S25O,OOO. The
English engineer in charge was w. G.
Kinder, who until now has had the con-
troll Of the great coal mines at ka1pins