El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-01-23
China To Extend Railroads
First Line, Constructed in 1875, Was
DesfrOyed-Lines Today
Cover $500 Miles.
r. ENrnIarfn L HaaLin-
By Frederic y haskln
? AsHNGTON D. c. Jan. %

/ past and present construction and his
| tory and an outline of gigantic plans
now afoot which would change the face
{ of the country. At the present time
there are less than 5000 miles of rail-
ways in all of China sun Vat Sen,
the famous Chinese reformer, hopes to
I be instrumental in building fully $4,000
/ miles of line within the next 10 years,
and in this great undertaking he has
the hearty support OF the republican
government.
First Railroad in 1875.
RailrOading began in China in the
year 1875 with a small, narrow. gagged
line from Shanghai to Wusung, a dis
lance Of 20 miles. 1t was a dismal
failure and would be a poor augury
Tor this phase OF modern. commercial
, ism IN old Cathay were 1t not, in It's
very unusual ending, so typical of that
period, in such great contrast to the
alert spirit of new China. The very
things that the Chinese abhOrred and
resisted a few years ago they now
clamor for the lOudest. This pioneer
railroad in China was intended for
freight and passengers from the sea
up to Shanghai. It was privately
owned and was built without any par
from the Chinese government. The road
did well for a few months, until a Chi
nese was killed by an accident on he
line. The natives then boycotted the
foreign devils" An arrangement was
effected whereby the line should be
managed by the foreign experts under
the direction of high Chinese officials,
for one year, after which definite ad-
justment would be made. Regardless
of profits, however, at the end of ne
year the track and rails were torn up
and with the rolling stock shipped to a
remote part of the already sufficiently
remote island of FOrmOsa, and there
allowed to bleach and rot on the beach,
To cap their deed, these high Chinese
officials RACED the Shanghai depot TO
the ground and on the spot erected
temple to the queen of heaven, IN
order that~ths ground so lately pol
luteted by foreign Witchcraft might
again become sacred
Government Built Coal Road.
Slowly, however, a handful of the
empires leading men began to see the
necessity Of railroads. The idea took
such possession of the celebrated Ii
Hung Chang, in 1886. then vicerOy Of
Chilli, that he caused a line to be
built for the moving Of coal from the
ka1ping mines to TalOu bar, at the
mouth Of the PeihO RIVER, a distance
of possibly 80 miles. 1t was dOubly
remarkable, in view of the Wrecking
of the first railroad, that this little
coal line was made possible by a Chi
nese and controlled by the government.
Two years later a native merchants
company was organized by imperial
to Tientsin. In 1907 another so miles
led the iron horse to the outside of
Pekin's Tartar wall. The entire line
is now link in the Imperial Northern
railways.
Chinese Steel Mills.
Chang Chih-tung, yiceroy Of Can
ton, also believed in railroads and had
a vision of a great trunk line which
would cross China from Canton, at the
southern tip, to ancient Szechuan prov
ince, a distance of nearly 1000 miles
He memOrialized the throne to such
good effect that he was transferred I
to be viceroy of Honan and Hupeh, /
with headquarters at HankOW. and or
is now being built by degrees. In
order to push along construction ana |
make the project entirely Chinese, /
vicerOy Chang put-up the Hanyang steel |
mills at HankOw. Owing to unskilled !
labor, inaptitude with foreign machin-
cry and other causes, the cost of turn
ing out steel rails at Hanyang proved !
to be greater than the price of foreign /
rails shipped over and laid down at
Hankow. 1t is understood that 5000
600 was lost in this venture, but the /
mills are still running with some sue !
cess.
Railway Mileage of China.
The rough outlines of Chinese rail- 1
roads at present are: 1, Chinese East |
ern railway, under Russian control, |
north from kuanchengtZu to Hardin, /
thence east and west to the Russian I
frontier, 1880 miles. 2, South Manchu- I
rian railway, dominated by Japan,
south from huanchengtzu to Dalny and /
Port Arthur, 439 miles, with a branch \
of 1S9 miles from Mukden to Antung, |
besides an additional 100 miles of side
ial Railways of north China, from
to ShauhaikWan which marks
the line between Manchuria and
China, and where the great wall runs
h. r
to Pekin, 522 miles, fed by a spur of
81 miles to YingkaO and a line of i35
miles to kalSan, on the boundary OF J
s. Pekin-HankOw line which
has 755 miles and four little branches;
4, Shansi line, ShihkiOs to Tiayuanfu.
l51 miles; 81 +Germany's Shantung line,
ESQ miles; g. Notwithstanding 1913;
q. Canton kOWlOOn railway, III miles,
Canton to HankOw (unfinished), $50
miles; Yunnanfu continuation of the
French Indo-China line from Hanoi to
Loaki 800 miles.
There are several small local roads,
and the total mileage is between $500
and $500 miles
Revolt Delayed Construction.
The outbreak of the revolution seci-
ously interrupted very important con-
work, particularly from Pekin
TO PukOW, and the extension of the !
lone on the Canton-HankoW and Han
projects. The Canton
HOWlOon line of III miles, being Un-
disturbed by the revolution, was fin
shed and thrown open to the public
n August, 1911. The Hukuang rail-
way loan of $4,000. 900 in which the
he United States participates, was
negotiated safely few months before
he revolt famed. Some interruption
vas caused by the unsettled political
conditions in the standardizing OF the
south Manchurian road. The gage is
)eing Widened from feet inches to
he standard 4 feet II inches, and. a
lumber of grades and curves are being
educed. The HukUang loan, when it
,egins to operate. viii finance the
Janton-H ankOw and Szechuan-Hankow
runk line which, when completed, |
doubtless will do more than any other
me agency TO bind north and south
yh4na to one another.
DIR. sun to Visit the L. :.
DR.. Sun Vat Sens project for the
building of $4,000 miles OF track IN
he next 10 years is still in the very
peculative stage. He has been au-
hOrized by president Yuan Shin k'ai
o act for the republic in this impOr-
ant matter. His first great task viii /
De the securing of foreign capital, | ,
which will necessarily be several hun
ired millions. He will come to the
United States very shortly on this
mission. going from here to England
md Europe
Perhaps it is doubtful if this i'm