Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-06-28
A FACTOR
IN Winning BATTLES
Value of Effective Mileage Shown in
Bulletin by National Geo.
graphic Society.

Effective railway mileage has played
a potent part in the winning of mod
ern battles. The Russians have not
only had well equipped. well trained
men to deal with in the eastern war
theater. but also wonderfully. strateg-
icalIy invaluable net Of railways. The
German railways have been instru-
ments of first Importance in every
Russian defeat. On the western front,
where the fighting has been more sta
tionary, the highly developed railway
system of Germany meets the equally
highly developed system of France.
How well France and Germany are pre-
pared to meet the emergencies OF war
transportation as compared with the
other belligerents. is shown in a re-
cent bulletin issued by the National
Geographic Society
The bulletin reads:
Total Length of Railways.
1.-The total length of the railways OF
the world is about 100000 miles, OF
which considerably more than four
fifths falls to the continents of Europe
and America. The United States leads
all the other nations of the world in
the total Of its railroad mileage, though
it Is proportionately behind some OF
them. Belgium, now back OF the y
vaders' lines, is one Oh the pes. sup,
piled territories in the world for rail
communication, and the railways OF
Great Britain. Germany and France are
equal to almost any strain that war
traffic may put upon them.
Europe possesses more than 2l2,ooo
NJ
one third falls to the share of the cen
trail German powers. the German en-
pire and Austria-Hungary. Germany,
with it's 100000 square miles OF area.
has about 10000 miles of rail line. while
France, with its 20s.000 square miles,
has 32,5OO miles of trackage.
Russia and Finland. together. with
total area of 2.O95.616 square miles, or
very nearly ten times the size OF Ger
many. has a railway mileage slightly
less than that of Germany. In great
part, the Russian railways are far
dung trunk lines. and the Muscovite
land nowhere has anything correspond
ing to the Interviewing railway nets of
Germany and France. This lack or
railway facilities has been one of the
disadvantages that the Russians have
had to overcome during the present
war.
Among the other countries of Eu-
rope, Italy has some 1880 miles of
railroad, SO lalQ QOWn as TO pima al
most her entire frontier by rail line
fringe; Spain has about 10000 miles of
track, Great Britain and Ireland have
$4,000 miles and Austria Hungary has
a total mileage Of about $4,000.
Equipment of the United States.
THE United States has about one
third of the total mileage of the world.
There are $1,000 miles of railway on
the continent Of Asia, about $4,000
miles on the continent of Africa and
2l.0O0 miles in Australia. Japan. with
Korea. has only about $500 miles of
railway. and China has a mileage
which totals about the same.
The railways Of Germany, France
and Austria Hungary have been devel-
oped with considerable attention to
their value in times of war. This fea-
ture of railway development has been
especially prominent in Germany.
where the state has presided over the
growth and destinies of steam line
communication. Several great trunk
lines traverse Germany from her west
ern to her eastern frontier. and these
lines are prepared to bear almost any
strain. Along the French border an
an-inclusive network of railroad has
been laid. while German railway lines
parallel the Russian frontier and re-
ceive feed lines from all parts of the
empire"