The Ordway new era., 1922-12-22
young woman Bread mercnan. of Siberia.

..,.d BY the National Geographic So
clety, Warrington. ID. C.)
passing of the Far Eastern re
! Of Siberia recalls that this pic.
,uue government, which Moscow
willing to have exist as buffer
toward the Japanese-Occupied
kory around Vladlvostok, was sup
to be built on the model of the
NJ States, but with certain radi-
attachments" 1t is even probable
though the country is federated
the Moscow government, its indi-
tlstic tendencies may continue ;
he pioneer conditions of Siberia
the struggle against them have
lOped an individuallsm in the ST.
lns not unlike that which grew In
EeSterners.
ben the daylight is fading and the
shadows are stretching across the
b one realizes the vastness of 81
panorama Of n gently undulat-
slent sea, green and brown. or un-
b white.
/ area of the Far Eastern repub-
10000 square miles, larger than
and California combined. yet 1t
the southeast corner of Siberia,
Fentleth of the former Russian
fs From Vladivostok, on the
to Verkhne-Udinsk, on the re-
Is western boundary, is more
LOO miles by rail, and little more
oe.thlrd of Siberia has been
d. Usually the train is the only
life. AS far as the eye can see,
fegraph poles stand sentry along
Fndlng railroad, fading away in
Stance.
Twhere now are the scars of
It may be n locomotive, rusty
lalf covered with sand, lying In
tch where it plunged with its hui
freight. 1t may be the skeleton
train, deserted on a side track.
except for the steel framework
rs and trucks. Twisted rails,
ed bridges, or shattered frag-
where an ammunition train has
up, vary the picture.
easant's wagon, with shaggy gal
ponies and the invariable dog
s behind, is n sign that village
y The lamps on the station plat
are gone and semaphores of the
!s stand with broken arms, for
now a moonbeam railroad, run
Rllhout signals or headlights.
Railroad Still Running.
railroad Is the most important
utility of the republic. Poverty
hapldation have overwhelmed 1t,
they have gripped the fallen
OF the barakholka. 1t keeps
q which is about all. With the
ieS which must be overcome, the
is that even that is accom-
passenger coaches are unheated
a'er, windows dirty and broken.
hght fixtures wrenched out
avatories filled with dirt, rough
where once were mirrors, doors
smut or broken off, and the
splintered from being used as
W piocks. The proletariat seems
'h martyrdom to darkness and
saf Eastern republic has 1920
NJ raliroad, exclusive of the l.
.les OF the Chinese Eastern rail-
"nich also belongs to Russia.
"e more of a liability than an
part Of the Transslberian, the
. VI an empire stretching across
a'inents, these miles of road
usess to the Pacific. They are
nan the republic will need for
'ears to come. The 1,43S miles
Alnur road parallel the river
tracts Of virgin forest, a coun-
Gu ~ gold and coal, but undevel-
uuo'ogists say that there is not
,u,le oaI, Stretch along this road
bo., wa, cannot be mined. It was
..ea Tor military purposes. and
e war broke out much of 1t had
"a ballasted.
one travels in Siberia these
~ regular intervals the train
au the conductor plods along
v shouting "Tovarischi-za dro-
II is the call for the "com-
!" pile out and carry sticks
n nelghboring woodpiles to the
'e 1t is a crude study in COM
VI s. ,ne passengers. women and
wei as men, make their way
ta as,oss the fields. Some climb
htnuer' and the fuel is loaded
'ucket brigade at an old.time