Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1924-02-20
FEATURES OF AMUR
\: REGION OF SIBERIA
Geographic Society Describes Prov.
ince Which Announces indie
pendent white" Government.
RAILWAY AS VALUED ASSET
Across the River to South Lies
Manchuria.

The Amur region of Siberia. report
ed to have set up an Independent
white" government since the death
of the Russian leader, Nikolai Lenin,
Is the subject of the following bull
letin from the headquarters here of
the National Geographic Society:
1.-THE Amur province. which takes
Its name from the Amur river. one of
the great streams of the world says
the bulletin, Furnished an important
and adventurous chapter in the great
epic of Russia's advance eastward to
the Pacific-an advance ranking. in
its influence on world history. along
side the push of other Europeans to
the western world. :.
Furs Form Eastern Magnet.
THE search for more furs was the
particular sort of trade that led Rus
sian Adventures into Asia, and event
ually took the banner of st. Andrew
there, is reversal Of the popular idea
that trade follows the flag. Adj
venturers began feeling their way
into Siberia from the Trails during the
century after America was discov-
cred. Pushing their way eastward
was not easy in the western half of
Siberia because the drainage was all
across their route and many broad
rivers were encountered But once
past Lake Baikal they soon reached
found nature an ally instead of an
enemy. For the seventeen hundred
or more miles of the rivers length
extend predominantly east and west:
and once on its current the pioneers
found il possible tC reach the far dis
tant Pacific in matter of weeks.
The Amur, then. became the great
highway for Russian migration in the
centuries to follow.
For a time after the early explora-
ton of the Amur a treaty with China
and wars in Europe brought RUSSIAN
activity in far eastern siberia 10 a
Standstill; but from about the middle
OF the nineteenth century onward de-
velopment was rapid, and In that de-
PLACED :. role like that, of our afissis
sippi in the development of our first
west Large, we'll appointed steam
boats were placed in service on the
stream and travellers could go in
comfort for half the year where
short while' before only the crudest
facilities we're available. Little settle
ments and a few Important towns
river. largely in the Amur province.
of which the stream marks the south
ern boundary for some 800 miles
Where China Touches Russia.
Across the Amur to the south lies
China, or rather Manchuria. which,
before the world war, was being rap
idly Russianizcd. Still, the river there
Is truly an international line, and
this was proved, if by. nothing else,
by the extensive smuggling that went
on across it.
1.-THE Amur province is in the same
latitude as Newfoundland and has
climate that in some ways is COM
parable to the climate q that far
northern American land. The winters
are severe, the temperature sometimes
falling to 40 degrees below zero
Fahrenheit. The summers. however,
are hot and at times the thermometer
climbs to above the 100 mark. The
country has extensive forest covered
hills which extend in many places
down to the Amur. Other parts of
the rivers banks, however, are plains
originally covered with thicketS,
which have now been cleared away.
The soil has proved rich and well
adapted to grain growing and to sus-
tanning d verdant growth of grass.
Railway Valuable Asset.
When the Siberian railway was
pushed through at the end of the
nineteenth century and the gigantic
cutoff was made through Manchuria,
il set things back on the Anur for
while. But after the Russo Japanese
war, iuSSld : IOlU OH AhdHCiiui Id NdS
weakened and the empire began building
the western half of the great railroad
Just north of the Amur where il would
be entirely on Muscovite territory. Ire
rnendous hardshiPS were encountered
in traversing boys and forests and
crossing great rivers, but the job was
about completed when the world war
broke out This long stretch of rail-
way paralleling the Amur from fifty
to seventy-fve miles north of 1T is
one of the most valuable assets OF
any government that may be set up
in the Amur region.
Observation-Disclosures. on the middle
Amur. and connected with the Amur
railway by a branch line, is the
metropolis of the province, a town of
about $1,000 inhabitants. Spread out
along the river bank, with its spires
and domes showing against the sky
line. it makes an imposing appearance
to the traveller on the river, espe-
ciaIly since it contrasts so noticeably
with the little river towns. Across the
river is a Chinese town known locally
$ Sakalin, but appearing under nu-
merous aliases on the maps. Many OF
Sakaln's inhabitants, too, have their
aliases, for it is a haven for snug
Elers.
1.-The Amur province is some $50
miles long, and it's greatest width is
$40 miles. Its $4,000 square miles OF
area give it size close to that of