Evening star., 1937-07-04
RICH ORE FOUND
ALONG AMUR RIVER
Boundary Between Siberia
and Manchukuo Defined
by Course.

ing apprehension about RusSo-Japa-
Dese relations along the border be-
tween japanese controlled Manchu-
4uo and the Far Eastern Republic OF
the U. S. S. r. in Siberia.
THE boundary between Manchu-
kuo and Siberia is defined almost en-
ttrely by the Amur River and its
tributaries" says bulletin from the
peal headquarters of the National
Geographic Society. "Manchukuos
Restern limits are outlined by the
Argun, eastern by the Ussuri and
Dorthern by the Amur River itself,
INTO which the others flow.
Although these names may be un-
FAMILIAR to most Occidental ears, to
he Asiatic their very sound is asso-
edated with business and politics. The
Amur River is the most important
artery OF Eastern Asia north Of China's
eeemlng Yangtze and Hwang Ho. It
has done boundary duty since 1858,
when China ceded to Russia its left
bank. For two and half centuries
before that, it had been a channel for
Russlan eastward colonization of
Siberia. comparable to the Ohio-Mis-
rsslpp channel for westward migra-
hon in the United States In lati-
ade and continental positions it cor
responds to the St. Lawrence,
Compared to Ohio.
The Amur, like the Ohio, is a full
grown river from its very start, for
I Is formed by the confluence of two
sastward-f1owing tributaries the Skilka
and the Argun.
Now the old Trans-Siberian Rail-
way route and a more recently estab-
hshed airline roughly parallel the
Amurs course, running about so or
Is miles north of it. The Trans
6loerlan's other route, a new section
OF double track a couple of hundred
miles north of the original line. fol-
lows the river valley north to its
mouth, bringing added Importance to
the ports of Komsomolsk and Mix
olaeVsk. These are the most eastern
transportation links in a system which
crosses the longest political unit in
the world, reaching more than half
The Amur Valley is the most thick
~ settled region in Eastern Siberia,
YET the population centers are still
widely scattered, and transportation is
a llfe-and-death matter. Siberia's
1olo Man River Amur, plays a lead
ing role IN transport. During its seven
months OF Information under MANY
1eet OF ice, it is frozen highway for
eledges. During its five flowing months
IL Is navgable for 1000 of its 5000
miles. The water communication it
offers would be equivalent in the
United States, to sailing into the
chesapeake Bay and straight up a
heightened Potomac to Kansas City.
Sand Bars Handicap.
Control of this boundary river
serves as convenient exit from either
Siberia or Manchukuo into the Pacific,
Since the chief occupation of both
countries Is export of raw materials.
the Importance Of TRANSFORMATION
channels is obvious The Amur value
Is lessened by the northward trend of
the final fourth of its course, which
places its outlet to the sea as far north
as the upper tip of Sakhalin Island.
location both remote and too addict
ed to freezing over Other drawbacks
70 navigation on the Amur are sand
bars across its mouth and a score of
dangerous rapids in its upper reaches.
Despite the modern trend toward
developing local industries, both ST.
berla and Manchukuo are valuable
mainly as natures storehouses for tim
Der, coal and gold. For about five
months both countries can count also
on some agriculture and Manchukuo's
Coy bean crop has recently acquired in
ternational Importance. Forests in
stead OF farms, however, are the rule |
throughout most Of the area drained bv |
Che Amur, dwarf oak and yellow pine
reward numbering activities around the
middle Amur; and the lower basin,
with an added wealth of cedar, larch |
and spruce, is reputed to contain the
finest timber in Siberia. Much of this
Is found in Taiga, or marshy forest
and, which is virtually untouched.
Furs Lured Pioneers.
Another forest product was what
originally lured Russian pioneers east
ward as early as the seventeenth CEN
tury: Furs, especially sable. FISH
ing, 10 feed the crowded population
Of Japan and contribute to the diet
OF European Russia, now is an i'm
portant activity, especially during the
salmon season. So plentiful are SAL
mon that native tribes catch them
by clubbing, and make clothing of
fish skins.
Amur' is corruption of the Mon
Rollan word for river Black Dragon
RlVer' is the Chinese nickname for
II. This Aslatic dragon boards wealth
more fabulous than that of the dragon
OF the Nibelungs. In the highlands
north OF Nerchinsk there are scattered
gold mines. Farther east are deposits
OF silver and lead, and in the rivers
lower basin are rich gold-bearing
areas again.
RUSSIAN trading posts established
. half-century ago have grown into
cities along its banks. Siberian me-
tropolises Of the Amur Valley are
Blagoveshchensk and Khabaroysk
commercial and cultural centers with
their own theaters and clubs as well as
banks and wharves Russian colonists.
intent on soldering or farming or
numbering, once found it quite con-
venlent to have little colony of
Chinese traders just across on the
opposite bank of the Afnur, and con-
sequently many Russian settlements
have corresponding Mongolian town
Immediately across the water border.
This proximity, having contributed to
commerce, both legal and illegal, is
now promoting hostility"
NJ t..