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THE OMAHA SUNDAY HKE: JANUARY 2. 1910.
China's Railroad Facilities Being Developed to Meet Growing: Needs
If
kjyt'll -ri,
.... ;-(,7-
TVoin.5 ate Guarded by Soldier
(Copyright, 1909, by Frank O. Carpenter.)
IIANOHAI, 190T. (Special Corre
spondence of Th Bee.) lntr
Ing the lust few month I have
traveled ovw most of the new
railways of China. Tho empire
has on the Iron boot of mod-
iii wi ..Kress, and !t Is laying out roads
in every direction. It has already more
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BnMBnHMi
Crvtotv-Kowloon, Rilway: Now $uilditid
This view Kowloorv opposite flonkoa
constructed in 1ST6 by a British company
at a tost of $100,000 und waa operated but
a few weeks. The native officials were
oppoued to railroads and they tried to keep
out this opening wedge. Tho story hhs
they paid a coolie f 100 to allow himself to
be run over by the cara and killed. At any
rate, the man threw himself in front of
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Utter and it tooK me three days. By this walled towns, and tho big walled oltlea
new road the Journey can be made in six of Suchow, Chinklang and Nanking. Su-
V
ifoerideji freight in the heart of Chm
hours or lens.
The road starts from Teklng, and, until
it nears the mountains, the country is
comparatively smooth. It then rises rap
idly, and the track ascends 1.800 feet in
ten and one-half miles. At the pass Itself
a tunnel about three-quarters of a mile
chow has more than a half million peo
ple, Chlnkiang has alrnobt as many and
Nanking is bigger. That country is a bee
hive of Industry and the road is well
patronized.
Of late much trouble has occurred. Tli
Nanking-Shanghai railway has been hav-
the cara and was taken out mangled and
than 4.0 0 miles in operation and double dead. I'pon this a mob tore up the road
ton T.!. ".T, PrJCTn . C0l,Btru7 8,1l ,he 0fficial8 decldwl " shoM be bo1" bent-"e. nd it .eemed to me they looked the full kernels, embedded in sugar. Tho Inhabitants. It Is the great center of the Jong h been costrueted, through which lg difficulty with the people along Its
j . ..... iucu. . w , , ..itr,:. ,m iiiiiu ibcd yi as bvuuuvivis VII lllio IIUIII ITtTC r. I Jg 1 1 II. .aittVttll 1 1 91U 5, U I1HH million OT IllOIB
give easy access to oil the big cities, and. The railway from Siianhaikwan to filled with coolies, who were about as bad ' ' camels nasalnK It each vear. The road will
additions which are bound to Tlentxin. or rather that part of It from otl as the cattle in our stock cars at home. Road to tbe (ireat Wall. . nave a considerable traffic in currvlne
will eventually gridiron the the Kaiping coul mines to Tientsin, was They had boxcars, which were entered at While in Peking I learned much about meat, furs and grain from Mongolia to
constructed about ten years later, being lne ens Dy doors so low that one had to me new rauroau, wnicn is now building Peking. It will also take tea to tin
as a tramway, with cars hauled steep to get through them. The cars had through the great wall on into Mongolia. MongolH. The present plan is to extend
with the
come, fhey
country.
Today the Chinese have the poorest rail- started
way facilities of ull the great nations, w hnmoa hil finally dimmed to a steam no seats, and the passengers either stood -'his Is a branch of the Imperial railway It across the Gobi desert to Lake Knlkal
Their empire Is larger than the United railroad. This scheme was backed by LI or sat on thelr baggage. All the cars were system and It is being constructed out t.f where It will connect with the Trans
Ktates, and it has four times our popula- iung Chang and Wu Ting-fang, and its Wf" 'Hied, and the road is said to be the profits of the Mukden-Peking line. It Siberian railway, and -form the shortest
iNevennoiess. its railways comnure ,.i,,i,,ni raniial whs IlT.O.000. The English Degins at rening ana goes norinwara past route to Europe. It will put Peking within
the trains pass under the great wall. This
road Is well built, although It has been
planned by Chinese engineers and con
structed) entirely by Chinese labor. It will
cost about $16,000,000 to extend ' it to the
Siberian boundary.
tlon.
with ours In the ratio of ubout one mile.
engineer In charge was W. C. Kinder,
During the trip lunches were brought In the Ming tombs to tho Nankow pass. "One thirteen or fourteen days of London, and
( blna'a'Itlur Railroad Center.
China has many cities, already large,
which are bound to grow enormously
through the new railroads now projected
iv iij. iiu nave now almost ju.wji wllo unta now nag haj the control of the - eon- auu Kirnij-uvg umtrs mc uii-eiy me time to new loru Dy rast express train anti building. The chief of theHe are Pc
mues o,t railways. When China Is In us Kri,at coni mines at Kaiping and prac- ",ol:u ul ana iwwis, we naa ouiu, ana a connection nas oeen matia wun and steam will be about twenty days.
full swing she -will need 012.000 miles, and ,i,.iiv (f the Peklnir-Bhanhalkwan-Mukden candled eltron In the shape of little green the Mongolian city of Kalgan on the other When I visited the Nankow pass a few
hr iron track mll.uge will not stop at , v.tm When Mr Kinder changed Da"s and IU;lol" English walnut meats, side of the great wall. Kalgm has SO.'OO years ago I traveled-by donkey and mule
Ann ,ui J
J , Wll,WI,
On Ike Mniii'liuriuu Mallways.
1 began "my railway travel in China on
the chief Manchurlun system. I landed
at Dulny and went north to Mukden. The
trip was over the road built by the Rus
sians and remodeled by the Japanese. It
Is 1,10 miles lung und goes north to Har
bin, where It connects with the Trans
Mlberian system, taking passengers from
1'alny to London in sixteen days. This
road came to Japun at the ciose of its
war with Russia. It ia now financed and
operated by the Japanese and ia a living
evidence tt their ability as practical rail
way manager. Its tracks have been en
tirely raiold, ajid that with American steel.
New bridges have been put up, using; ma
terial ordered from the United Btates,
and the rolling stock is mostly American.
The exproas trains have Pullman cars,
' lighted by electricity, and thai travel la
as comfortable u anywhere Id tbe world.
his horse road to steam he was afraid to
order an engine from abroad, for fear that
the anti-progressive officials would object.
Bo he made up a locomotive out of scrap
Iron and used it. This locomotive is still
kept in the shops at Kaiping. It Is labeled
"Rocket of China," and It should huve a
place in any national museum which the
empire may build. Later on locomotives
were ordered from the United States, and
after some years one was built at Kaiping.
When the latter was being painted the
Chinese workmen decorated the smoke
stack with two big eyes. Upon Mr. Kinder
being asked whly they did so the men re
plied: "Kngine must have eye. No have eye
no can see. No call see, how can walkee?"
Nevertheless, Mr. Kinder blotted the eyes
off tbe engine.
Cnlon Block, a Bridge.
This first line originally came from Kal-
New Presbyterian Church at Minden
7k- ;TT".m . pm to the Pel rlv.r. being used for car-
., . rvlnff coal down to the Taku at the
its net earning were L par ooct on the
common Mock, Tbe chief officer of the
road ax Japan, bat the present policy
Is to lut Chine for all ubordlmU poal
tlorim It la found tha thev u ahMLMir
the citv
and mora experienced, - They apeak the j '
languag of the country and do better In
handling th trafflo.
y JVw Road to Klrla.
A branch of this Manchurlan railway la
'ni Klrln, which lies north of Mukden
eirjy or 100 mile to the eastward. Kerln
ha 100,000 population. It is surrounded by
a rich agricultural country and 1 a great
lumbar enter. The new road ha been
financed by a combination of Chines and
Japanese capitalists, and Japan la lending
moat Of th money. Th civil engineers are
taken from both nations, but th road will
mouth of that Btream, where it was att
erward extended to Tlen-Tsin, and by
the order of Ll JIung Chang a flue
bridge of stone and steel was constructed
to bring the tracks across the river Into
This was just about compieiea
when tbe trade unions of Junlt and boat
men objected nnd raised such a fuss that
IA gave out an order that the bridge
sHould be destroyed. He gave up the
project of bringing the road into the city
and located hi depot on the opposite
Id of the river. That same depot tlll
stands. I landed there during my recent
stay at Tlen-tsln, but was able to cross
on a bridge which bad been made over the
Pelho. This old Kaiplng-Tlen-sln road
la now a part of the Imperial railway to
north China. It ba been extended to
Peking and forms one section of th
trunk line to Europe. The road was
built with capital borrowed from ureal
loan amounting
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--T, film
king, Tientsin. Hankow, canton, Nanking
and Shanghai. Another railroad center
will be Chengtu, the capital of the province
of Szeeheuu, In western China, and an
other will be Yunnan, the capital of the
province of the same name, in the south
west. At all these places railroads are
either In operutlon or In ' projection and
eventually the iron tracks will go out
from them like the spokes of a wheel.
Tientsin will be a second New York. It
lias already a million, and Is growing like
B green bay tree. It lies near the coast
of the Gulf of Chlhll and Is the chief cen
ter of trade for north China, with the
enormous coal fields of Hliensl and Shunsl
tributary to It. It is on . the trunk line
from Canton to Europe, and Is the chief
port for the capital. It has a connection
with the Hankow-Peking line, and Is now
building a road south ward, through Shan
tung to Nanking, on the Yangtse Kluug.
Another road, a little further eastward,
will strike the river at Chinkiitng. und
this will eventually be continued south to
Canton, making a great trunk line through
eastern China. . That railway will puss
through some of the richest lands of the
world, and It will have the traffic of mil
lions. It ought to pay almost us well as
tnus in the curly days of the California
gold discoveries.
3
Nankin Connection.
The railway from Tientsin to Nankin,
la fast approaching the Yellow river, ami
the cars will he running to that sir. am
Dy the first of the year. Its
section will be built by German engineers,
and the Germans are supplying the money.
Their part of that road is 3i!0 miles long.
It gees from Tientsin to the southern
line. Several Chinese have been run over
and killed, and In each case the villagers
have stoned the train. Last week thirty
five windows in one of the passenger
trains were broken, and the week before
nineteen. The viceroy has warned the peo
ple that this must be stopped, and that
stopped it will be, If the heads of the
stone throwers be cut off to do so. The
trains are guarded by soldiers and all dan
gerous characters are arrested on Bight.
The express trains have dining cars, with
excellent meals and low prices. I give you
some Items from a bill of fare I had on
my last trip over the line: "Breakfast, 80
cents; luncheon, 60 cents; hot or voA
Joint, i cents; sandwiches, 2 cents, and
hot toast, 1 cent. A cup of coffee costs 6
cents and tea 2 cents."
.ew Hatlronda on the Yangta.
A number of new tullwuys are building
along the Yangtse river. In another let
ter 1 have written of the trunk line from
Hankow to Con ton for wliich the Ameri
cans once had a concession. That is being
built southward from the city of Wu
chang, which lies opposite Nankow on the
other side of the Yangtse. Another road
is to be built from Nankow along the
liver west to It-hang, and thence on to
Chengtu. This Is the famous Szechueti
road, in the loan of $7,000,0u0 of which our
American capitalists are demanding a.
share. It will be eventually extended to
the extreme western borders of China, and
then, as a military line, to Lussa, Tibet.
At present il is only In a state of projec
tion. A road is to be built from Pukoii,
on the Yangtse, westward to Hsinyanji,
on the Hunkow-Pekiug rullroad, connect
ing the .Shuughai sysH'in with the great
Peking-Hankow trunk line, and another,
as 1 have said, is being built north lu
Tien-tsin.
About half way up the Yangtse, floiu
Nanking to Wuchang. Is the walled city o.'
Klukiang, a great ceulei for porcelain and
tea. It lies near the Povanii lake and Is
n.irllnr.t abollt eighty-five miles from the big city
of Nunchung. The lalter town contains
over u million lnhubliants and is one of
the chief business places in eX'hlua. A rail
way is now building between these two
rude centers. It should be com
pleted and in operation by the time thli
be Chines.
In addition to this Una, preparations are Url.ain. the orlrinal
makinc for constructing a standard gauge t0 about $12,000,000. Th construction was
road to Antung. on tn border of Korea, man-d tv the Chinese government and
and ther oonnecting with th Korean rail- the entlr cos. was only a llttl over
way system. Ther is already a two-foot j 22,000,000, or about $28,000 a mile. Its
traok running over this route. Thl will profits hav already been $5,000,000,
b torn up, and where the new road line or about $9,0UQ gold per mile, and that
Is laid, the Trans Siberian train will be within a space of ttn year. The road has
shifted to It and will go directly to An- an Immense freight traffic, and It handle
tung. There they will be ferried over th about half 'th trade of Tlen-tsln.
river then go on down the roads already A
Good PssMsger Accommodations.
I hav recently traveled over the most of
this railway, and, as far as the Chinese
end of it 1 concerned, I can recommend
it. The first class cars are comfortable.
T
HE first Presbyterian church evening the celebration was oncned bv a feat lire at flip ripr.lrn.tni v riTAminlf! w;i
congregation of Minden, dedi- pipe organ .cital on the now $2,000 pipe an original poem by Rev. C. A. Lonnqu'st
vi?u no new tio.iw cnurcn sev
eral weeks ago. All the other
organ. The dedication was In charge of of the Swedish Luthern church near Axtell.
churches o'f the city had closed Iiev" ScnalbIe ' Bur1iname, Kan. Funds This makes two modern church buildings
their services for the occasion were raised sufficiently that the church in tho city of Minden. There are also a
and joined In the ceremonies. On Saturday was dedicated In the evening. One of the large number of frame churches.
Curious and Romantic Capers of Cupid
built through Koieu to Kusan, within a
night's lid.- of "Japan. This will bring
Toklo into laiiroud communication with
Europe.
Kraut Makdea to Peking
I stopped some tlm at Mukden, and They ar dlvlded ,nt0 compartments, open-
thence went by express to Shanhalkwan,
Tlen-tsln ana Peking. Th depot facili
ties of Mukden ar Indescribably bad.
There are no arrangement for baggage
und passenger must stand out In the
rain while waiting for the trains. The
cars were crowded and I had difficulty in
getting accomodations. There was no
sleeper, and the passengers for Tien-tsin
and Peking were forced to sit up all night.
To avoid this I stopped off at Shanhalkwan
where th road goes through the, great
all, and took th day train on the
rawing morning.
ing upon an aisle. The seats run almost
act oss th car. and on can He down, If
It 1 not too crowded. In th middle of
each coach Is a drawing room, with tables
and chairs, and with sofas at the ends.
Tb cars are well lighted; in th winter
they ar heated by steam, supplied by a
boiler in a freight car attached to th rear
ot th train. Th water for the boiler Is
pumped lu by hand.
During my Journey to the Chinese capital
A
Wedding- In a Print Shop.
MARRIAGE performed amid
the rattle of typewriters, the
click of telegraph Instruments
and the steady grind of lino
type machines In the St. Louis
Republlo office early Saturday
brouii.w to a successful termination the
courtship of Miss Elsie Barton and Harry
Wright of Shelbina, Mo. The event is
featured by th Republic as a "beat."
Ther was a copyboy for the rlngbearer.
The telephone operator acted as brides
maid and the staff photographer took the
wedding picture. A "devil" from the com
posing room conducted the couple to the
corner where th ceremony took place.
Printers, pressmen, reporters, editors. m.
I was much interested in the passengers.
HI ..... ; ., n. .. ki.u nl.... ffUlula .. . . ,,
j0l luiiifiuKu uiu vr, iniini aim ing miscellaneous nuinan equlp-
and other Chinese gentlemen, all of whom ment of a newspaper office made uo the
ha roa.i fr. x(,.v,t . Kh.ni,. n,.- er dressed In brocaded silk gowns, big guests.
IS well built nd fairly well managed. The blaclc bool nd ,ku" cap" of eat,n- n Even lhd charivari was rranged.
All
conductor and trainmen are Chinese, as ,hB Utier Wer Wue bulton"' n"',n"ig tho pieces of metal In the composing room
u. ii. c riuiiTur. inn, v.!,,!!?. u- empiuyra ana rurnisned th noisiest
men, w ho. In the' solitary grandeur of their noise Imaginable.
paint, powder and gorgeous silk clothes. "Oh, I'm so glad w ar married at last,"
sat with the toes of their little club feit said the bride with a sigh of relief. 'I
resting on the floor. There were a scoi was Just sfrald that something might hap-
of foreitn men In European dress, and one pen any minute to stop us. My folks have
or two foreign woim n. There was h1m n objected to our marriage on account of my
Msnchu glii. ith her hair done up m two ago, but I am old enough to know that I
"'"" "i" u- hi nt-r neua, una love itarry, ana that s enough. Isn't It
are also the station masters snd laborers.
The district through which we went Is In
fested by brigands and w had soldiers
on the cars as well as at the stations,
landing at Shanhalkwan, we wer In
China proper, and from thence on to Tien
tsin we rode over the first railroad suc
cessfully operated on Chinese soil. 1
t hin' rirat Railroad.
know how a wedding might take place at
that hour, wtileh was close to midnight.
The reporter was sympathetic.
The ruse by which Ihe bride got away
on the train with her sweethfurt is a new
one In the history of such affairs, tier
folks have been watching her constantly,
she says, for fear that she would slip away
with Hurry.
Filduy it was necet-sary for someone to
lake a package from her home lo the store
of her brother, a jeweler in Shelhinu. There
seemed to be no one to take It, as the little
towitj has no messenger service.
Miss Elsie volunteered to do the errand
herself. r;he dropped In at the home of a
girl rhum and telephoned to Harry, tell
ing him that she would be able to catch
the train, which usually arrives In St I -ouU
at 5 o'clock.
Harry didn't need any further details. He
finished up tho business he had on hand
and caught Ihe train. Elsie dropped Ihe
package at her brother's and hurried f-r
the station.
Portula ttnri-n, Weds.
Baron, working as a street car conductor
in Sun l-'rane'seo. rescued Miss Hogue from
injury, when, alighting, from his car, she
slipped and fell in front of a big truck.
She gave the young conductor .her card
and Huron getting on his feet financially,
short y after, called upon the girl whose
life he had i-uvtd.
lie made fcreat headway In his suit, for
with him It was a case of love ut first
sight, and finally his family became, so In
terested that last hummer they sent to a
Sail Francisco bank making inquiries into
lie- uncial standing of the girl the heir to
the Perugiun title wished lo marry.
The facts gleam d from the bank In
trusted with the investigation were such
that the '.nxl scruples of lljrnn'a family
were ovi-rcnnie and arrangements quietly
inude fur the wedding.
The bride's father Is vice president of
the West Pacific railway, and is well known
throughout western railway circles.
it was while making a trip through th
United States a year ago that Huron
dropped from sight and being unable to
get Into communication with his relatives
h,iinJs.. Ul.... i . , .. .
"""""" ' niiuiiiuiiK, me province winch In-portunt
inr. i iaiui us ineir spnere or Influence. pei (
..: souin.ru section or jvi miles will ex- letter is published. The road was laid
lend from Shniiliiii to the little town of out by Japanese servcyors and the con-
PiiKoti, opposite Nanking, on the other side sti action will he exceedingly cosily. There
of the Yangtse. It will be built by the ure three Japanese civil engineers, each of
British, who claim the Yangtse valley us whom has a score of Japanese assistants,
the chief field for their Investments. and every assistant has a Jap or so as a
This railway will be licO miles Ions? and servant. At present It takes, according lo
every bit of It through a richly poijulal.d the stage of Ihe water, from twenty-foui
territory. Its ordinary passenge.- tiatflc hours lo two days to go from Klukiang lo
will be further added to by thousands of Nniiehung. When the road Is finished the
pilgrims, who will use it to visit the grave Journey eun be inude In less than three
of Confucius, near which It runs. The road hours. j
passes through the great stales of Chill, .
Anhwel and Kiangsu. It will be the short- '" Southern China,
esl line between Shanghai and the Trans- number of Important railway propeels
Siberian road und will form the illr?cl a"' u"'l''i' Wly 'n southern China. The
line lo Peking. It Is hoped that it will be ci"' t "f these Just now Is the short line
open to traffic by mil.
Miss Yergl.Ia Hogue, daughter of Virgil hud to go to work. When he was lu strait- seven hours.
till ra WAN U fcl....lr Viulc.l v .. o,.n. ..(.!....
Th first track ever laid Inl this coun- -ho m. namainon
lcl
V
... - ...... .....v,. iiiv nines. xne aeeollcl l-lil. rrl y.iri..
running from Shanghai to the port of d im,i ,nv i,. . ,
They sat on straight backed, rild
Weoaung, on (h Vaiigtie-IUang. It was silks.
dear?"
Reaching St. Louis, almost strangers In
th town, the marriage license office closed
and appureutly no minister available, the
young coe.pi appealed to a reporter
Hogue. the western railway magnate,
crowned queen of the Golden stale ut the going out and getting a Jol
recent IV r tola festival in San Francisco
and Carlo L. Baron, the son of the Count
ess Cesar of Perugia, Italy, wer married
Hecember 14, at the New York home of
ened circumstances he showed his pluck by
H" could speak
English well and secured a position as
extra conductor on tho San Francisco street
railway system.
It Is said Baron's family Is wealthy, and
r
the bride's parents, on Fifth avenue. The that the present ' match H not the bolster-
wedding Is said to be the culmination of lug up of un impoverished title by the ac- here and there,
a romance, oaiing irom last January, when tjulrement of American millions.
froi'i Hongkong lo Cunlon. This is the
Canton-Kowloon road. It will be less
than u hundred miles long and through
villages nil the way. Canton contains
2,ixkUiiO or more. Hongkong Is ojie of tin-
It 'Is uln-udy tho ,h'''f ports of tho world, and the road will
soon need double tracks to carry the
tralfic. The trunk line from Cunlon to
Piking will be an enormous feeder for
this little line, and several other toads
already projeetedd will all contribute to
ll. Many railways will be continually built
from Canton north and south, and it is
bc.i:nd to be one of the world's chief rail
road centers.
The ..ame is true of Yunnan, toward
which Ihe French are constructing u
road f:om Tongkong, and to which the
Burmese iallwa)s will probably come. Th
roads are to be extended from Yunnan
north to the Yangtse, passing through th.i
town of Chunking, which I about i'.flnn
mllea un thtt river anH nth..,. r,.a4 u III
this week. It 1s under the control of the , fll opl.n uu ll)e .normou. ,.,.,,,
viceroy, and it is 175 mites long and cost deposits of that territory.
bout $17 00.000. The fare. ar. low. rang- , addition to .11 thl. are the German
Ing from $X to $i. and the fast trains go railways, whbih have been construct-!
from one place to the other In about f,,mi Klao,l,i.,i n... i. . ....
In the past the trip had lo (I, iman hinterland of Klmnmn. 'i-i.
be made by bout on the Yangtse. and the already comprise about 274 miles of track
time was two days. Riding over this rail- ! when completed thev will- probably be
road Is Ilk going through Holland. The thiee times as long. They will cost all
country Is cut up by canals and Is even told, over $.,000,OuO The lines already
more thickly settled than Holland, but built are doing well, ti e stock yielding 4'
you can visit almost every man s house In per cent dividends. The concessions In-
a bout. The water Is held back by dikes -iuda in. rii,i .. .Ii .i.,..oi ...
- - " " ' .( U,MWll
Jt has many villages of hlng within ten ndiea nr. each .m. ,.t .k.
gray mud buts, thatched or tiled, frequent track. FRANK O. CARPENTItsw
Khniiahel'a His; Railroad.
Another Important ralhvuy center, which
will boom under the new conditions is
this city of Shanghai.
Paris of China, and It begins to take on
the aspects of a European city. It has
big business blocks, mighty factories and
magnificent residences. Along the line of
railroad construction It is moving more
rapidly than any other city In China, ll
has recently been connected with Hang
chow, one of the wealthiest cities of east
ern China, and n railroad Is building from
there to Ihe seacoast at Nlngpiv Another
linn Is projected to Chlnkiang, and th
trains are now roniilng over the trunk
road which passes through Suchow and
Chinklang lo Nanking. Other projections
are planned north an south.
I came over the Nunklng-Shunghul road
