THROUGH MANCHURIA.

Evening Post, Volume LXVIII, Issue 61, 9 September 1904, Page 5

THROUGH MANCHURIA.

A DESCRIPTION OF MUKDEN. Mr. Lynch, in his book on tho Far East, gives a very interesting description of Mukden and other places referred to in today's cable messitges. Ho writes : "On tlw afternoon of tho first day of tlie journey, Mukden, the capital of Manchuria, is reached; a-t least them fc a station of tlint name, but tlte town itself is a couple of miles aw»y. It is situated in tho middle of a great- alluvial plain, dotted with many villages of the typical Chinese pattern, w'wa. screen of trees mound them. Mukden is supposed to have a population of 260,000 inhabitants, witb a largo proportion of officials, retired and oxpectattfc mandarins, who live m magnificent houses and make a great display Tho streets are wider and cleaner tlnui those of Pekin, and tho whole town hm lite ttppowrnitoe of being in a most' prosperous and flourishing coiKhIkm. Tho innar waH is over throo miles long, faced with brick, attfl has high tow. ers on tho gates and angles. Mukden is probably tho greatest market for furs in the world, and attracts buyers from all parts of China. Even making allowanco for tho extra price put on for strangers, furs can bo purchased very cheaply Here. In the ccntro of the town i» a handsome Imperial Palace, with yellow tiled roof similar to that at Pektn. Tho natives of Mukden liare taken more kindly to Christianity than thoso of almost any other city in China. There is a fine mission hospital, which is well equipped, and medical and surgical school, where young Manchus get a four yew*' coarse of training. . . . There is largo military establishment n«u* Mukden, wnich would command the town as completely as if the troops were actually m occupation hwide tho wails. If the luwwums are not satisfied with this, all that they would have to do under the piwcnt arrangement would be to Ihiild a short branch line into tho town "'lMiteihigj tiiro stations ,beyond Mukd*n, a nictAiresque ptoce surrounded by hiH»,>i»

one of the places which wiU before long become quite aa important town. Tho Russians have gone about making it co with their usual thoroughness. A fine church, with green cupola and golden, cross, is already completed, around which lines of etotio and timber buildings ace springing up. Tho usual barrack*, of course, are finished, but the buildings already erected were not all occupied, and seemed to be merely prepared for a population that waa yet to come. "On tlie afternoon of the second day, Kharbin is reached, and to tho possengers going through there is a couple of hours' wait, but it is well worth-stopping at, if one has tho time to spare and » interested in seeing what Russian energy and enterprise can accomplish in a short time. Approaching Kharbiu there are increasing sijjne of luxuriant husbandry and a denser population. At tiio railway catlings one can see the black soil is from six feet to eight feet thick, so that one is not surprised at seeing the swathes of rich 'harvest that cover ite surface. Whe» the train drew up at the station there waa a scene of bustlo. and activity that one wa*» quite unprepared for. Tho scene around the station surpassed anything even in Port Arthur. The- waiting-rooms were thronged with people, evidently encamped there in tho usual way the Russians have of waiting for their 'trains ; a crowd of droski men clamoured for custom outside ; there was tumult in the crowded refreshment room, and the whole scene was anything but what one would expect to find in Manchuria, There was an old town of Kharbin, but this only existo as a dilapidated suburb to the westwa.fd of tho new town. Tho present city is bhe growth of three years. It lias a large public garden, a theatre, a kiosk,, a meteorological observatory, a cathedral, and a big building for the officcra of the Russo-Chinese Bank, the institution which was the immediate means of bringing the town into existence. Here, in Now Kharbin, is the headquarters of the railway staff, with the enormous station, buildings, and workshops nnd engine-sheils, oapablo of accommodating an immense number of locomotives. Along the Bund, factories arc springing v « j and flourinills fitted with American machinery aro working to their full caiiacrty. They are. ideally situated for production and distribution, being dose to railway and river. Tho wiole town is lighted by electricity, and tramways are in course of construction. "Leaving Kharbin, the line crosses tht> Sungari Rirer by an immewro bridge, and for some hoars goes through level plains of rich cultivation similar to thoso south of the town. Then gradually the cultivated portion gives placo to patches of prairie, and the prairie inczvaACs until it is only patches of cultivation, and in the evening one is going through an expanse of luxuriant grassland, over which roam immense herds of cattle attended by the aborigines on their diminutive ponies.