ST. PETERSBURG TO MOSCOW.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 18 June 1907, Page 1

ST. PETERSBURG TO MOSCOW.

TIJj night "train do luxe" leaves St. Petersburg for Moscow a t halfpast ten -p.m., arriving at halfpast ten the following morning. The regular Government transSiberian express leaves Mosoow| iwice a week, on Sundays and Thursdays, at ton minutes past twelve a.m., (local time), 'thja can lit train leaving on Wednesdays. By taking- the latter, however, it ia necessary to ;\vait one day at Irkutsk, -while the other two trains with two hoyrs' leeway, connect with the Vladivostock express, and,, except for tho lavatory acocymmoda-* tions, the ordinary express carriages are quit© as comfort-able as the more expensive lighted cars. It* is an oight-day ta-ip without change from Moscow to Irkutsk. At tho latter station, on account of the change of trains, 'it is necessary to secure a now bertH. It will be found more convenient to have the agent in Moscow secure the ticket) by telegraph. It is necessary to watch the Baggage, as/the platform is crowded and thieves are notuncommon. From Irkutsk the train passessouth of Lake Baikal, running very n-tar the water's edge over a hastily constructed road bed which 1 requires constant watching. It is proposed to build a second line further to the south, avoiding thb mountains whi-.h surround the Lake. The run to Harbin is five days without a break, at Karatns-k-aio, th« lino changing from the trans-Baikal to the Chinese Eastern, railroad. At. about eleven a.m., (local time) tlb train reaches Harbin, where those going- south must change to tho old ' Fort Arthur iine k Ihu express going through co -*'ladivostock, arriving there thirty-six lours later. Thn south-bound ,train leaving Harbin at half-past ten p.m., for Changchun (Kwangehentzu/, dees not compare with those on the main line, consisting of ordinary post cars. Olrangehun, the last station on tho Russian line, is reached at ten o'clock tho next morning. A knowledge of (French or Ger-. mnn. preferably the latter, is most/ useful, as the porters do not' as a rule speak English. An open letter to the stationmasters from tho Minister of Ways and Communications will be found valuable'should any difflcults' "arise, and a passport vised by the Japanese Minister would be useful in transferring from the Russian to the Japanese linos at Changchun. i Coal and coke are the principal fuels, though on parts of the road wood is used. The light rails and tho poor quality of the fuel are responsible for tho low rate of speed,, which rarely exceeds 25 miles an hour. The rails throughout are very ligl it, about sixty pounds in weight* and the road bed is poorly ballasted. Both -shows tho effect of the heavy traffic, from Cheliabifisk on there aro single sidings every five verstg, wdth many more at each station. Tho railroad is divided into three parts— the trans-Siberian,, from Moscow to Oheliabinsk and Irkutsk; the trans-Baikal, from this point ;to Karamskaia, and jth^ Chinese Eastern, from Karamskaia to Vladivostock. Connecting with the trans-Siber-ian line there are branch railroads from Oheliabinsk, to Bkaterdnb-urg; and Perm, shortly to l«e connected) with a road from St. Petersburg, via Vologda; from Taiga to Tomsk, and from Karamskaia to Stetensk, Chelyabinsk, moreover, within anther year, will be connected with Irkutsk by « second lino to the south, and a new circuni-Bai'taal, ag well as a Stretensk-Haibarovsk lino, is contemplated. Water routes and; connecting railroads, both const ructed and projected, supply the main .arteries, and only the nstwork of the* connecting lines ia necessary to complete the opening of thu country. Tho towns along the line appear] to bo fairly active, growing places, with their saw and flour mills, disi til lories amd factories. The larger ono-s.i such as fChelia'brnsk, PetrcH pavlosk, Omsk, Kainsk, Taiga, Han skaia, Nijnieouldinsk, Irkutsk, and Tohita, shows signs of groat commercial activity. The bulk of the population of Siberia is .made, up of jemigrants and exiles from Russia, proper. At present the exiles form only fromj eight to nine per- cent, of 'the whole and this proportion is decreasing, while tilwj number of voluntary* emigrants is growing each year. Tho latter are chiefly farmers, who 'are given Gov&rnment' la.xi<J. r«nt froa for a. number of years, after which they are obliged to pay a smaH tax. Tho native population consists. of nomadic tribes— the Kirghiz, Tar-

tars, Turks, Mongols, Bukhariota,, Samoyedes, and Buriats — living 1 in felb tents. They are not agricultural but pastoral* races. Their flocks and herds provide food, clothes, : and shelter, and they rely on ttoo iinsjuent fairs hold at largo towns to meet and exchange commodities for their otht-r needs. The natural resources pf^ tba. country are great, large mineral deposits ''being found throughout, gold, which is the most important, forming one of the chief sources of wealth. After it, . -in the order named, are coal, iron, silver leadv and salt, ■ as well as ojuan'tii tiles of precious stones. While? Mie niiles of steppes , showed, only occasional signs of cultivation, a patch here ami there or a ldttlo. clearing in the !bush, the country, about Irkutsk is fmuch more thoroughly settled. There are w ll- etilled. fields and the villages look more prosperous 4hian those of Central Siberia. Beyond Baikal also wtoeat and barley are grown in the vaileys, but from Tchita to the east there are few signs of habitaUion, and the ■district between Manchuria station and Harbin is tmro and wind-swept, and tahnoso untouched by the farmers. Around; Harbin, however, the land yields a large annual crop. Harbin, the most important city in North-west Manchuria, is divided! into nine parts — the ja'dmiiustration, military, hospital, manufacturing, river, railway, old, new and Chinese towns. The hospital town, however, is chiefly composed of barracks, and in the manufacturing town there is very little manufacturing-. The flourxuills ore in the river town. They are fairly largo, prosperous, and in most cases are adding to their plants. At present they are operated by steam power, but it is proposed jto experiment, with w.ater power as well. TfaeiT machinery is almost entirely from Eurlch, but some of the small pieces are made in Moscow-.-' )Grain <is de livered (to them at 40 kopeck^ (kopeck, bno halfponny) per pud (thirty-six pounds), and the flour sold at 1 rouble (rouble 2s IJd) 90 kopecks, 1 rouble (80 kopecks, 1 rouble, 65 kopecks, and 1 rouble 40 kopecks per pud, but ibis will bo more than doubPad when tie j additions are completed.