WATEE AND OVEELAND COMMUNICATION. 227 



Connection with this, much dredging has been done in order to deepen and clear the connecting 

 streams, so that the result will most likely be eminently satisfactory. 



Thanks to the abundance of water in the rivers of the Obi system, there is a large 

 number of steamers plying on them, belonging to private owners and companies, and in 

 ome places, even a regular service is kept up. The success and progress of the Obi steam 

 savigation is due to the Government, which always gi'anted assistance to private initiative 

 whenever it was in the interests of the public. 



The first steamer in Western Siberia belonged to Poklevski and made its appearance 

 on the Obi in 1843; in 1854 there were 3; in 1860, 10; in 1870, 20; in 1875, 32: in 

 1880, 37; in 1885, 57; in ]887, 60; in 1889, 64; in 1890, 65; in 1891, 69; in 1892, 90: 

 and in the present year there are 102 steamers and 200 barges. Most of the steamers do not 

 exceed 100 nominal horse power and at present the fleet of Western Siberia consists of the 

 following boats: 



1 steamer of 250 nominal horse power. 



21 small steamers. 



The principal traffic, as already stated, is between the sources of the Eey and the 

 Katuna on the one hand, and that of the Irtish on the other hand, as far as the mouths of 

 the Tura and Tobol, the freights being conveyed the enormous distances of 2 to 3 thousand 

 versts. The question of rates for such long journeys is of great interest. Notwithstanding the 

 gxeat progress made in steam navigation and the competition between shipowners, freights 

 on the Obi basin are very high; for 3,000 versts the charge is 25 kopecks per poud, that 

 is Vi2o kopeck per poud-verst, whilst on the Volga for lo]?g distances the boats eagerly take V^oo 

 kopeck and even ^/too kopeck per poud-verst. This is due to the insecurity of the naviga- 

 tion in consequence of the great risks in running the steamers without the requisite auxiliary 

 measures. Scanty and incomplete information concerning the opening and freezing of the 

 rivers, insufficient telegraphic communication to give warning of an unexpected ice blockade, 

 the small number of inhabited points along the principal rivers, and other circumstances, are 

 the means of causing frequent disasters. 



The measures lately taken by the Government for improving the water system of Western 

 Siberia, which serves as a feeding branch ibr the Great Siberian Railway, will doubtless 

 have the effect of lowering the rates; and the surplus grain, accumulated in the Tomsk, 

 Semipalatinsk and Semirechinsk [districts, will not only find an advantageous outlet in the 

 distant parts of Siberia, but will approach St. Petersburg by water and eventually find its 

 way abroad. 



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