FUR FACTS 301 



I had never dreamed of such co-operation between the government 

 and the country's commerce and industry as Japan showed. This 

 may mean peril to us, but it is a peril which we can avert by learning 

 to do a little better team work ourselves. No business man could 

 help but admire the co-operation and team work that exist between 

 the Japanese merchant and his government. In this connection 

 England is not far behind. The military, the naval, the consular 

 authorities of England leave no stone unturned to help the English 

 merchant in a foreign land." 



"The resources of Siberia stagger the imagination; the vastness 

 of its fertile lands, the unlimited range for cattle, the extent of its 

 mineral wealth and its wonderful furs, fisheries and forests. I was 

 deeply impressed with Harbin, in Northern Manchuria, which seems 

 likely to become one of the greatest industrial cities of the world. 

 It must be remembered that Siberia not only has a fertile soil, ex- 

 tensive forests and great resources of mineral wealth; there is the 

 inexhaustible labor reservoir of China to draw from. 



"The country is but in its infancy. It has one railway system 

 the Trans-Siberian, and this is certainly a real railroad. When the 

 European war began Russia realized the necessity for increasing her 

 transportation facilities to the east and enormous orders were placed 

 in the United States for all sorts of railway supplies. There they are, 

 stacked up beside the track, ties, steel, bridge girders, castings, 

 enough to build another railroad. This is, so far as I know, the 

 only wide-gauge railroad in the world, its rails being about eight 

 inches further apart than the standard track to which we are ac- 

 customed in this country and in Europe. This makes the cars very 

 commodious. The bridges of the system are magnificent structures 

 and even the smaller station buildings show by their size, solidity 

 and convenience the far-reaching plans of the Czar's engineers. 

 There is no dust; the track is ballasted not with earth, but with rock. 



A Traveler's Experience 



"Some experiences of my journey from Harbin to the coast will 

 convey the idea of the problem of ordinary life and work in a country 

 struggling with Bolshevism. In Siberia it requires some influence to 

 obtain a first-class railroad ticket, as first-class coaches are supposed 

 to be reserved for military officers and high officials. There was no 

 such thing as an ordinary reservation of space. You get your ticket 

 and then if you have the good luck to arrive first and the strength to 

 maintain your rights, you can hold possession of your place. While 

 handsome and spacious, the cars are lighted by candle-light. Per- 



