78 



The National Geographic Magazine 



nese officials; but the Chinese soldiery 

 rivaled the Boxers of Pekin. Hun- 

 dreds of miles of the railway were torn 

 up in a single week by Chinese regular 

 troops under the direction of local mili- 

 tary commanders. This destruction has 

 not yet been repaired. 



It is stated on good authority tl^at 

 Russia has today in Manchuria, andalong 

 the frontier of this province, 3,900 offi- 

 cers and 173,000 men, with 340 guns. 

 In addition, between 35,000 and 40,000 

 men will be despatched by sea to rein- 

 force this large army, and many thou- 

 sands more will proceed to the Far East 

 over the Trans-Siberian road. 



THE POWERS IN CONTROL IN 

 CHINA. 



DURING the second week of Jan- 

 uary, Russia turned over to Ger- 

 many the Shanhaikwan Railwa}^, which 

 runs from Tientsin to Niuchwang. This 

 road was built by British capital, but 

 as it commands the route from Man- 

 churia to Pekin, Russia seized it early 

 last summer, and has operated it dur- 

 ing the past months. On the arrival 

 of Commander von Waldersee the pro- 

 test of the British bondholders was sub- 

 mitted to him, but he decided against 

 them and the British acquiesced in the 

 decision. It is stated that von Wal- 

 dersee will now hand the road over to 

 its rightful owners, or at least what 

 is left of the road, for Russia, it is under- 

 stood, has succeeded in obtaining the 

 following concessions : ( r ) That Russia 

 shall retain half the rolling stock of the 

 entire railway for the section from Shan- 

 haikwan to Niuchwang outside the 

 Great Wall, which is also in Russian 

 occupation ; (2) that Russia shall hold 

 a lien on the railway within the wall 

 for the expenses incurred in repairs, 

 although made with railway property, 

 and in transport operations during the 

 Russian occupation ; (3) that Russia 



shall appropriate the important work- 

 shops at Shanhaikwan with all their 

 contents. 



BRITISH PACIFIC CABLE, 



THE recently awarded contract for 

 the laying of the British Pacific 

 cable from Vancouver to Australia via 

 Fanning Island and Fiji, specifies that 

 the line shall be laid by July 31, 1902, 

 so that in eighteen months at the most 

 the world will be belted by a complete 

 cable system. Nine and one-half mil- 

 lion dollars will be paid for the making 

 and laying of the cable, which will meas- 

 ure, including slack, about 8,000 nautical , 

 miles. 



Great Britain and Canada have agreed 

 to defray five-ninths of this su'm. New 

 Zealand one-eighth, and New South 

 Wales, Queensland, and Victoria have 

 pledged to contribute the balance be- 

 tween them. It is proposed to charge 49 

 cents a word for messages to the United 

 States and 25 cents additional for mes- 

 sages to Europe. 



THE DEVELOPMENT OF 

 SIBERIA. 



THAT well-worn phrase, ' ' The world 

 of empire westward wends its way, ' ' 

 is destined to be contradicted by the 

 growth of Russia during the present 

 century. One hundred 3^ears from now 

 it is almost safe to predict the center of 

 the Russian Empire in influence and 

 enterprise, if not in population, will be 

 east of the Ural Mountains. 



The great tide of emigration, enter- 

 prise, and pluck that is following the 

 iron rails of the trans-vSiberian Railroad 

 eastward are strikingly shown in a recent 

 official publication of the Russian Gov- 

 ernment. 



Siberia is roughly divided into two- 

 zones, separated by a broad belt of virgin 



