A Trip Through Siberia 



5 1 



ioued benches on either side. When we 

 left Blagovestchensk we were told that 

 Senator Beveridge was a short distance 

 up the river, and that we would pass his 

 steamer the next day. We did pass it 

 five days later, hard aground, but it was 

 half a mile away from us, and we did 

 not see him. Twice we ran on rocks 

 and stove in the forward and after com- 

 partments. Supplies gave out, and cab- 

 bage soup and sour milk became a 

 luxury. As we dragged our way along 

 we found the Cossack towns 

 had been foraged by- the pas- 

 sengers on the stranded boats ; 

 but our captain bought two 

 3 r oung cattle and killed them 

 on the bank, and with potatoes 

 from the fields and black bread 

 bought from the peasants and 

 wild strawberries for sauce, we 

 -came through alive, and reach- 

 ed Stretensk in thirteen days. 

 We had made 1,442 miles in 

 nineteen days. I can imagine 

 that a trip across Siberia from 

 west to east with high water in 

 the Amur might be a pleasant 

 one, but I cannot recommend 

 the navigation of the river 

 against the current in July or 

 August. 



INFORMATION FOR FUTURE 

 TRAVELERS 



The total time between Vladivostok 

 and Moscow was thirty-eight days. I 

 have recently received a letter from Mr. 

 Penrose, of Philadelphia, in which he 

 stated that he had made the Amur trip 

 eastward the latter part of August, 

 with high water, in eight days, against 

 our nineteen, and that the whole jour- 

 ney was a most interesting and enjoy- 

 able one. 



The Trans-Siberian Railroad is well 

 constructed — in my judgment, much 



On the Pacific division of the 

 railway, 478 miles, the speed 

 was 16 miles an hour, includ- 

 ing stops. From Stretensk to Irkutsk, 

 747 miles, it was 12 miles an hour, but 

 this includes the crossing of Lake Baikal 

 and long delays at the custom-house. 

 From Irkutsk to Moscow, a distance 

 of 3,463 miles, the average speed 

 was 18^-2 miles an hour, including 

 stops. On this portion of the journey 

 we took the French train de luxe and 

 paid extra charges for ' ' express speed, ' ' 

 $6.48, and for use of car and bed-cloth- 

 ing, which is furnished on that train, 

 $9.78. 



1 A Siberian Village 



better than our transcontinental lines 

 originally were. The rails are fifty- 

 four pounds to the yard, and must ulti- 

 mately be replaced by heavier ones. 

 More than fourteen hundred wooden 

 bridges are being changed as rapidly 

 as possible to steel. The road-bed is 

 well drained, and watchmen flag all 

 trains its entire length. The cars, 

 though built on the English plan of 

 compartments, are equipped with vesti- 

 bules and Westinghouse air-brakes, and 

 are in every way as comfortable as ours. 



