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5. Railways.
1. Peking-Hankou.-During the year and a-half since the Chinese took over the management from the Franco-Belgian Company, the line has been starved in every way in order to show maximum profits under Chinese management, with the result that they have now been obliged to offer 2,000,000 taels' worth of contracts for repairs to permanent way and rolling-stock, which are being tendered for by German, British, Belgian, American, and French firms.
In
2. Tien-tsin--Pukow. --The northern section of the railway has been opened for traffle as far as Techou. 140 miles from Tien-tsin, just over the Shantung border. consequence of the decision to make the permanent Tien-tsin terminus on the Isiku side, several miles of completed embankment leading to the south side of the city have been abandoned and a fresh track substituted near the village of Liang Wang Chuang, the point at which the construction line touches the Grand Canal. The new line will cross the canal a mile or two above this point, and a suspension bridge will have to be constructed to allow the canal traffic to pass. A construction train runs to Lokou from Yu Cheng, 55 miles south-east from Techou, Yu Cheng to Lokou, on the north bank of the Yellow River, is 33 miles. The river is crossed in a launch, and the remaining 4 miles to Chinan are traversed by trolley. The line is laid south for construction trains 16 miles to Kushan The German engineer has promised the Chinese directors that the line from Tien-tsin to Taianfu, about 280 miles, will, except for the bridge over the Yellow River, be ready for traffic by the next Chinese New Year (end of January 1911). The bridge over the Yellow River is not expected to be ready before July 1912, and is to cost 11,000,000 marks. Boring for the foundation of piers gave nothing firmer than sand at a depth of 330 feet.
3. Shanghai-Hongchow-Ningpo.The Shanghai-Hangehow section, opened in August last, has been cheaply constructed and is badly run. Large water-ways have been choked up and their courses diverted into inadequate channels to avoid building bridges or economise in purchase of land. Minor accidents are frequent. The Kiangsu section of the line is superior in most respects to the Chekiang section. The receipts for the first four months of the year in the latter section are reported to show considerable improvement.
After months' delay the first sod of the Hangehow-Ningpo Railway was hurriedly eut on the 15th June to save the directors' face at the shareholders meeting fixed for the 19th. Work was then begun at the Ningpo end with an inadequate number of coolies. It is said that the company have the greatest difficulty in collecting calls on shareholders at all, and some Ningpo shareholders refuse to pay them.
4. Canton-Hankow (Yuch-Han),-Each province is trying to build its own section independently. The total length is about 660 miles, of which 200 are in Kuangtung, 360 in Hunan, and 100 in Hupeh. The Kuangtung section is being built by a commercial company with a properly organised engineering staff, which is not the case in Hunan, through which the largest and most difficult section runs. The total length completed and open for traffic on the Kuangtung section is now 170 l, or about 55 miles. It is not expected that much progress will be made for some time owing to lack of funds. Meanwhile, foreign engineers are stationed at points beyond the rail-head doing no work for lack of materials, and it is understood that foreign employés will be dismissed on the expiration of their agreements and will not be replaced by foreigners. In this connection His Majesty's cousul at Changsha reports that the Hunan directors have telegraphed to Peking for permission to employ none but Chinese engineers, "whose superiority over foreigners has been amply demon- strated." This somewhat surprising conclusion was arrived at by limiting the powers and placing every possible obstruction in the way of foreign engineers like Messrs. Ross and Birchal, the former of whom was invalided home in 1909, and the latter has now resigned, while the Chinese engineers are allowed a free hand and given every possible assistance. According to Mr. Birchal, out of the 360 miles in Hunan 12 miles are nearly completed, and 25 will be ready next spring. There is money in hand for the completion of 37 miles; and income from shares and forced taxes, &c., might suffice for 20 miles a-year. At this rate the line would not be completed for 15 years.
5. Hupeh Railways (Ichong-Wanhsien).---Considerable progress has been made along 5 or 6 miles of earthworks on the first section from Ichang to Kueichow (90 miles), and His Majesty's consul at Ichang is informed by the engineer in charge that work on all nine subsections is equally advanced. Trains, it is said, are expected to run for
about 20 miles by the end of the year. workshop machinery has been secured by the German firm of Arnold and Karberg.
A contract for about 30,000 taels' worth of
6. Canton-Kowloon.--Work on the Chinese section has been much impeded by clan fights between villagers, who apparently use the embankment as a fortification in encounters in which modern rifles and even field pieces are used. The authorities have acted with energy, and more peaceful conditions now prevail.
7. Sunning Railway.-Work from Kung Yik to Sanui is progressing rapidly, and the line may be completed and open to passenger traffic by September of this year. Attempts are being made to raise additional capital to extend the line from Sanui to Fatshan or Canton, and thus link up with the Yueh-Han system.
S. Amoy-Changchow. On the 9th May the first section of the line was opened and trains were run to fai-ching and Hsia-Ting, the present terminus of the line. The line starts from Sung-su opposite Kulangsu, and its present running length is about 12 miles. A ferry launch runs in connection with trains. The line was constructed by Chinese engineers, and the results are poor. His Majesty's consul states that the railway is crippled for want of money, and that no substantial returns can be expected till it is extended to the coal country of Ling An.
9. Nonning-Kweilin.--His Majesty's consul at Wuchowreports that a reconnaissance survey has been made by an expectant magistrate and the head of the cavalry bureau at Kweilin, but it is impossible to say how far the work is of technical value. The proposed trace follows the Yungfu River past Yungfu and Loyang to the junction with the Liuchow River, down the latter till it joins the Hungshui, which it follows up to Clien Chiang and thence up a tributary to Pinchou. Between this place and Nanning a difficult range of hills has to be crossed. The total distance is estimated at 250 miles.
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