Directory_and_Chronicle_1904 — Page 699

CHINA

143

province of Chihli; this line, in October, 1899, was handed over by the British con- structors to the Belgian Syndicate as an integral factor in the great trans-continental road from Peking to Hankow. These roads were all more or less deliberately and in some parts completely destroyed by the Chinese during 1900. The Railways, as foreign innovations, were particularly hateful to the Boxers, who in many cases attacked the lines with a fury as intense as it was insensate; burning the stations, destroying bridges, firing the sleepers and carrying off the metals. Later on, track destruction was a strong feature of the strategy of the Imperial troops, and from their point of view wisely so. It was the cutting of the Railway that was the sole cause of Admiral Seymour's failure in his gallant attempt to rescue the Legations. All the lines in North China were attacked and badly cut: their repair was the first duty of the Allies and most of the damage is now being made good. The terminus at Peking has been brought inside the Chinese City and is at the Chien Meu or Southern Gate of the Manchu City. A branch line has been made from this terminus to Tung Chow, the head of the waterways; and both the French and Germans have pushed on the trunk lines being built under their exclusive auspices in Chihli and Honan, and in Shantung respectively. Railway vandalism was the first evidence of the savagery and magnitude of the Boxer sedition. It is significant that the Imperial Government was so inert in protecting its own property.

A line from Shanghai to Woosung, some fourteen miles in length, was opened in 1898, twenty-one years after the first line between the same termini was torn up. A contract has been let to a Belgian Syndicate for the construction of a trunk line of about 650 miles in length from Hankow to Paotingfu, where it joins the existing Paotingfu and Lukoachiao line, thus giving through communication with Peking. Work has been carried well into Honan, where the bridging of the Yellow River and the crossing of the Fuh Niw Mountains in Honan, may offer some engineering difficulties, but next year ought to see the completion of this im- portant trunk line. The American-China Development Company has a concession for the construction of a line from Wuchang, on the southern bank of the Yangtsze immediately opposite to Hankow, to Canton, and the opening of the present year sees the work of construction begun at both ends of the line. Last November the Company opened a branch line from Canton to Fatshan, and are continuing the line to Samshui. The British-Chinese Corporation has a concession for a line connecting Canton with Kowloon. German concessionnaires have secured the right to construct two lines from the German Settlement at Kiaochau to Chinanfu and Ichou in the interior of the Shan- tung province, and an Anglo-German Syndicate has been authorised to make a line from Tientsin to Chinkiang, the Germans having charge of the northern portion of the undertaking and the British of the southern. The British-Chinese Syndicate, which has now amalgamated with the Pekin Syndicate, has secured the right to construct a line from Shanghai via Soochow to Nanking and north-westward to join the Lu-Han line (as the Hankow-Peking line is called), and also a line from Soochow via Hangchow to Ningpo. A line from Canton to Chengtu, the provincial capital of Szechuen, has also been mentioned. Surveys have been conducted with a view of finding a practicable route for a railway to connect Burmah with the Yangtsze region in Szechuen, and it is anticipated that a definite project for such a line will shortly be launched. The French have secured a concession for a line from Laokay, near the Tonkin frontier, to Yunnan, and tenders for the execution of the work have been called for. The French also secured concessions for lines from Lungchow to Nanning and from Nanning to Pakhoi, but it is doubtful whether these will be carried out, as their tendency would be to divert trade from the French colony to the West River route. Indeed, the proposed railway from Pakhoi to Nanning appears to have been abandoned, and it is probable that one from Kwanchouwan, through the Yulin district to the nearest point on the West River and thence to Nanning will take its place. The Anglo-Italian Syndicate has been authorised to work coal and iron mines in the province of Honan and to build railways connecting the mines with navigable rivers ; under this contract a line from Taiyuen to Singanfu and a branch to Siangyang are projected. In Manchuria, Russia has made a railway connecting Port Arthur and Tailienwan with the Trans-Siberian line, and branches in various directions are built or projected. Unsuccessful attempts were made in 1899 to induce the Chinese Authorities to introduce the Russian guage on their northern lines from the Manchurian border to Peking. The paper inception of a new line from Peking to Katcha and thence to Irkutsk viâ Kalgan has also been made. The British Commercial Attaché in his report for 1902 observes: "The old prejudices against railways would appear to be gradually dying out, and the example given by the Court, in ordering a