seven hundred kilometres long and eighty in breadth. It is now crossed by transports, or ferries; but the currents of this lake, which is probably the reservoir of several subterranean rivers, are so treacherous that navigation is extremely uncertain, not to say dangerous. Many of the engineers to whom I spoke upon the subject stated that if boats were constructed to carry the trains and cars across the lake, as is done in America, they would be very careful not to travel on them. The alternate route, however, around the south shore of the lake, presents equal difficulties. The soil is of volcanic formation, and cut up by towering mountains and deep gullies. To carry a railroad over such a country would cost many million dollars a mile. East of the lake the country changes entirely in its character. You leave behind you the country of the plains and the valley of the Obi, with its temperate climate, which is so suitable for the cultivation of wheat and other cereals. Trans-Baikalia, the province we enter upon now, is a pastoral country, where horses, horned cattle, and sheep are raised profitably and in large numbers. All the rails and sleepers for this section have to be brought out from Europe by sea to Nikolaifsk, then in barges up the Amur. While the Russian engineers in charge of the work

are more sanguine, I do not believe that this section of the railway will be completed before the year 1901. From Baikal to Stretensk the line crosses the Yabloni Mountains without a tunnel, and with an ascent of only fifteen millimetres to the metre in the steepest places.

The fourth zone, that from Stretensk to Khabarovka, has, as I have already stated, not been commenced. That the main road of the Trans-Siberian will ultimately be built from Stretensk or Blagovechensk straight across Manchuria is probable; this will prove a great economy, and it of course possesses great political advantages over the route as at present surveyed.

From this point, Stretensk, it requires four or five days to descend the Amur to Blagovechensk, which is already a prosperous town, the centre of a great mining region; it will, in my opinion, when the trans - Manchurian railway is completed, become a still greater cityperhaps the greatest mart of its kind in Siberia-for in all probability this will become the Siberian depot of the new road to the sea across Chinese territory. Blagovechensk likes to be called the San Francisco of Siberia, and points with pardonable pride to a very floating and a very mixed population of thirty thousand souls and an Institute Pasteur.

From here to Khabarovka, down the river, four or five days are required, and here we reach the fifth zone of the great railway, which is now completed and in operation along the whole distance to the Pacific, about seven hundred and thirty versts.

With characteristic detachment of people who do so many great things that they have no time to talk of their exploits, I found the Russians with whom I came in contact more inclined to talk concerning their new and darling project, the Manchurian railway, than of the Trans-Siberian, which is for all practical purposes completed. The Russian engineers who served upon the Siberian work were proceeding to their new field of activity and of actual conquest in Manchuria, escorted by large squadrons of Cossacks, which, of course, impressed the practical Chinese with a sense of their importance and their power. Indeed, the position of Russia to-day in northern China is practically that of a suzerain power. This proposed railroad is to be built under a concession to the so-called Russo-Chinese Bank of Peking and Shanghai. In this matter the bank is merely

acting as the agent of the Asiatic department of the Russian government, and it was pushed forward to lessen the loss of prestige to the Peking government, to save "face," so dear to the Chinese, and perhaps also for the purpose of mystifying the representatives of the other powers in Peking, who were also clamorous for railway concessions. Perhaps eighteen months will be required before the preliminary surveys can be completed; indeed, the line of this new railway is not finally determined upon. The probable route crosses the Chinese frontier to the south of Staro and Tsuruhaitu, thence to Khailar across the Khin-gan Mountains, down the right bank of the Chol to Cholkhoton, then down the west side of the Sungaru to Kirin, crossing the Nonni at Tsitsihar.

It is hoped by the enthusiastic to conclude the construction of the trans-Manchurian railway within five years, but, in my opinion, there is very little likelihood of this hope being realized. Kirin and Tsitsihar, being the chief commercial centres of the country, have also become the scene of the greatest activity in the construction of the road. Ultimately, it is

rumored, a branch line will be built from Tsitsihar to Blagovechensk; but very little is said about this road, for then it would appear to the Chinese, as is the case in fact, that the trans-Manchurian is being built, in the first place, solely to give the Russians an alternate and a better way of communication to the Pacific and the China Sea.

The Siberian

Whatever may occur in later years, the first commercial result of the TransSiberian will be to open up new markets which have hitherto been inaccessible, rather than, as is apprehended in some quarters, a deluge of the world with raw materials by means of this new channel of commerce. These sanguine expectations of the production of Siberia will doubtless be realized some day, but not SO soon as is expected. will first figure as a good purchaser and a long customer in the markets of the world before he makes his bow as a competitor, and by that time the conditions of consumption and of trade may have so adjusted themselves that he will be gladly welcomed rather than repelled. East of Irkutsk to-day Siberia is open to the trade of the world, with none, or next to none, of the tariff restrictions which are enforced in other portions of the empire. This freedom of trade is recognized by the

IDOLS WORSHIPPED BY SIBERIAN TRIBES.

government as more favorable to the development and growth of its new empire on the Pacific, and the protective system will not be introduced for many years

to come.

I came in contact, during my stay in Siberia, with many of the responsible officers in the management of the road, and I know how very modest their expecta

tions are of its financial features. It is hoped by them that when the road is completed three express trains a week will run from St. Petersburg to the Pacific, and vice versa, in nine or ten days. They hope that when travellers from London to China and Japan find that by taking the Russian railway they would save two weeks, they cannot fail to obtain a large share of this passenger traffic. During certain seasons of the year, when the heat of the Suez loup is unbearable, they think that the real overland route will nearly monopolize all travellers bound for places east and north of Singapore. This preference for the northern railway, they claim, would be increased by the outbreaks of plague and cholera, which would seem to have become almost endemic in some of the ports, such as Bombay, Penang, Singapore, Saigon, and Hong-kong, where the steamers touch. They further expect to monopolize the carrying trade to Europe of all those products of the East which are not large in bulk and are costly in proportion to their weight, upon which, in consequence, the insurance is dear. Under these circumstances the quickness of the railroad journey would prove so great an advantage as to overcome the disparity between the freight rates by sea and land, the latter of necessity having to be the more costly. The present rate for passenger traffic in Siberia is very low, but by the tariff which is already drawn up, and is to be put into force when the railway is completed, promises the cheapest travelling known to the world. First class from St. Petersburg to the Pacific will be 90 rubles; second class at 65 rubles, and third class at 35 rubles. Over each division of the road in operation one local and freight train is run daily in each direction, and an express train every other day also in both directions. Of course the through traffic, in passengers as well as freight, over the still uncompleted road, is at present very small; but, with only the local patronage, it has been found profitable to work the road upon this schedule at least, not only without loss, but with a small margin of profit. The section from Teheliabinsk to Omsk, which has been the longest in operation, is already paying handsomely, and carried for the last four months of 1896 two hundred and thirty-one thousand passengers.

While the Russians know that com

merce follows the flag by land as well as by sea, and while they foresee the revolution in commerce and trade which the completion of the Trans-Siberian cannot fail to bring about, the purpose of the construction is quite different. The primary object of this colossal enterprise was to secure a highway for the rapid and unimpeded transport of soldiers and materials from European Russia to Vladivostok, all the way in Russian territory, and safe and secure from the attack of enemies. Vladivostok, or the more southern port that may supplant it in the near future, was destined by Russian statecraft to become not only the terminus of

minate at Ta-lien-wan, or at some other point upon the open waters of the Yellow Sea. The ground has already been broken for this railway at Stanitza Paltanskaya, in Russian territory, and the sharp wedge that is soon to awaken the sleeping oyster

the great railroad, but an impregnable base and a harbor of refuge for the Russian fleet in the Pacific. Such having been the project, it is not surprising that the curiosity of the world at large, and more particularly of those countries having direct interests in the politics of the far East, is more aroused by the military than the other aspects of this part of the world, so completely changed by this great construction. On my return from Siberia, it was my experience that nine out of every ten questions that were addressed me had reference to the changes which the completion of the great road would bring about in Russia's military capacity and efficiency. In summer, I believe, Russia could mobilize an army of 200,000 men within two weeks upon any given point of the frontier of China or Korea.

The Siberian railway having now become an accomplished fact, public attention in Russia and throughout the East is very much preoccupied with the proposed Chinese Eastern railway, which, running across Manchuria, is to connect the Trans-Siberian system with the great markets of Manchuria, and probably ter

and pry open the shell of China is being rapidly pushed forward.

Russia has now in fact, if not in style, the virtual position of suzerain over China, and in many of the northern provinces she openly exercises the rights and duties of sovereignty. Whatever the fate of the Russian fleet in the Pacific may be, in the event of the long-expected conflict breaking out, and in view of the probable alliance of the fleets of Japan and England, it can be said, without fear of contradiction from any one at all conversant with the existing condition, that there is no military force from the frozen Arctic to the frontier of Siam and the Himalayas which could stand for a moment before the armies which Russia now holds in a state of constant readiness upon the frontier of China, nor is there any European power able or willing to place on the east coast of Asia an army that could cope with Russia. In this part of the world she to-day occupies a position of absolute military supremacy. recognition of this fact is a necessary preliminary to a comprehension of the situation.

The frank

I.

PINION in Old Chester was divided as to the propriety of Dr. Lavendar's course in assisting Oscar King to run away with Miss Ferris's niece; most of the new people thought, "considering the circumstances," that he had been quite right; but some of the old people were affronted. Judge Morrison said to his sister, his cold mouth curling back from his yellow teeth:

"If I had a daughter I would put an injunction on James Lavendar for safety. I don't know but what I'll do it anyhow, on your account, Hannah; you're such a lovely creature! Jim Shields will be running off with you, the first thing I know."

The poor old maid had never grown callous to her brother's gibes, and reddened slowly under her leathery, wrinkled skin; but she said to herself, "Dr. Lavendar was right!"

Mrs. Dale was "painfully astonished"; and Mrs. Barkley said that "Dr. Lavendar did not consider the example to youth; still, she would always believe in the probity of James Lavendar's motives, no matter what happened."

"For my part," said Jim Shields to his brother. "I consider the dominie accessory before the crime; but, Lord, Horace, I hope he won't reform in case anybody should undertake to run away with Annie!"

As for Annie Shields herself, she ap