RUSSIA'S EASTWARD MARCH

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 2247, 8 October 1889, Page 2

RUSSIA'S EASTWARD MARCH

( ll NZ. Herald.' ) Twenty years ago the aotlY9 eastward maron of Russia began, but It U *fcnJy dating the last ten years that hot peegrass "i has been m*rk j d. Fur some years after j v j J869 her attempts to keap In oheok the Tarcurs, east of tne Oa pUn, were vain. Various expedition?, ohi 11/ against the Tekke Turoom%ns, of the " Akhal " oaali, failed after aufi icing severely and losing many lives. This o*sls !iei under snelter of the vast moaatklo range stretching, like a huge wall, from the Oaipian to the n>rth»east bordets of Portia and oa to Affghaolaan. Ton years nearly ware pasted m this desultory fighting. General Lomaklne then attacked the central Turkoman fortress of Gaok Tepe. C'tneli were his nnly means of transport, and ha lost 8377 oat of 12,273 with whloh his expedition started. He lost also a very great quantity of the stores and ammunition osrrled by the oamele, and was forced to make a disastrous retreat. Lomakine wai succeeded by Ssobeloff, fresh from his ex- . plolt« daring the Tarklsh war. Ample resources were plocel at hla disposal, and hti at onoe shifted his b«Ba on the Caspian to the 'X fine harbor of K'asaovod k. Skobaloff also adopted a bold proposal made to him by General Aonenlkoff, chief of the transport department, who suggested the formation cf a railway across the desert whloh they bad so often attempted to penetrate In vain. Steel rails for 100 miles of lino, ordered daring the war In the Bilkano, and lying urus. d m European Russia, were transported to the Caspian.' Sleep era and »t>res ware convoyed down the Yblg* at great cost, and landed atKrasnovodsk. From tho Caspian eaiU . ward, the ooantry was dry and level, and the railway made rapid progress*'. Too little wate* and too maah sand were the ohief obstacle?, bat, as far as practicable, tbe sand was consolidated by aea wator from the Caspian, and m many parts by a large admixture of clay. For drinking purposes the sea water was distilled till fresh water could be oonduoted f t m the Persian hills. Skobeloff kept In advanoe of the line, and In January, 1881, stormed the hitherto . Impregnable Geok Tepe. Forty thousand ooofident and boastful Tartars were assembled to oppose him. The slaughter was terrific, and the Tartars were .. thoroughly and permanently subdued. Since then the Russian polioy toward! them hat been -marked by great kindliness, and no palnu have been spared tt fraternise with them. la Daoember, 1881, Skobeloff reaohed i'zll Arvat, which he occupied without difficulty Being now 145 miles from tbe Caspian,, with a railway for the full dlstanoe, ha ' began the expeditions whloh ended In his oconpylng Merr In February. 1884 That city and Ita basis were annexed, and Russia was piaoad In a most oommandlng position with respeot to Bokhara and Affebaulatan. A year later, In Marion, 1885, occurred at Pt-njdeh the collision wblob nearly ended In war between Bugland and Russia. The Russians continued to move steadily east, and by December, 1885, reaohed Askabad, whloh they bare made the capital of the newly-Qceatad Trans- Caspian provlnoe. Six months later (Ju y, 1886) tbe railway reiched Morv, 100 miles from the Oaopian. Tnenea Ictis oirrled 150 mUei farther, and crossed the Oxua by a wooden bridge, > rapidly ballt. In M*y, 1883, the first railway tr«(n entered In trlamph Into the pity of Samarkand, ooce the oapital of the conquering. Timoor, and oommandlng the Khannate of Bokhara, with maeh of the trade of. Central Aiia, Samarkand' - la 900 miles east from the Oaaptan, and ihj railway continuous and well-built throughout. Its gauge Is five feet three Inches, the same as that of the lines In European Russia, so that the rolling stock Is easily supplied when needed, Tbe whole of the work wai done by the Russian Railway Military Corps, of whom 1600 were employed ; under them were many thousands of Turkomans and Bokbarlotes, and the cost of the line oofy averages £4500 per mile* f's average speed with heavy train-, however, Is only 12 to 15 miles par hour. The cheapness is due to the level ntture <>f the country and the abeenoe of rivers, while brloks ware easily obtained m great numbers from the ruins of the old ottles through whloh tho lino runs. The only rivers crossed by this long line are tbe Tgend, tbe Murghul at Merv, and the Amu Darla. The desert Is now planted with tamarisk and othei suitable trees, and the country In which the railway terminates is of remarkable fertility and beauty. The Russians carefully cultivate a goqi feeling witty the Tartars and Bokhsilotes, and hav.e begun to arm and drill them for military aervloa. The Tartars are all mounted mea, finding their cwa horses, and ready for aotlon at any moment. Ooonpylng tats new position toward n ladla, It ia quite likely that Russia roi:8 apoa England not histily Interfering w> h her In carrying out projects for extension westward Info Earope,