ACROSS TWO CONTINENTS

Gisborne Times, Volume VII, Issue 310, 10 January 1902, Page 3

ACROSS TWO CONTINENTS

[By Alfred Stead.] Across two Continents by rai

That has been until now an imtns. ih’e achievement. For crossing Ihe An >" i(a i Continent there are ,tij. iy K and great comfort ; also, every. s'.C|. of (he way may '• found in ve-.r! olt rauway guides, but to cross A‘ I ar. 1 E. lope by rail, tom the east (lie wr.it in' railway ..ains, is in'v

h now beginning to be possible, and tha 0 to a privileged few. It is true tha 0 'many travellers have made tb 11 journey across Siberia by train, am t- riuwn the Shilka and Amur rivers ir il boat, and so on to Vladivostock. Bu □ from here one hs still a long j'ournej 1 by sea to reach ly of the points o - political interest in the Far East l And the time is nearly come whei: I that amphibious route will be recog- . nised as obsolete, and will only he used for local traffic. The true and direct connection between the East and tin; West 'is the Chinese Eastern railway running north from Dalny and Port Arthur, and joining the Siberian railway at Kaidolovo, 50 imles east of Chito. This railway formii the last link in the great Russian North Asiatic railway system,

and draws the East wonderfully nearer the West, Although the Chinese Eastern or Manchurian Railway is not yet open to public traffic, it is ncssible to make almost the whole i'.mney by rail. Manchuria itself is at parent under military occupat on, and thus this possibility is of small nse to anybody not furnished with i Oiciai permission from the Russian Minister cf War Thus it comes that my wife and myself are practically the first ar.d erdy foreign (non-Russian) travellers who have made a continuous railway journey across Asia and Europe. Having spent several months in Japan, we determined to return via Manchuria and Siberia to Europe and London, and set out for Port Arthur in the end of .July. We visited Corea en route, stopping at Seoul among other places, where we had an interv ew with the Emperor and the Crown Prince ; crossed from Chemulpo to Chefoo on board the Imperial Japanese fleet and reached Port Arthur early in August. There we remained I for sohie days until our permissions were in order, and our special train arranged for, and then set out, on August 18, for the north. Port Art'uir is, at present, the beginning or ending of the line, but Dalny, the new free ' port being constructed some twenty miles away, on Dalien-wan Bay, will be the real terminus by the end of 1902, when both the railway and the town will he open to commerce. Port Arthur is only essential! v a fortress and naval base, and there is no room to make it anything else Dalny,on the other side, is being

created with a liberal hand, and promises fair to be very soon a prosperous town. That it shall be a wellequipped town and harbor is M. de Wiue’s aim, and this before it is opened to its inhabitants. Everything is being arranged for that could be considered likely to induce merchants of all nations to take up their residence in the town. It is interesting to r.ote that from Port Arthur the journey to Pekin can be made by rail, modified by one or two river crossings. This journey is made to Novchwang or Tnkou, as the Russian settlement is called, thence by boat ac.e.ss the Liao River and on by rail to fshannaikwan, Tongku, and Pekin. At the time we were there several rivers had sflJ to be crossed by boat, but with these exceptions the railway frem Pekin to St Petersburg was an accomplished fact. 'I here seems much misapprehension as to the route followed by the Manchurian Railway, and many otherwise well informed persons have insisted •.that we must have made at least part o, our jourre;-- along the Amur River. As a matter of fact, the railway does not touch tie! Amur at all ; it crosses tributaries cf that river, such as the Sui.geiii, but except for this it is far to the southward of the river. Running nearly due north past Newchwang

reached by a branch line, avoiding M'lul.uVi b 7 a curve of eighteen miles radius, the Inc reaches Harbin, on tho fungai: River, m about 860 versts. Hatbin has been the centre of the conM.iuclion of the Manchurian railway siLuni, olucngt work has also been AHhurT fronr e Am&ltS?,3Jdl.-ftQn)_Port_ Sitiei’an fi on tier at Nagadan. Here has sprung tip an engineers’ town where formerly was only a Chinese distillery, anil to this place vast stores c- railway material have come via ■ Vladi’estock, the Ussuri Railway, and the Hi.r.gaxi River. From Harbin, wav, there t-'ies a fcianch line of some -'5.1 versts to Nikolsk ond Vladivostock, hut this will always remain only a branch line, the main line being to Calny. At Her bin is situated the central bureau of the railway, and here lives M. Yugovitch, the chief engineer. It was at his honse that we had the pleasure of meeting a friend, and one who was making the same journey as ouiselves, only from west to east.

Plus was M.” I.essar, the newly-ap-lointed Russian Minister at Pekm. c [Ve were able to compare notes with c lim as to the iourney. He had made , Ihe trip from St. Petersburg to Harbin m nineteen and a half days with everything arranged to ensure a quick journey From Harbin to Port Arthur he made in four days, a total of twenty-three and a half days. M. Lessar told us he expected to be able to come over the same route from Pekm to St Petersburg in two years time and do the journey in fourteen days. The importance of such a possibility will strike all those who know anything about the East, Tt means that with a furlough of three months, one can spend two months at home, and only one on the journey there and ba.ik. At present a three months .urloush is useless to anybody stationed at Pekin ; all the time would be exhausted in travel, if ne should try to go home Tt lias effected a noteworthy shrinkage of the globe, this Russian Our" iourney from Port Arthur to Harbin took us some fourteen days owing to the fact that the Hoods had ‘washed many of the temporary wood bruit es away. That this was only a momentary damage may he gathered from the fact that M. Lessar made the same journey, only a week later, in four davs instead of fourteen. As far north as Harbin the country is verv well populated with Chinese m\- . (rants —from Shantung prmcipally- ! and had a rich and peaceful air The i inhabitants seemed very and t tlieto were practically no signs> ot, thtioubles of last year. Here and there s the broken mud walls of a ruined _■ la T c perhaps, and in the railway work, at'inkou some broken-up rolling stock jjiesp were all that showed that then ” hau 'ever been anything but peace .i

fter*Harbin the line turns to the c nor th-west and passes through a cor- 1 ner of Mongolia. Here there aie < stennes and few inhabitants At I sit I •■ikar the line crosses the Nonne and socn after approaches the lower slopes nf fbp Ilingaan Mountains, me seen ery then becomes very beautiful rivers an 1 mountains blending together, to form a delightful contrast to the monotony of the rich and rolling plains of Central Manchuria travelsed hv t.,e the Ilingaan Mountains thrinselves there is to be a Umnel some two miles long, but it tvul tx. some time before this is complete. The traffic, however, is not obstructed by this delay, as it crosses the range t

by meant: of a zig-zag track over which the tt a ins now run regularly. We had to arive some seventy miles on the north side of the Hingaan Mountains ft near Hilar, the rails not yet having been laid for this distance. The

embankments are nearly ready, however, and by this time the line ought to be completely joined. From Hilar to the frontier and thence to the main Siberian railway at Kaidolovo everything went smoothly. At Kaidolovo we bade farewell to the special car in which wt had come from Hilar, and secured a first-class coupe on the post train to Mysovayia on the eastern shore of Lake Baikal. This journey war finite comfortable and commonplace, except that there was no dining car ; we had to rely on station reiirshment rooms, or cook our own meals in our compartment. Lake Baikal we crossed in the steamship Anwe had of it was very beautiful. The scenery of the Lake shore was mostly hidden by white mist, but the glimpse we bad of it was very beautifu,. The water journey took t four hours, and the waters of the lake were quite calm a'i the time. At Baikal we had a long wait of some seven hours before the trail! arrived to take ns to Irkutsk. The scenery along the river Angara is very lovely, more so than any other part of the Siberian railway oumey. To be continued.

Principles upon which the Coil pan'p is to be Floated—1. The first Subscribers to tho Company are to be Sheepfarmers. 2. The subscriptions are to be proportional to the sheep owned by tho subscriber. Each subscriber to take up shares to the value o£ sixpence per head of his sheep. There is No further liability whatever upon the Shares subscribed. 3. Any subscriber can take up more shares than his proportional quota, and in such case such excess shares shall be preference shares, and bear interest at ■5 per cent., payable half-yearly. 4. Before purchase of tho Gisborne Freezing Works, and before incorporation of the Company, .£15,000 at least is to be subscribed. 5. The number of shares fixed as the qualification of directors is fifty. 6. The first directors are to be appointed at the first general meeting of shareholders after allotment. 7. The minimum subscription upon which Directors may proceed to allot is £7500. 8. The names and addresses of the vendors of any property now proposed to be purchased or acquired by the Company which is to be paid for wholly or partly out of the proceeds of the issue offered for subscription are: The Gisborne Freezing Company, Limited, of Gisborno, New Zealand, and Frederick James Shelton, of the same place, merchant. 9. The amount payable not to exceed £25,000, and the amount payable to the vendors subject to existing charges (if any) to be cash, the actual amount payable to be fixed upon the making of the contract.

10. The amount payable to the Gisborne Freezing Company, Limited, is its share capital payable on the sale of the Works by Common, Shelton and Co., Ltd., the Lessee.

11. No specific proportion of the purchase money named by the vendors is specified as being payable for goodwill. The property being leasehold, tho amount payablo for goodwill is estimated as being the value of the fixed [improvements, the exact amount of which is not known.

12. The amount estimated tor prelim! nary expenses is 11100.

13. The Provisional Committee are interested in the property proposed to be acquired to the extent of their interest as shareholders directly or indirectly in the Gisborne Freezing Company, Limited : C. A. DcLautour .£lB, James Fitzgerald £SO, W. Chambers .£B7,' W. D. Lysnar £2B, P. Barker £4l, E. M. Hutchinson £l6, P. Kenway £7l, F. Patullo £BB. Particular attention is called to the fact that the Provisional Committee have varied their instructions by abandoning the uncalled capital of sixpence per sheep, meet the verjTstrong e.vfn'eoJiouT—dn.no to. since expressed that the subscription should be limited to sixpence. It is also thought that this limitation of liability I will ensure a fuller co-operation. The objects of the Company can now be attained to special advantage, as the Works which it is proposed to acquire are splendidly equipped, and are not surpassed in economical construction and up-to-date facilities for turning out the best brands. An independent report has been obtained and is appended. The resolution carrried at a largely at tended meeting of shareholders held a Gisborne is also appended. The calls per share to be 50 per cent ash upon application. Fifty per cent ash or approved bill at three mouth ipon allotment. This prospectus has been filed with the Registrar. Dated at Gisborne this Bth day of January, 1902. Resolved.—ln the opinion of this meeting, it is desirable, and those whose names are recorded as voting ir favor of these resolutions agree 1. That the Sheepfarmers re-acquire the Works and Plant as a going coneCrr tVnevina- Works

That Messrs W. Chambers, Perc val Barker, .J. E. Foster, James Fitzgerald, F. Hall, E. M. Hutchinson, P T. Kenway, A. DeLautour, W. D Lysnai, and F. Pattullo be a Provi sional Committee, with full power to act: (a) To obtain Subscriptions to the new Company; (b) to frame the Memorandum of Association and Articles; (c) upon a subscription sufficiently full and as limited by Clause (f) t 0 the satisfaction of the Committee arrange for the purchase of the Works and Plant as a going concern with all material and articles in use on or about and for the purposes of the Works at a price not being more than £2;). 000 ; (d) to arrange for the immediate opening of the Works ; (e) to arrange with the present proprietor to open the Works at once upon a guarantee of all necessary expenses incidental to running and for his personal supervision until a permanent management can he arranged ; (f) the company to he formed upon the best models* of companies of the kind in New Zealand. Capital to be not less than £30,000, of which at least 20,000 shares shall he subscribed of £1 each, ot which at least Ten Shillings per share shall be paid up. If more than 20,000 shares subscribed the paid-up capital to Ire reduced pro rata. The basis of £25 per thousand sheep actually owned to be as far as possible foliowed. Each shareholder to be allotted twice the amount of his assessment upon his flock. (This has since been modified) ;(g) that in addition to all ordinary powers reserved to Freezing Companies, a special power shall be reserved to amalgamate with the .Gisborne Freezing Company, Limited, upon such terms as may be mutually agieed upon between the two Com- ' N.Z., 2nd January, 1902. C. A DeLautour, Esq., Gisborne. Dear Sir : Re the Gisborne Freezing Works. As instructed by you I have this day completed a .thorough inspec-

tiun and valuation of these Works, for which hereunder please find my award. First of all, I shall endeavour to answer the questions asked in your letter of the 31st ultimo. (1) “To know that these Works are up to date as to efficiency and economy V' I e< nsider these Works thoroughly up to date m every respect, in fact, I might go further than this, and say that in some respects they are ahead of Works of a like kind, this is specially applicable to the working of bye-products. Regarding economy in working, I con- [ sidei them quite up to the average of Works of a similar description, and evidence of attention to detail in every dej artment is very apparent. The coal consumption for the whole plant when it. full work I would estimate at about four tons of good steaming coal per twenty-four hours. (2) “ That they are in working order so as to be set going in, say, 10 days’ time, if required.” 1 consider that these Works .could he started in all branches in, say, on 7 days’ notice. (3) “ The value of the Plant and Buildings which have been erected by the P’reezing Company or the present owner and as distinguished from the buildings which were erected by the Harbor Board.” The value of the whole plant now existing on the premises I consider to be £21,081 15s 3d, but I have arrived at this sum without any reference to ground value or tenure of lease, as I have no information on these points. I have made my valuation assuming, for convenience, that the W'orks are erected on freehold property, but of course have allowed nclhm" for ground value. I have also excluded from my valuation fencing for slicep and pig paddocks, as the short time at my disposal did not allow obtaining particulars of same, but no doubt the value of this item is bettei known to your clients than to mysell You ask me to distinguish between original buildings erected by the Harbor Board, and the buildings erected by the present owners of the Works, b it it seems to me to be ‘impossible to do this, as no correct record seems to have been kept of the buildings on the ground when taken over by the Gisborne Freezing W’orks Company. I therefore regret being unable to give you a direct answer to this question ; should you require it, however, I can supply you with a detailed value of the different p-.rls of the Works. (4) “ An indication as to the special plant a.rd its efficiency for working up the offal and by-products.” Regarding special plant and its efficiency for woxjunu un w n,o various methods adopted fo».—owi-s—— those X consider most efficient, especi-' allv the fellmongery and manure plants, and I feel sure that they can be worked most economically. (5) “ A rough estimate of what works (new) would cost to do the same work aui with the same storage.” I regret to say that I am also unable to give you a direct answer to this question on account of the various branches |

which* have been entered upon in the working of the by-products. I can however, say that the value of the new freezing works in the ordinary sense of the term, that is, to kill, freeze and store mutton and beef, including Boiling-down Works and Fellmohgery, excluding Manure Works, Soap Works, Lime Works, Preserving Works, etc., as erected at the Gisborne Freezing Works, the plant to do the same amount of freezing as is done at these works, namely, 800 sheep per day, with a storage capacity of 25,000 carcases, would be about £IB,OOO, but the cost would depend to a certain extent upon the nature of site, and otherdetails. (6)’ “ Such further information or suggestions which in your judgment would be of value to the Farmers in arriving at a decision upon the question of purchase of the Works at their meeting on Friday next.” I do not know that I can give you much further information, only to again repeat that I consider the Works in a thorough state of efficiency. The Hercules Freezing Plant is one of the best of its kind I have seen, and is thoroughly up to date. The Haslarn Refrigerator, of course, is much out of date, and as it stands would only be used in case of emergency. I might, however, point out that it could very easily be converted to the Linde Ammonia System, and he made to work in conjunction with'the Hercules plant. Tins could be done at a cost of about £7OO, which would make the machine worth, in my opinion, £1258. As it now stands, I have put it down in my valuation at £IOO. The Insulation through the Freezing Chambers is ample, and the materials used of the very best quality. The freezing rooms ate 5 in number ; No. 1, capable of htiging 528 ; No 2, 484 ; No 3, 550 ; No. 4, 000 ; No. 5, 1000 ; the storage capacity being about 25,000 sixtypound carcases. The loading facilities and Slaughter House and Cooling Room are substantial and convenient. Particular care has been bestowed on the drainage system, and great efforts have been successfully made to cope with the objectionable effluvia arising from works of this description. The whole works are thoroughly paved with concrete, which I consider of very giear. importance in a place of this kiiid. and the amount spent in concrete' floors represents a considerable sum in my valuation. The water sup,+alt rents '* The principal supply is drawn from a spring situated some d 'stanec from the Works, and although, of course I have no special knowledge of “spring, I am led to believe by Mr Jonesj the present Engineer of the Works, that it is thoroughly reliable to the driest season. The other sources of supply are three dug-out wells, bucked, one artesian well, and rain water collected from roofs of buildings The Preserving Works are quite u . to date and capable of turning out 800 two-pound tins per day, and the plant, is quite modern. Hoping that, my award will he satisfactory, and offering to answer any questions or nraolv any further information you nw require. I am, dear sir, yours

jAg j NIVEN _ .SIGNATURES OF PROSPECTUS, p Barker, Slieepfarmer, Gisborne. ■\V. K. Chambers, Sheepfarmer, R< poSheepfarmer, Gisborne. Vi. Douglas Lysnar, Slieepfariwr, Gisborne. _ . . tfm. Cooper, Sheepfarmer, Wainui. V Barker, Sheepfarmer, Gisborne. C. A. DeLautour, Barrister, GisBated at Gisborne this Bth day of Jiiruary, 1902. Witness to above signatures . fl‘ Alston Coleman, Law Clerk, Gisborne.