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but much of this danger, particularly on the Antung line, has been overcome by judicious grading changes in raising the track at such points.

LOCOMOTIVES.

The number of locomotives averages 0.4 per mile of line. Of the 270 locomotives, a large number are of American manufacture. Some of the largest and most recent were built in the Shakako works; most of these were 2-8-0 freight locomotives with 163,000 pounds on 54-inch drivers, weight of engine and tender complete about 292,500 pounds, 180-pound boiler pressure, and superheated.

At present the South Manchuria Railway has 24 locomotives on order in America, but it is probable that the greater number of these are intended for the Korean section, which is not so well equipped with motive power as the main lines. There were also in course of erection, when the writer visited the works, 9 locomotives, which were largely intended for the Korean lines. In addition, 4 locomotives were in course of erection for the Ssupingkai-Chengchiatun line. The present electric locomotive equipment for the Fushun tramways was erected at these works. Several additional electric locomotives were in course of construction in 1917. Most of the equipment had come from American sources, but three small locomotives had equipment that came from Germany before the beginning of the

war.

One rather interesting feature regarding the 2-foot 6-inch gauge rolling stock of the original Mukden-Antung line, which consisted of 217 locomotives, 157 passenger cars, and 3,727 goods wagons, has been their use for the light railways in Chosen and also, to a certain extent, in Japan. This supply is now exhausted, however, and additional equipment will have to be obtained by purchase from other sources.

PASSENGER CARS.

These lines have about 0.3 passenger car per mile of line, which, considering the amount of business handled, is below normal. This equipment, however, is well adapted for handling the traffic. Most of the equipment is of American manufacture and is all along the lines of American standard practice. In the last three or four years, however, a considerable amount has been built at the Shakako works, including two steel under-frame dining cars, three combination coaches and dining cars, and six sleeping cars; and when the writer visited the works in July, 1917, additional equipment was in course of construction, including 10 passenger cars and 60 freight cars for the Ssupingkai-Chengchiatun line.

The steel-frame dining cars are probably the most substantial equipment that has been built in the Far East. The under frame is entirely of steel, robustly constructed and designed to take all the draft strain through the center longitudinal girder. The trucks are of six-wheel Pullman type; the couplers are Buhoup automatic threestem; quick-action automatic air brakes with 18 by 12 inch cylinders are used; the cars are electrically lighted and steam heated from the engine; the wheels are 36 inches in diameter and are steel tired with mild steel plate centers; and the journals are 5 by 9 inches. The general dimensions are as follows: Length between coupler knuckle faces, 80 feet 3 inches; height of coupler center, 2 feet 11 inches; height

of the floor top from rail, 4 feet 5 inches; extreme height from rail, 15 feet 1 inches; extreme width, 10 feet 4 inches; car body, outside length, 72 feet 7 inches; outside width, 10 feet 1 inches; truck wheel base, 10 feet 6 inches; total wheel base, 67 feet. The tare weight of these cars is 122,000 pounds.

FREIGHT CARS.

The freight equipment of all classes averages 4.7 cars per mile of line; this figure, with the amount of business handled, indicates that the equipment is being worked to full capacity. There are 5 refrigerator cars, 18 oil-carrying tank cars, 119 caboose cars, 215 100,000pound-capacity coal cars, and the remainder of the equipment consists of 60,000-pound-capacity covered and open cars, a considerable number of which are gondola cars for handling coal. All this rolling stock is equipped with automatic couplers and air brakes. The wheels are all 33 inches, chilled cast iron; they are now being produced at the Shakako works, which are also producing steel cast centers as required. All freight cars are equipped with four-wheel trucks. A very large part of this freight equipment is of American manufacture, but the Shakako works are turning out an increasing amount each year and are reducing the percentage of parts and materials required from the outside.

WORKING EQUIPMENT.

These lines have a small amount of working equipment, most of which is now in use at the Fushun mine, where there are now in service nine steam shovels and one drag-line dredge, as well as a considerable number of Western side-dump cars. There is very little wrecking and similar equipment on the other parts of the line. The harbor department has a small amount of dredging equipment and barges used entirely in the construction and maintenance of the harbors at Dairen and Port Arthur.

WORKSHOPS.

Special attention has been given to the matter of workshops on these lines. In addition to the Shakako works, near Dairen, which have already been referred to repeatedly, there are additional district shop facilities near the Dairen wharves and at Liaoyang, Kungchuling, and Antung. There are also equipment-handling facilities, or what are termed "running sheds," at Changchun, Penchihu, and several other points, in addition to considerable shop equipment at Fushun for taking care of both the coal-carrying railway equipment and the so-called tramway equipment (particularly electric locomotives) for the switching work around the mines. All of these shop facilities except the Shakako works are for taking care of the running situation and are arranged only for the making of current repairs. The Shakako works are, however, the most important in the Far East to-day from the standpoint of the manufacture of railway equipThe shops of the South Manchuria Railway were originally located in Dairen, but these quickly became inadequate and the present site, comprising about 400 acres of well-adapted land about

ment.

4 miles from Dairen, in close proximity to the main line, was selected and the Dairen tramways were extended to the main entrance.

The general arrangement is a model in many respects. Some parts, particularly the locomotive shops, conform closely to the Philadelphia & Reading shops at Reading, Pa., the plans of which were followed in general. The plant consists of a very complete and wellequipped machine shop, engine-erecting shop with one 100-ton and two 30-ton overhead cranes, smith and forge shops, iron, steel, and brass foundries, complete sawmill and woodworking shops, passengercar shops, including a well-designed paint shop, and freight-car shops, with all the necessary facilities in the way of electrical shops, general stores, power house and lighting plant, and the shops' own system of waterworks, including fire protection. In brief, the shops constitute a very complete general manufacturing plant for the production of all kinds of railway equipment and materials, including roadway and track materials, especially bridge work and fabricated structural materials. During the last three years the works have designed and built three meter-gauge locomotives for the French Indo-China railways. They have also built some large lathes, more than 50 of which have gone to the Russian Government and a number of which have been sold to concerns in the Osaka industrial district of Japan. They have handled all the heavy castings and fabricated all the requirements for the new 150-ton blast furnace at Penchihu and are furnishing all the materials for the two 250-ton blast furnaces and steel plant now under construction at Anshan. When the writer visited the works in July, 1917, there was in course of construction a large amount of fabricated and distilling equipment for a new oil refinery being built in the northern part of the main island of Japan.

In July, 1917, there were about 4,150 employees of all classes, of whom 71 or 72 per cent were Chinese-all employed in the wage occupations. All salaried, administrative, and technical positions are occupied by Japanese, as is also the case with all supervising positions, such as those of foremen, gang bosses, and similar employees who have to do with keeping the men busy and on the move. The writer was particularly impressed with the fact that the men in all departments were busily engaged. A visit to these works affords very convincing proof of the capacity of the robust northern Chinese to make good workmen in such shops, especially in molding of all kinds, in fabricating and erecting work, and as machine-tool men. One interesting feature in the engineering office was the large percentage of Japanese girls employed in making tracings and doing some of the less difficult drawing.

General sanitary conditions in these works are excellent, and, in addition, there is near by a model town which was first arranged to take care of Japanese employees, but to which additions have been made to take care of a portion of the Chinese, particularly those with families. There are now nearly 1,000 dwellings in this colony (small but substantial and comfortable); water is supplied from the shops waterworks; gas is furnished from Dairen; and many of the better houses are electrically lighted. There has grown up also a considerable population immediately outside the limits of the model village; the latter has been extended to take care of some of this growth, and probably will be extended further in the future. Altogether, this model town is a most unusual feature of this part of the

world; but, like similar towns in other parts of the world, it has obviously proved its value to the company as well as its benefit to the employees.

The directory of the principal officials of the South Manchurian Railway, including the Korean section, is shown in order on page 270.

PURCHASES.

Both the South Manchuria Railway and the Korean Railways, as already stated several times, have purchased much of their equipment, materials, and supplies from American sources. A considerable part of this business has been handled directly through American concerns. Many of the requirements in the future, particularly in the way of special parts and materials, will no doubt be supplied from the United States, but much of the business will probably be conducted through the strong Japanese commercial and engineering concerns with well-staffed branches at Dairen, such as the Mitsui Bussan Kaisha, Takata & Co., and Okura & Co., all of which have strong American connections. There is no doubt that this practice is steadily growing both in Manchuria and Korea, as well as in Japan proper. There is also, however, a great tendency for these concerns to represent Japanese manufacturers who are in a position to make delivery. The latter will doubtless be given preference in awarding the business, when other things are equal, even though the prices for the Japanese products may be higher than for those from other sources. One particular part of the business that will probably be of considerable volume, if followed up, will be the furnishing of the special parts and materials for the equipment to be manufactured and erected at the Shakako works.

Purchases are negotiated principally by the stores department at Dairen, although it is stated that the Korean section will continue to make purchases of articles that can be obtained locally along the line and from the concerns with branches in Seoul. In some instances purchases are handled through the Tokyo office, but this is only in special cases when the business can be conducted to better advantage with concerns in Tokyo that may not have special representatives in Dairen or Seoul.

KIRIN-CHANGCHUN RAILWAY.

LOCATION AND EXTENT.

The Kirin-Changchun Railway, while nominally a Chinese Government railway, is now actually under the control of Japanese interests, through the management of the South Manchuria Railway Administration. For this reason it was shown under a subheading in the Chinese Government Railways tabulation, was not included in the several statistical tables of these railways, and is now shown as one of the railways in the area of the Japanese "sphere of influence" in Manchuria. These same remarks apply to the Ssupingkai-Chengchiatun Railway, immediately following.

Connection is made with the South Manchuria Railway at Changchun, where the latter company's central passenger station is used; this station is also used by the Harbin-Changchun branch of the Chinese Eastern Railway. The present line extends in a general easterly direction about 80 miles to Kirin, the capital of the Man

churian Province of Kirin. The terminus at Kirin includes an extension to the banks of the Sungari River, where freight connection is made with the river traffic.

HISTORICAL SURVEY.

Although lines had previously been suggested to Kirin, particularly one extension of the Peking-Mukden Railway, this particular line was first proposed in 1900. Work was not started, however, until the fall of 1909. The line was finally opened for general traffic in October, 1912, but this was done with some temporary construction, one part of which is not yet completed.

CONSTRUCTION COST AND INVESTMENT ASSETS.

Mr. G. A. Kyle, in his study of the construction cost of the Chinese Government Railways, shows the cost of this line as $78,261 Mex. per mile of line. This, however, does not represent the final cost, on account of the expense still to be incurred in building about 4 miles of line on the final location, including a tunnel 3,000 or 4,000 feet in length. The consolidated report for the Chinese Government Railways for 1915 showed the total cost of road and equipment carried to the balance sheet as $6,193,595 Mex., but this has been increased somewhat since that date on account of the completion of a small amount of the construction and the purchase of nine locomotives from America.

FUNDS AND CONTROL.

The present line was built partly with funds from a 2,150,000 yen ($1,071,775 gold) loan from the Yokohama Specie Bank (Japanese), and the remainder of the funds was furnished by the Chinese Government from other sources. In the latter part of 1917 a further loan was negotiated by the Chinese Government with the Yokohama Specie Bank, the total amount being 6,500,000 yen ($3,240,250 gold); this includes the former loan of 2,150,000 yen. This loan is for a term of 30 years, was issued at 91.5, and the rate of interest is 5 per cent per annum. The property and revenues of this railway are security for the loan, although it was never stated that the loan was made for further development of this line. In the announcement of this loan the following statements were made:

During the term of the loan the South Manchuria Railway Co. shall be intrusted with the management of the Chinese Railway and shall receive 2 per cent of the net profit as expenses.

* * *

The Chinese Government shall appoint a director to supervise all affairs of the railway. The South Manchuria Railway Co. shall appoint chiefs for the engineering, transportation, and accounts departments, one of whom shall represent the Japanese bankers and shall have full power to act in accordance with the stipulations. But if there is any important affair to be considered, the representative of the Japanese bankers will have to consult the Chinese director beforehand.

Therefore, although this is nominally a Chinese Government line under the direction of the Ministry of Communications, with a Chinese managing director in general charge, it will in fact become a feeder to the South Manchuria Railway, being to all intents and purposes under Japanese control. By this arrangement the road will no doubt be efficiently managed and the property improved and developed.

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