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of American concerns doing business with the Chinese and Japanese railways as not being the best arrangement, it is the writer's opinion that the conditions are such that both these situations must be accepted. Business should be done with these railways along these lines, particularly when it is a question of specifications or equipment (though this will seldom be the case outside of such matters as those involving signaling and train dispatching). It may be true that by these methods the Far Eastern lines do not move traffic with the same speed as the American roads, but to do so they would be obliged to take a greater amount of risk on account of the class of men with which they have to operate these railways.

FOREIGN EXPERTS IN CHINESE RAILWAY SERVICE.

If the scheme of consolidation previously suggested were to be effected, there is no doubt that this should be done under experienced foreign direction, possibly similar to the present administration of the Salt Gabelle or the Chinese Maritime Customs. Such a necessity would probably be recognized by the most advanced of the Chinese railway men. As illustrating this, the view of Dr. C. C. Wang, the present head of the Peking-Hankow Railway, as expressed in the Chinese Social and Political Review and reprinted in the December, 1917, issue of the Far Eastern Review, is quoted as follows:

Experience has shown everywhere that railways must be managed by experts. The problems of railway administration are so numerous, the effects so far-reaching, the organization and working so complex, that it is only experts that may be able to develop the railways properly. It may be generally said that one of the greatest needs of the railways in China is expert service. A few facts may help to show the needs.

We all know that in dealing with foreigners we have lost in many cases in the matter of railways. This perhaps was not due so much to the aggression of our foreign friends as it was to the fact that they were experts while we were not. They knew what they talked about, but we sometimes did not. When our layman representatives, who had no intimate knowledge, met the foreign experts who knew every corner of the question, it might have been expected that our men lost out.

It is due to the same lack of experts in China that we have to employ many foreigners in our railway service at a great cost. The fact that we have had considerable trouble in dealing with some of our foreign employees may be traced to the same cause. To ameliorate the situation we must first of all train up our own experts. Otherwise, any attempt to relieve our foreign assistants will be suicidal. In fact, we need more real foreign experts selected by ourselves for special work, who should be willing to work disinterestedly for the country and ready to afford our young men every opportunity to learn. By this process in a few years we shall have our own experts. But the fundamental requirement for training up our own experts under our foreign employees or under any other system is that there must first of all be adopted an impartial and effective system for selecting the young men to begin with, a fair protection against the influence of the politicians and cliques, and a stable and welldefined service that will permit the men to work long enough to learn the business.

Substantially this same view is expressed by some of the other most progressive Chinese railway officials. For the present foreign experts in the capacity outlined by Dr. Wang are necessary in the further development of the Chinese railways.

At present there are no foreign experts in the employ of the Japanese railways. The Japanese will probably continue their present practice of making such investigation and study of other railway methods and equipment as they think necessary, and then applying their conclusions in their own way.

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ROLLING-STOCK SPECIFICATIONS.

The matter of rolling-stock specifications is considered at some length, beginning on page 77. In this place it is only necessary to say that, with the conditions now prevailing and until such time as the Ministry of Communications adopts definite specifications, it is quite proper (and, in fact, advisable) for American manufacturers to put forward propositions conforming in general to American specifications for equipment to be furnished to the Chinese Government railways; advantage should be taken of such points as type of engine frame, but such nonessentials as type of boiler and fire-box materials can be conceded. This suggestion is made for the reason that, in the writer's opinion, the best interests of the Chinese Government Railways will be served by the use of rolling stock along the lines of American practice. Inquiries from Japan will no doubt give very definite and detailed specifications as to what is wanted.

CONTRACTING AND CONSTRUCTION PLANT.

General contracting so far, in the construction of Chinese railways, has been largely an arrangement taken care of by the railway loan agreements. The construction corporation of the loan syndicate, as a rule, has bought the necessary materials and equipment and in general handled the construction work-usually with a small amount of construction plant. In many instances the work has been sublet to Chinese contractors (generally local parties) and the work divided into small amounts; also, it is usually separated as between grading, foundation and culvert work, and station buildings. It is probable that much of the work in the future will be so constructed. There are certain lines projected, however, some parts of which will pass through somewhat sparsely settled, rough country, and the reduction of the time element would appear to warrant the statement that certain expediting construction plant probably will be used in the future.

If the gauge of the Imperial Government Railways of Japan is widened to 4 feet 8 inches along the lines of a general reconstruction, there will be need of very much more construction plant than has previously been used, and the execution of the work in the reduced time now estimated would require some intensive construction plant along the lines of American practice.

BRIDGE AND BUILDING MATERIALS.

Bridge materials for the Chinese Government Railways thus far have been largely furnished by the loan interests or from the Shanhaikwan bridge works of the Peking-Mukden Railway. In general, the specifications have conformed to the practice of the nation responsible for the loan. For recent construction and replacement, however, a good many bridges have been obtained from American sources. This is particularly the case with the new work on the Canton-Hankow line and the replacement on the Peking-Hankow line of bridges lost in 1917.

Chinese and Japanese materials have ordinarily been used for substructures and station building in both countries. There are numbers of cement plants in both China and Japan. Brick and tile

are made in considerable quantities in many localities. The result is that little material is required from the outside, except where reinforced concrete is used; this is being employed to an increasing extent, but up to the present time the work has usually been done by hand, except for the mixing machines, which are considerably used.

COAL AND WATER STATIONS.

The storage of both coal and water is along the very simplest lines in both China and Japan. Very little labor-saving or expediting equipment is used. In locomotive coaling and taking water the locomotives are always uncoupled from the traits. Very little water treatment apparatus has been installed thus far, but as a rule the water is "fair to good" for locomotive use in both countries. In China and Manchuria a good deal of the water carries considerable material in suspension, which can be removed by filtration.

COMMODITY HANDLING PLANTS.

Coal and all other similar commodities being so largely handled by hand, there is very little plant for handling or storing by mechanical methods. This also applies to the handling of agricultural products, most of which are handled in boxes or packages made from matting. Rice is generally handled in what may be termed matting packages. The Japanese authorities have given a good deal of study to the handling of soya beans in Manchuria by elevators, but so far no installations have been made, though, with the advantages of drying and cleaning, it appears that this could be done with considerable benefit. The same remarks apply to the handling of both beans and wheat at Vladivostok and Harbin.

RAIL AND FASTENINGS.

Normally the Japanese railways are supposed to obtain their supply of rail and fastenings from the Imperial Japanese Steel Works and the Chinese railways from the Han-Yeh-Ping Steel Works, but, because of the demand for the products of these plants, considerable quantities of rail and fastenings have been obtained from other sources. Japanese railways recently obtained a considerable quantity of rail from the steel mills in Colorado. The Chinese standard 85-pound rail section and details of fastenings are shown on page 75. There is a decided opportunity for the use of rail anchors (anticreepers) on many of the Chinese railways. All rail anchors used thus far in both countries have been largely from American sources, although in Japan the practice is quite extensive of using secondhand ties set on end to anchor the track.

CROSSTIES AND TIMBER.

One of the great problems of railway construction and maintenance in China will be the supply of suitable crossties. The table on page 73 shows the life of most timbers to be comparatively short and the cost high. In the writer's opinion, a special steel or other similar type of crosstie will provide the solution of this difficulty. One of the conditions that will assist in the success of special track construction

in China is the large supply of the cheap and capable labor required for such construction and maintenance, particularly when heavy traffic is handled.

The supply of timber in China is small and the price very high, and the present growing practice of using reinforced concrete for station curbing, information signs, fence posts, and many similar requirements will no doubt be further extended on all the lines.

FENCING MATERIALS.

Under ordinary conditions, particularly in the agricultural areas, fencing is an impracticable luxury in China, but in urban districts considerable structures, rather than fences, are at times built along the railways, and the practice is rather to thus inclose the railways in the cities and towns than to fence them through the country. In some cases American fencing materials have been used, and their use could be extended to much advantage, especially materials for very robust fence posts and also special spiral wire for the country fencing, a little of this latter having been used heretofore.

FROGS AND SWITCHES.

While the frogs and switches have conformed in the main to the practice of the builders, the tendency for new work and maintenance is to use material along the general line of practice that is becoming common in both China and Japan, representing what might be termed a compromise between British and American practice. Thus far only a few special hardened parts have been used, but the growing traffic on both the Chinese and Japanese railways will warrant the extensive use of such material, for which their track work is well adapted.

A very miscellaneous assortment of derails is used in both countries; most of these are homemade devices or manufactured in the railway's own workshops. A good example is shown in figure 21. The American type of derails could be used in both countries to advantage. A good many derails are used, and there seems to be a growing tendency to provide additional protection in this connection.

ROADWAY AND TRACK TOOLS.

A study of the roadway and track tools in use on the railways in China would constitute something of an education on this subject. Nearly everything that the writer ever heard of was to be found in use in one place or another. With the similarity of conditions on a large percentage of the lines and with the stone ballast, American. tools are, in general, well adapted for construction and maintenance work on the Chinese railways. They are also suited to the railways in Japan. A good many American roadway and track tools are used in both countries, though there is a decided tendency for the Japanese now to manufacture their own tools.

SIGNALS AND TELEPHONES.

With the small amount of really modern signals and central traincontrol apparatus now installed, there is every reason why the

simpler three-speed American method of signaling and selective telephones to direct present train working should be adopted in both Japan and China. This could be done with benefit, particularly to take care of the growing traffic, which will necessitate increasing the traffic capacity of these railways from time to time.

OILS AND STORAGE.

Burning oils and lubricants in China are largely from American sources. In Japan much of the higher-grade lubricating material is of American manufacture, but a considerable amount of the lubricants, especially the cheaper materials, are from Japanese sources. This condition also obtains in South Manchuria and Chosen.

There is a variety of arrangements for storing and distributing the oils, but in only a few cases are the best modern methods employed. As all oils are expensive in China, improved apparatus could be adopted in many instances so as to show a good return on the invest

ment.

BUSINESS METHODS.

Much might be said regarding the best ways of conducting business in China and Japan, particularly regarding the much-discussed Chinese "comprador" method. The conclusion was reached, however, that this method has little, if any, effect on the business of handling railway equipment.

The writer is strongly of the opinion that experienced application and commercial engineers are necessary for the most successful handling of railway business in China and Japan, as is the case in handling these markets in all parts of the world. There have been and will be special conditions to be met and problems to be solved in both of these countries, and, without question, the obtaining of business can best be followed up by experienced engineers on the ground who will be able to make the best application of available apparatus.

REPRESENTATION.

The question of representation is admittedly one of much importance. In Japan, at present, there are a number of well-organized American concerns representing American manufacturers; most of these have Japanese employees who are technically familiar with the products handled. The several strong Japanese commercial and engineering companies usually represent a number of American manufacturers for the sale of railway materials, and as a rule these concerns have a well-organized technical staff. In addition there are a number of large American manufacturers who have established branch plants in Japan. Much has been said concerning the advantages of these different arrangements, and, on the other hand, there has been considerable criticism of each of the last two methods as not being, in the long run, to the best American interest. The writer inclines to the opinion that it is quite desirable, in any event, for American interests to retain control of the business in some form, and the first of the above arrangements has much to commend it, especially in view of the fact that there are at present a number of well equipped American concerns for handling the business.

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