網頁圖片
PDF
ePub 版

The stores department shall have charge of the purchase and distribution of stores. The translation department shall be responsible for compilations and translations and all matters of negotiation with foreigners.

The business department shall have charge of special transportation, improvement of traffic, and other regular business.

The compilation department shall have charge of statistics, regulations, compilations, and investigations.

The electrical department shall have charge of the telegraph and telephone systems of the railway.

The police department shall be responsible for the policing and medical service of the railway.

The general-affairs department shall have charge of all miscellaneous general matters and of all other matters not under the charge of other departments.

The Hsinho Stores department shall be responsible for the care, receipt, issue, and marking of materials.

5. The traffic department shall be divided into the following subdepartments for the distribution of work:

The secretarial subdepartment shall have charge of the files, clerical work, and the efficiency records of the members of the department not under the control of any other department.

The transportation department shall have charge of the business of transportation, cars, and water transportation.

The checking department shall have charge of the checking of mileage and passenger and freight tickets.

Traffic sections and subsections shall be responsible for all traffic matters in their respective sections.

Stations shall be responsible for all matters in their respective districts.

6. The engineering department shall be divided into the following departments for the distribution of work:

The secretarial department shall have charge of the files, clerical work of the department, and the efficiency records of the members of the department not under the control of any other department.

The construction department shall have charge of the planning, mapping, and execution of work and of all materials of construction and land.

Engineering divisions and subdivisions shall be responsible for the engineering work in their respective divisions.

The Shanhaikwan Iron Workshops shall be responsible for the making of all iron and steel machinery and parts and for the repair of bridges.

7. The locomotive department shall be divided into the following subdepartments for the distribution of work:

The secretarial department shall have charge of the files and clerical work of the department and the efficiency records of the members of the department not under the control of any other department.

The works department shall have charge of the planning, mapping, and execution of work and locomotives.

The Tangshan workshops shall be responsible for the repair and erection of cars, locomotives, and machinery and the training of mechanical workmen.

The Kaopantze branch workshops shall be responsible for the making, repair, and erection of cars and machinery.

Locomotive sections and subsections shall be responsible for all locomotive affairs within their respective sections.

8. The accounts department shall be divided into the following subdepartments for the distribution of work:

The secretarial department shall have charge of the files and clerical work of the department and the efficiency records of the members of the department not under the control of any other department.

The accounting department shall have charge of the budgets and statements of accounts, the auditing of accounts, the transfer of funds, and account books.

The cashier department shall be responsible for the receipt and disbursement of moneys of the railway.

The checking department shall check all passenger and freight tickets and shall be responsible for their printing.

9. There shall be one chief to each subdepartment provided for in these regulations, and one superintendent in charge of each workshop.

10. The titles and number of officers of the Peking-Mukden Railway administration shall be as listed below.

11. Foreign employees of the Peking-Mukden Railway administration shall perform such duties as are specified in their contracts. In case of a change or extension of contract, the approval of the Minister of Communications must first be obtained.

In case Chinese employees are engaged in fulfillment of conditions of agreements with the approval of the Minister of Communications, where the positions are not provided in the regulations governing the organization of Government railways, such employees shall retain their old titles in the performance of their respective duties. 12. The detailed regulations for the office, subdepartments, workshops, and police of the Peking-Mukden Railway administration shall be prepared by the director and submitted to the Minister of Communications for approval.

13. These regulations shall take effect from the date of promulgation.

The list of titles and number of officers in the Peking-Mukden Railway administration are as follows: Director, 1; assistant director, 1; chiefs of departments, not more than 5; superintendents of workshops, 4; chiefs of subdepartments, not more than 19; general officers, not more than 100; chiefs of sections, 1 for each section; chiefs of subsections, 1 for each subsection; station masters, 1 for each station; assistant station masters, not more than 60; chiefs of train squads, not more than 70; chief engineer, 1; engineers, not more than 9; engineering assistants, not more than 16.

It will be noticed from the above that this organization is typical of the so-called departmental organization, or what the writer termed the "branch" organization in his Australasian report (Special Agents Series No. 156). This remark will apply also to the Japanese Imperial Railways and the South Manchuria Railway Co. in South Manchuria and Chosen (Korea).

PURCHASE OF STORES BY RAILWAYS.

In each instance the purchase, care, and distribution of stores are handled by a subbranch of the general department and, as a rule, this subbranch is a part of or directly connected with the financial subbranch.

On account of the great distance from the source of supply, it is a matter of great importance to carry such stores as will actually be needed, particularly in emergencies, and at the same time not have an unwarranted amount of money tied up in a supply of parts that may become obsolete in the course of time. The considerations with respect to stores constitute one of the very potent influences tending toward the longer life of equipment that prevails in all the Far Eastern countries. The much more complex method of payment for stores, with all the involved questions of exchange, is alone sufficient reason for requiring the stores-branch to be closely supervised by the financial branch.

There is a growing practice of advertising for tenders covering requirements by the various lines, and the following are typical of advertisements that are now frequently appearing in the Peking, Shanghai, Tientsin, and Hankow papers:

KIN-HAN RAILWAY INVITES TENDERS FOR SUPPLY OF STEEL BRIDGES AND MISCELLANEOUS MATERIALS.

1. Tenders for the supply of a number of steel bridges to be opened on the 5th of January, 1918.

2. Tenders for the supply of miscellaneous materials for ordinary purposes to be opened on the 1st of February, 1918.

For further information, apply to the Kin-Han Railway (Technical Secretariat), where, commencing on the 5th of November, plans, drawings, and specifications may be obtained on payment of ten dollars per copy for bridges and five dollars a copy for miscellaneous materials.

THE TIENTSIN-PUKOW RAILWAY ADMINISTRATION.

Notification No. 265.

INVITATION OF TENDERS (138/2).

The public is hereby notified that tenders are invited for the supply to this railway of the following quantities of sleepers, bridge ties and crossing timbers, viz:

One hundred and seventy thousand pieces of first-class Japanese oak or other hardwood of similar quality railway sleepers to be delivered, cost, insurance, and freight, including custom duty and war risk, at our Chentangchuang wharf.

Three hundred and seventy-nine pieces of first-class Japanese oak or hailin or Oregon pine or other hardwood of similar quality crossing timbers to be delivered; cost, insurance, and freight, including customs duty and war risk, at our Chentangchuang wharf.

Thirty thousand pieces of first-class Japanese oak or other hardwood of similar quality railway sleepers to be delivered, cost, insurance, and freight, including customs duty and war risk, at our Pukow wharf.

One thousand five hundred pieces of first-class Japanese oak or other hardwood of similar quality bridge ties to be delivered, cost, insurance, and freight, including customs duty and war risk, at our Pukow wharf.

One thousand two hundred pieces of first-class Japanese oak or hailin or Oregon pine or other hardwood of similar quality crossing timbers to be delivered, cost, insurance, and freight, including customs duty and war risk, at our Pukow wharf. Tender forms attached with specifications and full particulars may be obtained free of charge on application to the head office of the railway, Tientsin, Hopei..

Tenders must be signed, sealed, and marked "tender for the supply of sleepers, bridge ties, and crossing timbers" and addressed to the managing director, TientsinPukow Railway Administration, Tientsin. The same must reach the above address on or before 12 o'clock, noon, of the 12th day of November, 1917, and will be opened at 3 o'clock in the afternoon of the same day.

The order or orders for the goods will be given to the tendering firm or firms, whose tenders have been accepted, not later than the 26th of November, 1917, during which time and including which date the prices of all tenders must hold good.

No tenders will be entertained unless presented within the time given and made on the forms supplied by this railway.

The managing director does not bind himself to accept the lowest or any of the tenders and reserves the right of placing the order in lots.

TIENTSIN, 25th October, 1917.

(Signed)

S. C. SHU,
Managing Director,
The Tientsin-Pukow Railway Administration.

It will be noticed from the Peking-Hankow (Kin-Han) advertisement that there is a charge for the specifications and plans. Such a charge is the general practice of all the lines, but as a rule specifications are furnished without charge to the established concerns from which it is desired to secure bids. The second item of the PekingHankow invitation represents the first instance in which invitations have been issued for tenders covering miscellaneous merchandise supplies. It is probable, however, that annual or even two or three year contracts for miscellaneous merchandise supplies will become the rule on the Chinese Government Railways. This practice prevails on the Australian State Railways, and there seems to be a decided tendency for government owned and operated railways to buy their miscellaneous merchandise requirements, so far as practicable, by this method of purchase. The bridges wanted by the Peking-Hankow line are to replace the considerable number of bridges lost during the unusual floods in the summer of 1917.

OPERATING METHODS.

The system of train-movement control is the "station-master method" of operation, as the writer termed the arrangement em

ployed on Australian railways. The practice of putting in the hands of the station master the responsibility for the movement of all traffic is even more pronounced in China than in Australia. It may be said to represent the adaptation of the British and Continental methods to the situation in China, where there are many factors in labor and class conditions that justify such an arrangement. In fact, it would probably be impossible to use successfully the American dispatching methods with the train crews carrying out such orders without other direction.

All employees of the Chinese Government Railways are Chinese, except for a few salaried official positions that are filled by foreigners, usually serving under definite contracts. Educated Chinese are employed to fill many of the salaried official positions, but the less important employees, in station, train staff, and similar service, have been recruited from the less-educated classes, and they require education and training to make them capable railway servants. Therefore the "station-master method" of operation seems without question to be the most desirable practice for railways in the Far East, and it is the method in general use. There is no doubt that this method requires more men and is less expeditious than the methods in vogue in the United States, particularly in the running of passenger trains, but this is not a serious handicap.

SIGNALING.

The government of train movements is usually by block control. Some kind of staff is generally in use on single-track lines and a very large percentage of all the mileage is single track. All stations where trains may meet or pass are provided with ""station loops," which are really very short stretches of double track. Separate station platforms are provided for the passenger traffic in each direction. At the more important stations, particularly at junction stations, the main-track switches are interlocked; at other stations interlocking of various degrees of completeness is provided; while at some stationsin fact, in a large number of instances-only hand-thrown switches, locks, and signals are provided. In all cases the direction of the handling of this apparatus is under the jurisdiction of the station master. The method of signaling is usually in accordance with the practices of the country that has provided the loan funds for building the line, but in the main, the general practice can be said to conform approximately to the British Board of Trade practice. In view of the experience in Australia, it would seem, if the Chinese Government Railways should be able to make their practice uniform in the next few years, that it would be wise for them to adopt the American three-position, three-speed system of signaling. It is also probable that the arrangement of selective telephones with central control, as installed on the New South Wales Railways, could be adopted with much advantage on some of the lines, such as portions of the PekingMukden line, where the traffic is growing to such an extent as to require increased capacity of the present single track.

The signaling practice, as already stated, conforms to the practice of the country furnishing the loan funds, but the signaling as a rule is very simple, and approaches closely the British Board of Trade practice. Figures 17 and 18, facing page 76, show typical installations,

and are good examples of the two arms placed horizontally on separate dolls instead of vertically on one mast, as is the American practice. It would be of most decided advantage if all the Chinese railways were to adopt at once the American practice instead of doing so later (as they probably will) at a considerable cost. It will be noticed in both the illustrations mentioned above that the signal arms point to the left, because all the roads in China run left-handed. The block-working apparatus is largely of British manufacture.

CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE METHODS.

All the present railways have been built almost entirely by hand labor, chiefly on account of the large supply of cheap and industrious labor in all parts of China. This applies even to the breaking of rock ballast, which has been done by hand. Bridge masonry, buildings, station platforms, and much similar work has been contracted for with Chinese subcontractors, and in some instances this procedure has been followed in the case of earth and rock grading work (called in China “formation"). With the supply of good cement, stone, and cheap labor, and in view of the scarcity and high price of lumber, there is a growing tendency to use concrete in every way possible, particularly as most Chinese laborers seem to make as good concrete workers as stonemasons.

The maintenance methods and tools are much the same on the several railways. The following data furnished by A. C. Clear, engineer in chief and general manager of the Shanghai-Nanking and the Shanghai-Hangchow-Ningpo Railways, and Mr. Ivon Tuxford, maintenance engineer of the same line, are fairly typical of all the lines, but the methods are probably worked out in more complete detail than is the case on some of the other lines. On this system the engineer in chief is in general charge of roadways, bridges, buildings, etc., the work being under the direct charge of a maintenance engineer, with district engineers in charge of districts. The district engineers have assistant engineers, usually in charge of about 100 miles of line, and, for the direct administration of the work, these assistant engineers have inspectors, who do not have more than 70 miles of line. The inspectors' territory is divided into sections of about 15 miles, and these again are divided into subsections, usually of 5 miles. There is a section foreman for each of the 15-mile sections, a gang for each 5-mile subsection, and a flying (extra) gang for each 20 miles of line. The regular gangs for the 5-mile subsections consist of 1 ganger (foreman), 2 leading coolies, 10 coolies, and 1 cook, and the flying gangs consist of 1 ganger, 10 coolies, and 1 cook. Permanent ganghouses, consisting of three rooms and a kitchen, are provided for the regular gangs. The flying gangs, being constantly on the move, receive $3 Mex. per month for house rent.

The following are the rates of pay for the above gangs; they are approximately the same as are paid in other parts of China for men of equal qualifications: Section foreman, $25 Mex. to $35 Mex. per month. Subsection gangs-Ganger (foreman), $15 Mex. to $20 Mex. per month; leading coolies, $10.50 Mex.; coolies, $8 Mex.; cooks, $5 Mex.; level-crossing keepers (crossing watchmen), $6.50 Mex. "Flying" gangs-Ganger, $21 Mex. per month; coolies, $9 Mex.; cook, $5 Mex.

« 上一頁繼續 »