Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 66, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 March 1919 — HIGHWAYS and ROADS of SIBERIA [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

HIGHWAYS and ROADS of SIBERIA

Asiatic Russia, emending from the Ural mountains to the Pacific ocean, stretches through 80 degrees of longitude, and has an area of 6,500,000 square miles. The colonization of Siberia by emigration from Russia required a movement of population which would be facilitated by the opening of roads for wagon transport. It was in 1722 that the town of Ekaterinburg 'was founded, and in 1763 plans were made for projecting a road toward Tiumen and thence across the Siberian steppes. The route followed was that of the present Siberian railway. Work was delayed for some years by changes of government, but the road w r as finally completed along the line proposed. Over this main Siberian highway passed thousands of colonists, iqany of them political exiles from Russia, others Cossack soldiers directed to take up their residence along the main Siberian route for the purpose of military protection, says a writer in Magazine Russia. The road formed a main line of connection between scattered settlements of natives of various races, who had previously made limited use of trails and rivers. for intercourse with each other, and for commerce with the world outside. It formed the only route by which the interior of Siberia could be reached from east or west; while the only other routes were the caravan trails across the mountains and deserts to the south, and the difficult passages of the Kara sea into the mouths of the Ob and Yenesel rivers. The Sibirsky-Trakt. Of the main highways used as postai routes, the principal road is the famous .Sibirsky-Trakt, over 4,000 miles long, following, as has been said, the same route as the Trans-Siberian railway. Ikiost of this road could be covered easily by vehicle, except in the stretch between Sretensk * and Khabarovsk. Between those towns about 570 miles of road can be made by vehicle, while the rest, 660 miles, is covered by a pack-horse trail over the mountains, giving an alternative route to the river Shilka. The trail is used through the fall and spring only, while the river serves for boat transport in summer, and sledge transport over the ice in winter. The portion of the route between the river Shilka and Khabarovsk is called the Amur Highway. - Aoothop-importftßt-main-highwaylA the Irkutsk-Yakutsk Trakt, 1,840 miles

in length, of which 250 miles are passable by vehicle. The remainder of the distance is covered by the river Lena, in summer by boat and in winter over the ice by sled. The highway from Omsk through Semipalatinsk to Altaiskaya follows the river Irtish and has a length of 760 miles. There is also a main highway from Tomsk to Semipalatinsk, a distance of 470 miles. All the above highways were important links in the governmental control of Siberia from Russia. Over these roads couriers, police and soldiers could pass readily from center to center, keeping all settled parts of the country in communication with the central government. The main Siberian road is now largely disused on account of the superior communication offered by the Trans-Siberian railway, and the other highways will eventually be paralleled by railways as well. None of these roads is paved or improved in any way which would be considered as acceptable for a main road in America. The absence of stone in much of Siberia will make It difficult to pave them, though much could be done by establishing brick works and surfacing the roads with brick, in which case motor truck transport would form an important auxiliary to the railway. , Pew Well-Made Roads. While the Siberian railway is crossed by a number of important rivers winning from south to north, which

afford transverse routes to points along their shores, the great expanse of the country is unprovided with wellmade roads. Transportation from points lying at a distance from the main route is, therefore, costly and difficult. Only a limited quantity of grain can be hauled out of the country to the railroad, while the railroad Itself is not able to take care of the grain that could be easily produced by the peasant population of Siberia in good seasons. The result is that a large crop of grain forces down the local price, so tlfat the peasant actually finds that a large crop brings him in less money‘and causes him extra work. "The greatest need of Siberia In the immediate future is improvement in roadways, so that communication may be easy from interior districts where grain can be raised, to railways and especially to water routes by which the grain can be carried out of the country. The improvement of the Siberian railway was already in hand under the American railway commission in 1917, when the bolshevik revolution occurred and put a stop to the work. It will be comparatively easy to increase the carrying capacity of the Siberian road very largely by physical improvements, and by better management, particularly in dispatching trains by a comprehensive system. Roadways by which Siberian commerce can be extended from the railway route to the interior districts should be improved and extended in the very near future. Caravan roads of southern Siberia include among the most important, the route from Petropavlovsk down to the river Ischim, past the Onlutav mountains and the river Sary-Su to Bukhara, and from the same city by the river Tchaglinka, past a number pf lakes to Akmolinsk, Nourinsky and into Turkestan.

Bridge on Rubino-Tongulsk Road.

On a Siberian Highway.