Jasper County Democrat, Volume 4, Number 28, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 October 1901 — OPENING UP OF SIBERIA. [ARTICLE]

OPENING UP OF SIBERIA.

Will Provide a Hew Field lor Industrial Development It is now possible to go from New York via Berlin, Moscow and Irkutsk to Vladivostock .on the Pacific in 25 days. A railway which shall connect Asia and America at the Behring strait will probably be built in the near future, and, notwithstanding the terrific cold of winter, it is believed that the road will not he 60 difficult to build as it was to construct the line of the W'hite Pass & Yukon railroad. In view of this and other facts, it is believed that the exploitation of Siberia on a large scale may not be far distant. There are several reasons why investment in Siberian enterprise* will be easy at first. The price* for labor in Russia and Siberia are exceedingly low, varying from 15 cents to $1.50 per day, the laborers feeding themselves out of their earning*. In central Siberia men can be contracted for by the year at sls per month; tbe workmen are of the peasant class. It is not thought that laborers in Siberia will at once alter their methods, but this will probably come in time. The mining laws of Russia, moreover, allow the taking up of mining claims by Russians or foreigners, though there are many «e----vere restrictions. Cities of 10,000 to 50,000 inhabitant* are now numerous in Siberia. Hotel* with comfortable room*, restaurants with electric lights and telephone connections, are not difficult to find. Anyone can traverse Siberia in great luxury in trains supplied with bath, piano, dining saloon, draw-ing-room, easy chairs, observation cars, etc. The cost of the journey from Moscow to Irkutsk, 3,200 mile 6, including sleeping car, is only $44. Siberia is practically unknown to most Russians, and they have an idea that furs are always necessary on account of the intense cold. Actual experience in the city of Krasnoyarsk shows that the thermometer reaches 110 degrees for days together in the month of August and any clothes hut those made of silk and' linen are absolutely unendurable. Chicago Daily News.