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A PACK-TRAIN ON THE MAIN HIGHWAY BETWEEN TWO CITIES IN ECUADOR

ultimately be justified but it will not be surprising if, for some years to come, the long north and south waterways provided by the Tanganyika and Victoria Lakes, and possibly the Nile, canalized as far north as Lado, will form links in this splendid system of com

Leopoldville Railroad, around the lower Congo rapids, placed Europe in touch with 7,000 miles of navigation in the upper Congo basin. The Congo Free State is now rapidly developing its great idea of extending uninterrupted steam communication between the mouth of

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SIX THOUSAND FEET ABOVE THE CARIBBEAN SEA Scene on one of the railroads which are to make up the proposed Pan-American system

miles of standard-gauge track between Peking and Hankow, traversing three of the most populous provinces, crossing about a hundred streams on steel bridges (one of which, over the Hoang River, is nearly 10,000 feet long), and equipped with 101 locomotives, 145 passenger coaches, and 2,200 freight cars in the opening year of the service. Construction began at the end of 1898; it was suspended for a year during the Boxer revolt, but was completed to Hankow in November, 1905. This part of the line was built with Belgian and French capital, under Belgian supervision, and the Chinese government guaranteed the payment of the bond issue.

Americans held the concession for building the section from Hankow to Canton, about 900 miles, and sent Engineer William Barclay Parsons, with a complete staff, to ascertain the physical and commercial aspects of the enterprise. The resulting survey was the longest

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Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y.

THE ELEPHANT LIMITED

An Indian prince traveling in the style of ages past

the river and the head of navigation on its Lualaba head-stream. On Sept. 1st, the Stanleyville-Pontierville Railroad, seventyfives miles long, was opened around the second stretch of rapids and two steamers were launched on the navigable waters above, adding 261 miles of river and rail transportation to the 1,325 miles already in operation between the mouth of the Congo and Stanley Falls. Before the line was fairly opened, a large force was already shaping the track-way for the third stretch of railroad from Kindu to Buli, 180 miles, beyond which point there is uninterrupted navigation for small steamers, 372 miles, to the head of navigation on the Lualaba. The Congo steam route will thus be about 2,144 miles long, of which 1,548 miles will be by water and 596 miles by land; and it will extend from the Atlantic into the extreme southeastern province of Katanga which, with its mineral resources, is the richest part of the Congo State.

THE RAILROAD BACKBONE OF CHINA

China's first trunk line, now nearly half completed, is one of the material expressions of the intellectual revolution in progress there. No evidence of the transformation of China is more convincing than the completed 753

Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y.

A RAW-HIDE BRIDGE IN INDIA
Over the Jhelum River

continuous instrumental measurement completed up to that time in China. In spite of his favorable report, the American syndicate did not go on with the work; its concession was

When com

solely under Chinese direction.
pleted, this trunk line will be the backbone of
the future railroad system of China. Its
route is almost north and south between Can-

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From stereograph copyright by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y.

HIGH-CASTE AND LOW-CASTE WATCHING A TRAIN IN INDIA
The train has just completed the famous double loop near Darjeeling

recalled, and the Chinese Government, greatly encouraged by the success of the PekingHankow road, began in March last the prolongation of the road south of the Yangtse

ton, the greatest southern port, and Peking, the capital, connecting also Tien-Tsin, the greatest northern port, and passing through Hankow, the metropolis of the interior, at the

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