ÆäÀÌÁö À̹ÌÁö
PDF
ePub
[blocks in formation]

FOREST ADMINISTRATION OF BRITISH INDIA.

The following figures, taken from the report of the forest administration of British India for the year 1900-1901, may be worth the attention of the people of the United States who are interested in the preservation of our own forests.

The area of all forest lands under the management of the forest department of India, as shown in statement No. 1, is 208, 369 square miles. The total increase over last year is 10,909 square miles, and for this Burma is chiefly responsible. The total expenditure on communications and bridges amounted to 160,000 rupees ($51,000), as against 150,000 rupees ($48,000) in the preceding year.

The total area over which fire protection was attempted rose from 32,787 square miles to 33,906 square miles-an increase of 1,169 square miles. Of the area under protection, 95 per cent was successfully protected, as compared with 93 per cent in the previous The average cost of protection rose from 10 rupees ($3.20) to 12 rupees ($3.85) per square mile.

year.

The area closed to grazing in the presidencies of Bengal, Madras, and Bombay shows the following proportions to the total forest area: Bengal, 18 per cent; Madras, 8 per cent; and Bombay, 15 per cent.

The total revenue realized in the Bengal presidency from grazing dues was 535,385 rupees ($171,323), as against 655, 226 rupees ($209,673) in the previous year. In Madras, an excess of 24,000 rupees

($7,680) was realized, while Bombay showed a decrease of 58,000 rupees ($18,560), a considerable proportion being remitted on account of the famine in that presidency. The total amount realized in the three presidencies and various provinces from grazing amounted to 1,206,903 rupees ($386, 199).

The total outturn of all forests under the control of the forest department in timber and bamboos is shown in statement No. 3. The gross revenue realized was 19,770,493 rupees ($6,326,557), against 19,009,610 rupees ($6,083,975) in the previous year and 18,159,902 rupees ($5,811,168) as an average in the previous five years. The surplus was 8,610.450 rupees ($2,745,344), against 7,984,930 rupees ($2,555,177) in 1899-1900 and 8,498,918 rupees ($2,719,653) in the last quinquennial period.

The revenue and the surplus are thus the highest ever realized. This report shows something of what is being done for the protection and reproduction of the forests of India, which will become a valuable asset to the country.

[blocks in formation]
[blocks in formation]
[blocks in formation]

Total Bengal presi

dency, 1900-1901... 72,224,855

Total Bengal presi

62,529,143 41,666,495 4,772,279 58,832,740 80,557,894

dency, 1899-1900..... 72,133, 179 69,483,919 36,594,315 4,682,206 60,700,465 74,972,453

DEVELOPMENT OF TRAFFIC ON THE SIBERIAN RAILROAD.*

The Official Messenger publishes a series of statistics in regard to the Siberian Railroad, which show the development of the traffic on this line. The road was opened to traffic by sections, as the work of construction advanced. The opening of the TcheliabinskOmsk section dates as far back as 1894, but trains have run through to Irkutsk only since 1898. In 1898, 860,662 passengers were carried; in 1899, 919,782; and in 1900, 966,551 persons, divided according to classes:

[blocks in formation]

Three hundred and five thousand four hundred and twenty-six emigrants were also carried. The small increase in 1900 was due to the troubles in China and the bad crops in Asiatic Russia.

In addition, the Siberian Railroad carried, in 1898, 86,663 officers and men; in 1899, 130,598; and in 1900, 211,976.

The receipts derived from passenger traffic were 2,003,633 rubles

*A report covering the same information has been received from Consul Smith, of Moscow.

($1,031,871) in 1898, 2,414,746 rubles ($1,243,594) in 1899, and 3,135,231 rubles ($1,614,644) in 1900. The quantity of merchandise carried by fast freight shows 6,840 tons in 1888, 13,404 tons in 1889, and 27,759 tons in 1900. These goods consisted principally of butter, fresh meat, fish, fruit, and many other products which abound in Siberia and for which the market is steadily increasing in the Far East. The traffic in butter alone increased 64 per cent from 1899 to 1900. The traffic by slow freight was far more considerable, viz: In 1898, 617, 123 tons; in 1899, 661, 118 tons; and in 1900, 714,477 tons.

One product which will be of importance in Siberian railroad traffic is coal; of this, 1,295,242 poods (21,077 tons) were carried in 1900 against 438,147 poods (7,108 tons) in 1899 and 428,209 poods (6,962 tons) in 1898. These figures are relatively insignificant, but the coal production is developing rapidly in Siberia, and deposits have been found in the Kuznetzkaia Valley, Province of Tomsk, which are said to be 400 versts (265 miles) long and 100 versts (66.3 miles) wide. During 1900, 18,000,000 poods (292,683 tons) of coal were consumed by the railroad alone. Other large coal mines are situated in the valleys of Mazalovka, Kitat, and Altchedat, near the station Sudjenka. In 1900, these mines yielded 5,000,000 poods (81,300 tons).

The largest coal mines in East Siberia are those of Tcheremkovo, district of Balagany, Province of Irkutsk; those of Ekibaz-Tuz, in the territory of Semipalatinsk; and those in the districts of Enisseysk, Irkutsk, and Akmolinsk.

Among the numerous articles carried that show an increase are cement, plaster, lime and building materials, mineral oils, cast iron and steel ware, and meat.

ST. PETERSBURG, December 6, 1902.

W. R. HOLLOWAY,

Consul-General.

NEW SAFETY DEVICE FOR RAILWAYS.

The American newspapers of November 13 contained a press telegram announcing that on the day previous a new electrical device. for preventing collision between railway trains had been tested with entire success in the presence of a board of experts on one of the State lines near Frankfort. Since any improvement which can effectively reduce the danger of accident in railway travel appeals so directly to popular interest, it has been deemed timely to submit a brief account of this new device, which seems to mark an important advance step in the solution of a difficult and perplexing problem.

« ÀÌÀü°è¼Ó »