Since that time, the Chinese have resisted all attempts to introduce
railways. The viceroy, Li, has memorialized the throne in favor of such a
railway as would strengthen the defenses on the Russian frontier, and enable
grain to be carried from the seaboard into provinces threatened with famine.
Reaetionary influences have thus far prevented the throne from granting his
prayer.
The legation learned some time since that in the province of Chihli, Li’s own
dominion, a small railway had been constructed quietly, under the viceroy’s
orders, to “assist in the development of certain mines.” It was generally
understood, however, that the enterprise was intended by the viceroy to be
the first step in a general railway system, and to be entirely under Chinese
control.
Anxious to acquaint you with all the facts surrounding this most interesting
and important experiment, I requested Mr. Zuck, our consul at Tien-Tsin, to
visit the mines and railway, as they were near his post of duty, and make a
report upon their prospects and management. This service Mr. Zuck has
performed, and I inclose you his report. The Department will, I hope, regard
it as a valuable contribution to the history of Chinese progress towards
western civilization.
[Inclosure in No. 121.]
The Kaiping Mines and Railway.—Report by James C.
Zuck, esq., United States consul.
The Kaiping mines are located about 71 miles north-northeast from
Tien-Tsin, and the entire distance between the two points is a low,
treeless plain, traversed by numerous rivers and canals.
The “Chinese Engineering and Mining Company,” or what is more commonly
known as the “Kaiping Mining Company,” was organized some five years
since. The present engineering staff is as follows: C. W. Kinder, chief
engineer; J. M. Molesworth, second engineer; J. Stevens, third engineer;
E. K. Buttles, chemist and mineralogist; R. M. Brown, secretary. The
number of men employed by the company in its various operations is about
1,000, all of whom are Chinese but twenty.
The mines have been worked since the year 1877, but the present company
only commenced operations about four and one-half years since, when
shaft No. 1 was started and sunk to a depth of 200 feet. It was then
stopped, and drifts driven through the stone, cutting various coal
seams, previously explored by a diamond drill to a depth of 600 feet;
after which the up-shaft, or No. 2, was started, and sunk to a depth of
300 feet, when another stone drift was driven. It is the coal lying
between these two drifts that is now being worked. In the spring of 1881
work on No. 1 shaft was resumed, and at the time of my visit was down to
a depth of 500 feet. Ingersol rock drills were used when the stone was
very hard, but in the softer shales hand labor proved most economical.
Musket powder of excellent quality, manufactured at the Tien-Tsin
arsenal, was used for blasting purposes, and was ignited by means of
electricity, as many as sixty holes being fired at one time. Owing to an
accident with dynamite, the sinkers refused to use it longer in the
shafts, which delayed the progress of the work fully one-half. These
shafts are fourteen feet in diameter, and are walled with limestone,
taken from the adjacent quarries of the company. The water met with at
times has been very considerable, but the present daily average [Page 199] is not over forty cubic feet
per minute. To prevent delays on account of the water, heavy pumps are
provided, consisting of two twenty-inch bucket sets, and two twenty-inch
forcing sets, the latter being the top-lift. These pumps are worked by
two Davy direct-acting differential compressed engines of the most
recent types. At the winding shaft, No. 1; a horizontal winding engine
has been erected, capable of drawing 1,000 tons of coal per day. The
head pulleys are twelve feet in diameter, and the drum eighteen feet,
and manipulated by English winders. At No. 2 shaft a small geared engine
is used, which raises about 300 tons of coal per day, but will soon be
replaced by a direct-acting engine, now being built in the company’s
shops, the upcast being provided with an air-lock.
The ventilation is provided for by a 30-foot Guibal fan driven by a
compound engine with an auxiliary high-pressure engine, which can be
attached in case of emergency. The steam for these engines is furnished
by eleven boilers.
The repairing shops of the company are much more extensive than are
usually required for a colliery, but it must be remembered that, owing
to the isolated position of the works and the great necessity for
immediate repairs, such works are absolutely necessary. Apart from this
the railway, canal, and wharves draw largely upon its capabilities. Gas
also is manufactured by the usual apparatus, entirely constructed on the
premises. The offices and works are now lighted by gas, and arrangements
are now being made to light the mining college, official residences,
men’s houses, and main street of the village, which is rapidly
growing.
The brick-works are quite extensive. The preparation of the clay is done
by machinery, the molding plant not having arrived at the date of my
visit. The hand molding heretofore has not been satisfactory, and has
necessitated the use of machinery. It is also the intention of the
company to manufacture paving tiles and pottery, for which there is a
large demand.
The buildings of the company are mostly built of limestone, red, blue and
white brick.
Following the line of the railway northward, about a half mile distant
from the colliery, are found large quarries of limestone. It is intended
to use machine drilling and the best appliances to secure a steady
output of building stone, for which a large demand exists.
The coal at Kaiping lies at an average dip of forty-five degrees, and it
consists of several seams divided by shale and sandstone rocks. The
stone drifts up to date have already cut twelve seams, seven of which
are at present workable. The quality of the coal, when compared with
that found in America and England, is without exception inferior, and
resembles more closely the coals found on the European continent. It is
true that the coal from seam No. 5 is equal to Newcastle in purity, but
unfortunately is too friable to stand rough treatment. It is
nevertheless claimed to be a superior coal in every way to that
procurable from the far-famed Takashima, of Japan. No. 8 is a hard coal,
but leaves much ash. The seams now workable vary from four to twenty
feet in thickness. At the present time the amount of coal raised is from
250 to 300 tons per day, but on completion of No. 1 shaft, an output of
500 tons per day can very easily be maintained.
During the winter months a native demand for small coal exists up to 150
tons per day, the superior coal being shipped to Tien-Tsin in the
spring. The demand for coal at Tien-Tsin is more than the mine can
furnish, and there would be no difficulty in disposing of 500 tons per
day. Coke is also made by a modification of the native system, there
being a fair demand for best qualities for foundry and domestic use.
During the summer small coal is washed by means of special machinery of
French type. There is also powerful machinery for the manufacture of
compressed bricks made from small coal for fuel.
railway.
On the formation of the company it was intended to build a railway either
to Petung or Sutai, a distance of some thirty or forty miles, but the
authorities at Peking looked with so much disfavor upon the project that
the company were compelled to abandon it, and a canal was reluctantly
started over the low ground from Sutai to Shukow Chang, the present
termination of the railway.
It was with great difficulty that the permission to build even this short
line of seven miles was obtained, and had to be laid out several times
before the land could be procured and various obstructions, such as
graves, removed. It might be well to state in this connection that the
sinuous course of portions of the canal is due to these same causes.
This seven miles of railway was originally laid down for horse tracking,
precaution being taken to make the bridges sufficiently strong to carry
heavy locomotives at some future time. The question of adopting a light
or heavy rail was a difficult one to decide, and, unfortunately, as
present events now show, a light steel rail of thirty pounds to the
yard, imported from England, was laid. If it had been deemed possible by
the company that locomotives would have been so soon permitted, heavier
rails would have been used. The country traversed by the road is [Page 200] quite level and required but
little grading, and but one creek of any size is crossed, which is
spanned by an iron bridge constructed at the works of the company. The
road is of the ordinary gauge and is ballasted with limestone from
Kaiping. The rolling stock consists of three ordinary coaches for
passenger travel (each of which is divided into two apartments for the
accommodation of second and third class passengers), which were imported
from England, one first-class passenger coach built at Kaiping and
intended for the use of high officials, in point of elegance reminding
one of the Pullman palace car; fifty coal trucks, the frames and running
gear imported from England, and set up and timbered at Kaiping, and
having each a capacity ranging from 12 to 20 tons and three engines.
Engine No. 1, called “The Rocket of China,” was built at Kaiping. The
history of this, the first locomotive built in China, may be of some
interest, especially as it is also the first standard gauge (4 feet 8½
inches) ever used in China. Her dimensions are as follows: 8 inches
outside cylinders, 15½ inches stroke, six 30-inch wheels, four coupled.
Being hurriedly and hastily built she was not intended for a very long
life, but was simply intended as an introduction to more powerful and
better engines from abroad. She has safely run about 70,000 miles, doing
the whole work of the company on the line for over one year. About
September, 1882, engines Nos. 2 and 3 were imported from England and set
up at Kaiping.
trains.
Six round trips are run daily; time, twenty minutes each way. Second and
third class passengers pay seven and five cents, respectively, each way.
The first-class coach is not in general use, but is run for high
officials only, and no fare is charged. The passenger travel pays
current running expenses of the train. An average of 135 to 150 tons of
coal are daily carried over the road, 20 tons of coke, 25 tons of
limestone, and, with other general freight, amounting in the aggregate
to about 200 tons per day. There come up over the road timber,
machinery, and general supplies for the company. At present no outside
freight is carried, owing to the prejudice of cartmen, or rather it is
not deemed advisable to interfere with local cart traffic. The Chinese
residing in the vicinity of the road, outside of those whose land was
taken, look upon it with much favor, and are disposed to patronize it.
The engine is controlled by an English engineer, but all other employés
are Chinese. All level approaches to the track, such as cart roads, are
protected by gates and watchmen or gate-keepers, who act as signal-men,
thus giving a continuous line of signals for the whole track. Midway
there is a depot or station-house (built of stone and brick) and side
track, and it is the intention of the company to run double trains as
soon as the quantity of coal is increased. The cost of the railway
cannot be estimated, for the reason that it was constructed with the
development of the mines and other improvements at the works, and all
accounts, also, being kept in Chinese.
As has been stated the present track is being extended about half or
three-quarters of a mile northward to the limestone quarries. It has
been often said, Why was not the material of the Woosung Railway,
purchased by the Chinese, used in the construction of this road? But it
is well to remember that the Woosung line had a gauge of only 30 inches,
and that there was an intention to use what remained of it in Formosa.
It would have been a very grave error to have used such a light road, as
an extension of the present line is by no means improbable, when the
obstruction of the authorities once ceases. There can be but little
doubt that the establishment of railways in China may be regarded as a
fixed fact, and that the present road will be the nucleus of a great
system of roads, which will be built in the near future.
The fact that the company has expended so much money in the construction
of the Sutai Canal, may delay the extension of the road for a little
time, but it must be remembered that the canal was only constructed to
meet a pressing necessity, and the railway can be extended in a direct
line from Shukow Chang to Pe Tung, the seaboard, a distance of 30 miles,
and over a good ground for its construction.
sutai canal.
This canal commences at Shukow Chang, the present terminus of the
railway, and extends to Sutai, on the south, a distance of 21 miles,
connecting with the Pe Tung River, from whence it derives its water
supply. It is 66 feet wide at the top or surface of the ground, and 16
feet at the bottom; greatest depth of water 8 feet, and lowest 3 feet.
One hundred boats are now being built for the transportation of coal on
the canal, at a cost of $150 each, with a carrying capacity of 25 or 30
tons each. These boats are to be towed by steam barges. The canal is
crossed at numerous places by bridges constructed of iron with limestone
abutments. The gate to the canal is at Sutai, and is well and
substantially constructed, and would be regarded as a very creditable
piece of work in any western land.
[Page 201]
chemical and mineralogical
department.
This department is located at Kaiping, where the company has but recently
erected a number of substantial buildings built of stone and brick, and
furnished with all the modern appliances for assaying and testing ores
and metals. A school has also been started in practical chemistry and
mineralogy. The class is now composed of the seven young Chinese
students who recently returned from America. This department is under
the superintendence and supervision of Prof. E. K. Buttles of Ohio.
telephone and telegraph.
In April of last year the work of electric communication was
inaugurated.
The main line of the company from Kaiping to Tien-Tsin, ninety-nine
miles, was completed as far as Sutai, a distance of thirty miles from
Kaiping, in October, 1882. The remainder is to be finished early in the
present season. This line will include five stations, all being on the
company’s line of coal transit. The approximate cost of line is $100 per
mile. The poles are twenty-eight feet in length, of Foochow wood, the
wire “B. W. G. 8 English,” and the insulators are of English make. This
line is to be used in connection with telephones for way stations and
telegraphs for the termini. The telephones are of the Bell-Edison
system, the telegraph on the American plan (closed circuit). The lino
follows the railway, Sutai Canal, and Pe Tung River, Ku-Tung Canal, and
Peiho River to Tien-Tsin. For twenty-seven miles the wire is hung on the
poles of the Government lines. The local communication of the company
comprises six telephone lines centered in exchange at the main office of
the works. These lines are of the average length of about one-half mile
each. System the same as the main line. These various lines were
constructed and are under the management of Prof. E. K. Buttles, the
electrical engineer, the labor used in the construction and maintenance
of the lines, including operators, being Chinese.
JAS. C. ZUCK,
United States
Consul.
United States
Consulate,
Tien-Tsin, January 30,
1883.
