A very striking example of the fact that English engineering
energy is still without a rival, is to be found in an account of the building of the Arctic Railway, published in the Times of Thursday. That English foremen and engineers should be directing the laying of English rails, and running engines built at the Atlas Works in Manchester, within the Arctic Circle, is a fact as picturesque as it is consoling at a time when the whole air is full of wailing over the com- mercial victory of the German. Apparently, an attempt is to be made to make the iron-mines at Gellivara, in the extreme North of Sweden, accessible for purposes of export. A railway is already partially laid from Lulea, in the Golf of Bothnia, whence during half the year sea-transport is easy. Another line is to be made to Victoria Haven, on the coast of Norway, a port which is open all the winter, owing to the fact that the shore is at that point washed by the Gulf Stream. This line of rail- way, the most northerly in the world, and connecting the Arctic Ocean and the Gulf of Bothnia, is, we should imagine, likely to become a favourite with tourists. Already the engine whistles to signal that it has passed within the Arctic Circle.
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