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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (March 12, 1905)
mm rairamm. aroma rc 'U V lJ T I . F you belonged to a scientific exploration party In centra! Africa anil had lost your way in the dense forests of the Congo: anil If after untold hardships yon hod been raptis-ed by savage negro tribesman; If as a prisoner you had been taken to a great village In the center of a Jungle am! Iieeri ronflned In a hut lighted by an Incandescent electric light, you would be surprised, naturally. If after this experience you had been takfn before the cnlef and had found him a black, fat. half naked ravage, seated on a throne of elephant tusks, covered with fl leopard skin, behind a rude table or. which, beside a huge war club, s skull, and one or two bones unmistakably human, there stood a handwime nickel plated desk telephone, you still w"uld be surprised. And, If finally, you had heard the familiar sound of the telephone hell and had seen this same Mack. fat. half naked savage chief take the receiver from its honk, place It to his rar, and carry on a conversation In an untranslatable gib berish, you would have been moved to astonishment. Ami yet these thin? happened to Lieut. Emlle Andree. a former officer of the Belgian engineer corps, and to John Haddln. a chemical engineer, both In the employ of a Congo Belgian mining syndicate. Andree and Haddln have Just ar rived at Mombassa. on the coast of British East Africa, and their story Is Ixmnd to excite the wonderment of all the learned and scientific societies In Belgium. I.leut. Andree and John Haddln Joined a surveying and exploring party at Stanley Falls station on the Lower Congo river on March 20, 1:K:1. with. the purpose of marching over land to I,nke Victoria Nyanaa. Their object was to explore the great Interior of central Congo In search of dyewood and rubber forewts, and to examine the mountain ranges between Albert Edward Nyanrn and Victoria Nyania for gold, cop per, and Iron. Overland March in Interior. As this Is not a story of the exploration of the Congo but only of a mmt sknglar adventure, no attempt will be made to relate the hardships of the Journey across the dark con tinent. Suffice It to any. that the party of 120 men, of whom five were white and the others natives, employed aa carriers and soldiers, left Stanley Falls station on June 20, liHKI, ascended the Lower Congo river In steam launches to Kl honge, passing safely the five cataracts of the river. From Klhonge, the overland march began, the route followed be ing the old trail of the Ivory raklers. northeast. .I.") English miles, to the Iturl river, where II flows Into the t'pper Congo. The exploration of central Afrlcai In these day lacks the glamour of danger that surrounded It In Stanley's days. The party was well equipped and mnrched for 100 days through forest, hush, and Jungle without meeting ai adven ture outside of those familiar to exploring parties. The ex pedition passed through endless miles of forests In an abso lutely unknown region. On Dec. 3, Won, the party reached TJJangwa, forty miles south of the I'pper Congo, where they rested In a large vil lage for several weeks. UJangwa has been frequently visited by the numerous exploring parties which have ascendid the t'pper Congo under direction of King1 Leopold and the companies which are exploiting the Free State for personal gains. At UJangwa, Lieut. Andree learned from a native who was able to make himself understood In a queer mixture of English and French, of gold mines said to exist eighty miles tn the southwest. In a rnne of foothills skirting the moun tain approaches to Albert Edward Nyanza. Search for Mythical Gold Mine. The story seemed probable enough to warrant Inveetlga tlon. and Lieut. Andree and John Haddln met a company of sixty-seven carriers and gunbearers and started for the spot. It was In the attempt to reach this mythical gold mine that the two men met with their extraordinary adventure. The road or the way, for there was no road passed througih the Jungle. Twenty natives, with billhooks and axes, were constantly employed In clearing a pathway. Sometimes an entire day would be consumed In going a single mile. One by one the natives either sickened or died, or de serted. After four weeks of slow progress, Lieut. Andree and John Haddln found themselves almost alone, with only four faithful native to aid them. Still they pressed on, thlnkirnr all the time that at bent they orukl find their way back by the trail they had biased through the undergrowth. One day. six weeks after they left T'Jangwa. Andre and Tfaddln burnt through the Jungle to a broad highway leading directly to a large village. The highway was nearly eighty feet wide and had been carefully cleared Of trees, bushes, and vines. One hundred yards away. In front of the village walls, stood a group of fifty natives, shouting, gesticulating, with drawn bows In their hand. Escape was Impossible, and so Andree and Haddln made the bewt of their predicament and advanced toward the gate o the village. They received 'a hostile reception, for In a moment they mere surrounded ;and attacked by hnlf a hun dred black savages. In an Instant both had been knocked senseless by huge war 'clubs, and until the . next day knew no more. " When Hnddin regained consciousness he found him self bound hand and foot In la dark hut. While he was won dering in a dull way whether the lieutenant was alive or dead some one came Into the hut. Haddln could see In the dim light that the visitor was a savage, for he could see (he naked llmlrs moving. All at' once the savage stretched a long, bare arm up Into the 'air, there came a familiar click, and the next Instant the room was flooded with electric light. Incandescent Lights in Savage's Hut. Haddln was so astonished at the sight "of am incan descent bulb, hanging hy an ordinary Insulated wire from the ceiling of the hut, that at first he oould scarce believe he was In central Africa. The snvae black set on the ground a calabash full of some kind of greasy soup, with chunks of meat floating around in It. Another calabash . contained . water. Cutting the withes that bound his captive's hands the black squntted on the ground and began to eat, motioning to Haddln to do the same. When Haddln had satisfied his hunger the black mo tioned to the wall of the hut. Haddln, who had been sulfl clently astonished by the sight of a modern electric light In a savage village In the center of an African Jungle, could only mare helplessly at a telephone attached to the wall. It was unmistakably a telephone of the ordinary pattern. The black went to the telephone, pulled the receiver from the hook, turned the crank, and spoke something to some body at the other end of the wire. Then, grinning: until every Ivory tooth In his head was In sight, he motioned for Haddln to take the receiver. ITaddin approached the mouthpiece with his lips and railed " Hello." He couldn't think of anything else to call. He said afterwards that the sound of the lieutenant's voice ns tlx? latter answered was the pleasantest word he ever heard spoken. Haddln and Lieut. Andree held a long conversation over the wire. The lieutenant. It seemed, was a prisoner ln the largest hut in the village, evidently the chief's residence. He couM offer no explanation of the electric light or the telephone. " I'm surprised at nothing." he said to Haddln over the phone. " If there is a dally paper, a stock exchange, and a roulette game ln this village, I'll not be surprised ln the least." Seeking for Solution of Mystery. The next day Haddln and Lieut. Andree met ln the chief's hut and were taken Into the presence of the chief himself. If they had expected to find a solution In the mystery of the electric light and the telephone there in that Jungle town in Africa they were disappointed. Haddln had rend of Amer icans and Frenchmen who had been made kings of savage tribes ln different parts of the world and he had a dim Idea that perhaps the chief twould prove to be a white man in dlaguise. ;. 'j V' ' ''v-'y .. . But It w4s'retso;i The chief "was a big fat dirty negro, Iwyond question a savage. His only garment was a leopard skin. He sat on a "throne" ornamented in a crude way with Ivory tusks. In front of him was a rude table covered with u lion skin, the head with Its sightless eyes hanging down In front of the table, and this formed a screen for the fat squat legs of the native thief. ( There was a human skull on the table and one or two bones. Haddln naturally expected to see such grewsome objects; but he was surprised to see beside the skull a hand- , 1 ft " " X .. 1 iiv - a : r 1 1 V'; a. "A W 11- ' - V 'J ,rn - -. iiAv ? 1.." . A-.' O :Mr- awe 0U' wK- some nlckei plated desk telephone with its green Insulated wire trailing over the side of the table and along the floor. Several times during the " powwow " the chief shook his war club angrily at the desk phone as If he would smash It. Evidently he was angry at It. Filially, in a burst of anger, after vainly trying to talk through the phone, he raised his club with the determination to demolish lt..-.u., A quick exclamation from Lieut. Andre attracted th .at tention of the chief. Andree pointed to the telephone and then to himself. The chief comprehended that Andree could repair the offending telephone and motioned for him to try. Repaired Damage to Telephone. Andree made a quick examination and discovered that one of the little screws that held the hoop urton which the receiver hangs had become Jammed, so that when the receiver was removed the spring would not release the hook, enable It to rise, and thus establish the circuit to the centraJ office. It required hut a moment to repair the damage. A grin of satisfaction came over the chief's face as he lifted the phone and discovered that it worked as well as ever. Andree's knowledge of the telephone saved his Ufa , as well as that of his friend; from that time they had the 'freedom of the village. . ' They discovered that somebody had installed, a small elretrlo lighting station of twenty-five lamps, the dynamo being run by a turbine water wheel In the river. The tele phone system comprised, only four Instruments, but it had been Well Installed with doubly Insulated wire. There was actually a " central "-a grinning darky. Haddln and Lieut. Andree remained in the village two weeks and In nil that time they never discovered the presence pf a white man or found any of the natives that could speak English, German, French, or a.ny modern language. When they left the village they had not solved the mys tery. They have not solved it to this day. They nuide their way back to I'Jangwa. rejoined their iirty, and traveled eastward to Lake Victoria Nyanaa. The English railroad took them to Mombassa. How did the electric lights and the telephone find their way to central Africa? No one knows. It has been guessed that some scientific explorer visited the spot nnd Installed the systems for his own use or for the amusement of the natives. But If so, what became of him? Was he killed after he had taught the natives the use of the scientific wonders? Another theory Is that the telephone and lights were Installed by negro graduates of American technical schools who made their way to central Africa In the hope of setting up a kingdom of their own. Who knows? WWW WSS m H'f kit ... , & -00 WW WW W"W W W W W WWW W W W W W W W www w w w w SHE WRES1LLS W11H A LI OX. MERELY A MAN. KITE FOR WAR. TO REACH CLOISTER. ICE WAS VICTORIOUS. i' ,?w' 5 X J . , I 1 ...... V. - ? . .... - . . A- . - .. ... ?. V If''. i 1 1 1 ! t rv1hf H If. wmK .rr. I I 1 S h I - .i. , f J 1 1 I 1 I - ' I t i 9 . t it t I ' I , . ..... The picture was taken from an upper story window and merely shows how a man ap pears to the camera from this elevation. SALT IN THE WdRLD. Lion taming is followed by nearly as many women us men; Indeed, some women have an extraordinary faculty foi dealing with savage beasts, Just as some of them can ride, horses that a man could not approach. As a matter of fact, however, a lion is easily tamed when taken young, and becomes quite docile when dee-ntly treated. SUET FOR BIRDS. GAMECOCKS. WPfW" 1 1 1 I IIJM 9 1 sMsfsww-wslrWSppsjfww ir0ti -tiki 'I'lie earth contains a quantity of salt equal to one-seventh of Its weight. The salt is diKsolved little by little, and hence the salt ness of the ocean Is Increasing. NEVER CRIES ' ',i7'V'' '' F. S. Co&y, an Englishman, claims to have discovered a practical and trustworthy kite for use In time of war. Cellular or box kites with wings attached have been utiliied by Mr. Cody, who has been experimenting at Portsmouth. On one1 occasion, it is said, he went up to a 'height of 1.2H) feet, andi at Woolwich had himself raised to 000 feet. Similar kites to these have boen recerotly ex perimented with under the ausnices of the French ministry of marine as life saving ap pliances. These kites are furnished with a tail rope on which Is a paddle, by means of which the man attached1 to the rope can steer himself, the kite providing the traction power, or in other cases serving to carry a rope from the vessel to the land. MUFFLER MAN. .A '. v. At 1 ' ill ' f. fll f ft .' 3 C" if , 'ills'?.' t This photograph shows how the snow plow was wrecked hy the ice on the truck. Its steel tlanyen were twl.-ted as If they had been of tin. FOR FUN. DIFFICUL T MA I O.X SKIS. '1 "vV ; t ? j 4 . Ifll Some of the oldest monasteries In the world are perched on lofty, precipitous cliffs In the mountain region of Oreece. To reach them you have to be hauled up In a basket. Others are readied uy rope ladders. In Thessaly rotten rope may be seen hanging from caves in the cliff:), the former abodes of soli tary hermits, and In Athens, within the memory of men. yet living, a hermit dwelt i j n the top of a solitary column of the ruined ancient temple of Zeus, and hauled up with a cord and basket the food be stuwed on him by the charitable. Do you know your friends' hands? Some time when several an present let each lay his or her hand, with the lingers open as wide as posiiibk', upon a xheet of plain white paper, and then wlih a pencil mark the out line of the lund. Then shuffle the outlines and let all gums which is whose. The two men in the foreground are Just ac complishing the difficult fiat of lurntng round on ski, the feet being raised ont n time, as shown, anil the. heavy ski Jerked round. Norwegian Hildurs. it Is said, barn to keep their biiloiii e on thctic shoes In three or four days; but even whn expert thcyy curry a ski stick, for, when kl running uli'i speed, the only way to stop Is to dig this stick 4 Into the snow or Ice. JUV ITER'S MA. XV MOONS. I'ockflffhtlna- It the most popular sport in In winter this mun ties suet to a tree or Mexico. lieri.Unhown a Mexican laden with the birds, who cudis and peck at it. gamecock on his way to a main. When they tell you arv Indian baby never cries remember this picture and don't believe the fable. Roll a handkerchief at the sides until meeting In the middle. Fold over the lower ends and spread out a ilttle. Then bring down the upper ends C and I, and, spreading them out. bring them around the middle, lie them in the back, nnd draw out the ends of Hi knots for arms. I'ull the other ends out lunger fur legs. Now you have a handkerchief man. & ooQO j Four of Jupiter's moons are larger thun tile earth's, us la ahown In this diugram.