Argmut 27, HJOrJ.
TIIE OMAIIA ILLUSTRATED BEE.
Congo Free State's
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4
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NATTVB ' POLICEMAN, CONGO FRETS STATU
AT 6, marks the twentieth an-
niversary of the Independence of
M
me longo Free State under the
I iji rule of King Leopold II of the
w w iiuii.
llH.n . . ,.
luiiin wiuers compile an Impnr-
tlal hlBtory of our times, posterity will
discover to the credit of the Belgian na-
tlon the civilisation and development of
one of the most resourceful of African do-
minions. Though Belgium has an
Of 11,375 square miles, which Is less than
one-fourth the six of the state of New
Tork, and a population of 6.500.000 Deonle.
It has accomplished within twenty years
a task worthy of any of the first-class
powers, opening up to the world a vast
territory covering an area of 800,000 square
miles with a native and white population
of about 80,000,000.
Ths philanthropic and humanitarian
movement In favor of the civilisation of
the valleys of the upper and lower Congo
was conceived by Kink Leopold II as early
m- prplciWr, ism, wnen an international
conference of scientists and explorers met
at the royal palace at Brussels. Before
this assembly King" Leopold made the
following remark:
"To open the only portion of our globe
where civilisation has not yet penetrated,
to pierce the darkness which envelops
whole countries of people, is a crusade
worthy this century of progress. I have
led myself to believe that you would find
It possible to discuss and arrange between
yourselves the ways and means of plant
ing the standard of civilisation upon Af
rican soil."
Leopold's Views on (Havery.
ine outcome oi mis international assem
bly was the formation of a Belgian na
tional committee for the carrying out of
the king's projects and before this com
mittee he said:
"Slavery, which still exists to an enor
mous extent on the African continent. Is
a stigma which all the friends of humanity
should desire to see wiped out of existence.
The horror of this state of things, the
thousands of victims which the slave trade
causes to be massacred each year, the even
greater- numbers of perfectly Innocent be
ings who are brutally reduced to perpetual
hard labor, have awakened the sympathies
of all those who have studied this deplora
ble state of things, and they have agreed
to unite Tn their efforts to organise an In
ternational association that will put an end
to a traffic which causes the civilised world
of the present day to blush with shame,
and to tear away the veil that now hangs
over central Africa."
Inspired by Stanley's Discovery.
As a result of these preliminary labors
the International African association
sprang Into existence, having for Its object
the establishment of a line of stations from
the east coast to the center of Africa. Four
different expeditions were sent out and es
tablished several stations, the most Impor
tant being Karema and M'Pala. on Lake
Tanganyika. In 1878. when the first of these
expeditions was preparing to leave Brus
sels, Henry M. Stanley, who had left Zansl
bar enroute to the heart of the continent
two years before, appeared unexpectedly
on the Atlantic coast, thus demonstrating
to the world the existence of the great
Congo river, which, owing to Its naviga
bility, opened up a natural highway In the
center of Africa through a vast well popu
lated country, very rich In mineral and
vegetable products.
This event struck the keynote and In
spired by the- remarkable discovery. King
Leopold, in November. 1878. founded the
committee for the exploration of the Upper
lunip'wiu .j.B",
llsh and French capitalists. This commit-
tee had practically the same mission on
the west coast as that of the International
African association on the east, and was
commissioned to explore the entire valley
of the Congo, to acquire as much knowl
edge as possible of the resources of the
country, to study the customs of the peo
ple and begin trade by exchanging Euro
pean manufactures for the natural prod
ucts. The management of this mission was
given to Henry M. Stanley, who returned
to Africa at Us head early In 1879. Thanks
to the greaf experience and unlimited en
ergy of Stanley, the valley of the Congo
was explored as far as Stanley Falls and
thirty stations with regular connection to
the coast were established.
Hew Government Formed.
This undertaking soon became too vast
for such a committee to handle and It was
decided to hand the management over to
an administration which should be stronger,
more Independent and worthy of recogni
tion by the great powers. This gave- birth
to what was known as the International
Association of the Congo, which body, at
the end of 183, had made nearly 1.000
treaties with the chiefs of native tribes,
who voluntarily ceded to the International
essoclatlon their sovereign rights over their
territories. The United States of America,
the government of which had followed the
progress of the development of the Congo
valley, was the first power to recognise
the International Association of the Congo
as a friendly nation, and Germany, a few
years later, did the same.
In November, 1S84, a conference of the
powers was held In Berlin and traced the
limits of the valley of the Congo, deter
mined Its form of government, gave It po
litical neutrality, laid out the rules for
the protection of natives, prohibited slave
trade and declared free the navigation of
the Congo liver, its affluents and the lakes
connected with It. In the meantime the
greater part of the nations officially recog
nised the new state.
On May (, 186, the local government was
organised. Its neutrality officially declared
and the nations unanimously proclaimed
Leopold II as sovereign, thus giving him
due credit as the creator of the new coun
try. The state covers an area of 800,000 square
miles, or nearly four times that of Franc
Ling on tne euuator. It extends Ova degrees
At '
.''I
from the equator at Its most northern ex-
tremlty and fourteen decrees outh. The
river Congo Is. of course, the most valuable
feuiure of the new country; It la navigable
rrom us mouth to Stanley Falls, a distance
or w) miles, with the exception of the
rapids and falls from Yelala to Leopoldvllle
on Stanley Pool, a distance of 20 miles,
The connection of the navKable Dortions
was, of course, absolutely essential to the
future nrnnnerlrv .f the iisia unit in n.mr.1
M , -
to this Stanley Is known to have said to
the king of the Belgians, "If a railroad Is
not built here, all the Congo Free State
will not be worth a farthing." This the
Belgians fully realised and In July, 1898, the
railway from Matadl to Stanley Pool was
Inaugurated In its full length (about 2E0
miles). The opening of this railway has
brought the resources of the Congo Free
State In direct communication with the
markets of the world and has fully Justl-
fled Stanley's prediction, for without the
railway, successful trade was practically
Hopeless. In fact, prior to the Antwerp
International exposition of 1894, publlo
opinion had begun to lose confidence In the
ultimate success of King Leopold's vast
project. At this exposition, however, there
was a most complete Congo department,
which opened the eyes of Europe to the
wealth of resources In this enormous, fer
tile territory and It was then recognised
that the Congo Free State was a new field
for ente prise and speculation.
Products of the Country.
The first and most Important of all Its
products are, of course. Ivory and rubber,
of which experts say there is a sufficient
store with which to supply the' markets of
Cuban Iron and Copper
' f'ih'
MB. COX AND MR. CARPENTER IN A RAILWAY ATJTOMOBILB.
(Copyright. 1905. by Frank G. Carpenter.) the neighborhood of tl0.000.000. These mines num. If It Is an Iron concession he will
Aug.
(Special Correspondence of The
Bee.) New Iron mines have been
recently discovered pn the high-
lands above Nlpe bay. Borings
-..A
-AC'
have already been made to determine the
' th. deposits, and It 1. said that
!r! ' tL
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oeKrmlne Its value and how It may be
best treated, and If their experiments are
successful the mines will be, of enormous
value. The deposits are such that the
mines can be worked with steam shovels,
and the ore will be handled by machinery
from the time It leaves the earth going on
a gravity railroad down to the steamers
which will carry it to the smelters of the
United States. The managers say that the
ore can be shipped as cheaply from Nlpe
bay to the great works on the Chesapeake
.that of Lake Superior can be brought
down to the smelters on Lake Erie.
Iron Mines Owned by Americans.
These deposits are being Investigated by
the same syndicate of capitalists which al
ready controls the chief Iron mines of
Cuba. It is a combination of the Pennsyl
vania Steel company, the Maryland Steel
company and others. They own the Jura
gua mines, and have large interests In the
Spanish-American Iron company and In the
Cuban Steel Ore company.
.Tr.,raTh v'TVTT 'h! 0ltSt,
In Cuba. , They were first opened about
18U1, but it was not until 1883 that foreign
. ... .....
capital became Interested In them. Since
that time they huve,produced about 4.0U0.0C0
tons of ore. and they have now an output
of 40.000 tons per month. These mines
belong to the Bethlehem Iron company.
the Pennsylvania Steel company and the
Maryland Steel company. They are not
far from Santiago and the ore Is brought
there for shipment.
The Spanish-American Iron company is
operating mines near Daiquiri, which lies
on an open loads tea d twelve miles east of
Morro Castle. The deposits are four miles
back of the seaport, and about sixteen
miles east of Santiago. The company has a
standard gauge railroad from the mines to
the bay, and steel docks similar to those
of Lake Superior. It was Just beside these
docks that our troops made their first land
ing during the Spanish-American war.
The Daiquiri mines are valuable. They
were located by Samuel P. Ely of Cleveland
In lvo and Mr. Ely founded the Spanish
American Iron company to operate them,
lie had made a fortune In mining in the
Lake Superior iron region, and when he
opened the. Daiquiri mines he Introduced
the best of modern machinery. The mines
oegan to pnwu in i. iiu i u tiw
of 10 their output was equal to more than
i.UO.Cu tfis of ore, worth in the states la
First Twenty Years'
?-;:'V i.'- . 1 V
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GATHERING OP NATTVH
the world for a length of time that need
not cause anxiety to present generations.
nM.. thi th mirv nnninni ri.
all the staple, tropical products In a wild
state. During the last twenty years tha
Belgians" In the Congo have directed their
efforts with considerable success toward
the cultivation of the native cotton, sugar
cotton within 'the last three years has been
j .. . l., , .
lllclllirU 1115 IVRUIl VI HMD lilU'UU
which promises well Is awaited with great
Interest, The furniture industry has been,
greatly enhanced by the discovery of most
valuable species of ornamental woods
which vie In beauty and durability with the
woods already known In the cabinet mak
ers' art. Copper and Iron have been found
In rich deposits and there are signs of gold
in the Katanga, discovered after years of
arduous prospecting.
since the opening of the railway In 1898
the Importance of the Congo market at
Antwerp has been steadily Increasing, for
It must be remembered that all the com
mercial enterprises In the Congo Free State
have made Antwerp the general world
market for the Free State products.
A regular trl-weekly service of elegant,
first-class passenger mall steamers, spe
cially built for the trade by English own
ers and sailing under the Belgian flag, plies
between Antwerp and Boma. which Is the
principal city and port of the Congo.
Railroads In tfe Country.
The Matndl-Stanley Pool railroad above
referred to was commenced In the begin
ning of 1691 and reached Stanley Pool In
1S98. The line covers a distance . 'of 400
kilometers (about 260 miles) over a Very
O 5
As 'h v. -. , . .
' vsvi'
are now turning out 40,000 or 50,000 tons of
ore a month; they can produce 60.000 tons.
and the only limit to their product Is the
labor supply. The company started by
opening three mines. Thev are now work-
Ing ten and have recently begun the devel-
opment of another district which will feed
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The Cuban Steel Ore company has Iron
mines In the mountains forty miles west of
Santiago ana about six miles back from the
seaport of Chlrlvico. The mines are con
nected with the sea by a railroad which Is
said to be one of the best equipped of lti
kind on the Island, and at the Chlrlvico aro
two wharves and a steel dock 1,000 feet
long.
Mining- With Steam Shovels.
The Iron ore of Cuba Is both magnetite
nl hematite. It Is found chiefly near the
tops of the hills In small. Irregular bodies
without definite walls. It Ir very hard and
must be broken loose from the country
rock with sledges and explosives. It Is of
such a nature that steam shovels are
largely used to tear away the earth and
uncover the ore. There are hundreds of
such shovels now working at Daiquiri, and
the Lola mine there is being gouged out
" ",su lne u'PDra
pass at Panama.
The most of the Cuban miners are lmml.
fMm n0rthern Spaln' The na,lv"
work well with- the marhrte. hut ih.v
.
lost In the nreBence nf nl.'W
Ijibor Is comparatively cheap, the ordinary
wage being a dollar for a day of ten hours.
The companies feed the miners if the men
desire It, but In this case they are charged
25 cents a day for their food, miklm hpie
pay 75 cent, a day and food. The miner.
live in villages built for their use In the Im-
mediate vicinity of the mines. Barracks
are provided for the bachelors and huts for hundred tons.
those who have families. Nearly every
mining property has Its store, where meals. Millions In C uban Copper,
provisions and clothing can be purchased. Tne corper mines of Cuba have produced
millions In the past, and the prospect Is
Cuba a I .and' of Minerals. that they will yield millions In the future.
These mines give some idea of the rich Copper Is found In nearly every province.
Iron deposits of Cuba. The Island has but th real copper province Is Santiago,
never been carefully prospected, although which was long noted as having the richest
hundreds of mining concessions have been copper mines In the world. These were the
taken out and mining properties are owned famous Fa Cobre mines, which lie In the
here and there all over the island, ft Is mountains about twelve miles west of San
easy to get a mining concession and It tlago, and which are now again being
costs only a bagatelle to hold It. If one worked by the Spanish-American Iron com
wlshes to take out such a right he has pany. El Cobre was opened up about li30
only to conform to certain legal tecbnlcall- as a crown possesion of Spain. It was
ties, and thereafter pay a .mall govern-
mem tax ner year. The government grant,
conctssions lor an unlimited number of
years, and the owner many work his mine
vr mn. u um pimaca. m. mi ior an
metals, except iron. Is at the rate of $6 per
hectare, or two and ous-Laif acre, per an-
V1 tv- '
i
1 - :',? !
CHIEFS AT COtTLITATVILLE, CONGO
).'5i'v'sV,1 ' ' '.v ' &'m """""
- -l.fcKr f ? -a 'V
'-' T 'A .' T
;4-iw-'v''i 'i. ;.--..-;V.v.ii
KTN'G LEOPOLD tl OF THE BEL
GIANS. pay only $2 per hectare.
At present the Cuban government has
granted over 200 Iron concessions. It hus
granted 146 concessions for mining manga-
nese. 118 for rnnnor i.ni.ni.s . ..i.i
ten for lead four f,,r ,.iouu.. thi
for sine, six for petroleum and seven y-
an iuca ui mo nun-
erals which exist In the Island. Minerals
are found In every province, from Plnar
del Rio to Santiago, although the latter Is,
above all others, the richest In Cuba. The
concessions granted In Santiago number 438,
of which the largest number are for Iron,
manganese, copper and lead. The total
value of the mineral products of Cuba in
1901 was 13,000,000, of which the most came
irorn Santiago.
Manganese Mines.
Speaking of manganese, this Is a metal
which looks like iron and has a strong
affinity for It. It Is not used by Itself In
the arts, but only In combination with
other metals, and Is of great value in mak-
Ing steel. The best of the
o
e situated about sixteen miles northeast
of El Cristo and the ore Is brought into
Santiago by railroad for shipment. The
ore occurs In pockets, the bulk of it being
-a.,eu airt. annougn Dy picking some
aood manir:inex nitgin.d wv,i...
- " " " v " -
not require waahlnir. The richer minu
ar" OWned by ,he PonuP com.
Danv of SantUim mh. !,., -
...v., .uu-ii a
the Boston mlnva ni-o k., .k c .
"d Manganese company of New York
The latter company began shipping In lxr'
ll works s.-e well equipped, having a.
Corliss engine. Urge pumps and other pow-
erful machinery. The nunniiM. i..uiiv
H 1" limestone and sandstone associated
w'tn Japar.
in aia
from a pebble to masses that weigh several
worked by the Spanish government for 3)0
year, and then abandoned. A hundred
years later an English' company with a
capital of $240,000 reopened the mines, em-
ploying sdoui j.uuu men in their develop-
merit. Bhortly afterward another comoany
Jormed te take possession, and the
;-;(.'T- ,.-v.v,v''
4 j- -WMttU.- ? t ' ,
i : V:.'ba.
Sill:
no
Progress
TOEB STATU
hilly country, necessitating the construc
tion of over 100 bridges, varying In length
from thirty to S30 feet. The time occupied
In making the Journey, which Is only con
tinued In the daytime, Is about forty hours.
The night stop Is made at Tumba, a little
less than half way between Matadl and
Stanley Pool. The cost of building this
railway was $12,500,000. Another railway
from Boma to Lukula, a distance of 100
kilometers, or sixty-two miles, was com
menced In October, 1P98, and reached Its
terminus, Lukula, In December, 1901.
The Congo Free State has now In view
the building of 2.000 kilometers (1,242 miles)
of railway. One line Is to connect Stanley
villa, with Mahagl and Duflll with Redjaf.
and another will connect Kasango, on the
River Lualaba, with the environs of Kl
banga, on Ijiko Tanganlka. Another
branch of this Important railway system
will run from Stanleyville to the south
Into the center of the Katanga district.
The greater part of the railway along the
Lualaba from Stanleyville is well under
way.
'Waterways Well Itlliied.
The Congo Free State has on the water
ways of the upper Congo regular steam
navigation lines. On Stanley Pool there
are about 100 steamers, half of which be
long to the state. The steamers In use on
the Congo river and the lakes are specially
built In Europe for sluggish waters. The
Free State's fleet on the upper Congo river
comprises thirty-three steamers, to which
must be added eight steamers on the
lower Congo, besides about seventy more
belonging to private corporations. The ter
minus stations for steam navigation are:
Stanleyville on the Congo river, Kunlmbl
Owned by Americans
I -r- '
CUBAN COPPER MINERS..
working was continued up until 1858. Be-
tween the years of 1S30 and 1868 these mines
are said to have produced about $80,000,000
worth of copper, which Is In addition to
the amount mined by the Spanish govern-
nieni lor a.v years, ueiween lao ana ixos
a t U 000 W- ana they were as I have
SoXJ
unui me Laiumei ana iiecia mines or
Laka Superior were discovered.
Some of the best prospects among Cuban
minerals are copper. This metal Is found
In nearly every province. Copper deposits
have been worked In Plnar del Rio, In Hav
ana and Matanxas. In Santa Clara valu
able beds of this ore have been found near
Clenfuegos and there are a number of
mines In Puerta PrlnciDO. Some of the
oldest copper mines of the latter provinces
are now In the hands of Pennsylvania
parties.
Bonght by Americans.
When El Cobre was at Its best a railroad
was built to convey the ore from the mines
to Santiago bay. This was owned by
63'.iiiii tu( (Aiiaiiuu, auu iv tnai dulii
exorbitant freight rates that the mining
company had to shut down. Then revolu-
tlons broke out. and the machinery and
buildings were destroyed, the railroad was
wrecked and the mines became so flooded
iiuii ii was mil iu inspect mem.
ru. ji.i . .k i .
war with 8ialn. At that time American
. . . .... . ...
caDlliailKlB oouKiil. uui me lines in ine oia
company. They have since pumped much
of the water from the mines and are grad
ually taking out the ore. There are alto-
gether more that Ave miles of underground
workings.
Th V.l CnhrA mlupa n fa 1 fLVl feet neen
and their lowest tunnel, are WJ feet below
lne level of ine sea. bo rar oniy two leei
has been pumped out, the pumps being
veniber. It has already taken out almost
100,000 tons, and the mines now have an
output of about 10.000 tons a month.
Visit to Kl Cobre.
It was In company with Mr. Jen
nings B.
merlcan
Cox, the manager of the Spanlsh-A
Iron company, that I visited these mines
and the smelter connected with them. The
smelter is Just across the bay from San
tiago. We rode over Jn a steam launch be-
longing to the company, and, landing at
the wharves, walked by great pile, of coke
and limestone to
o the works. The coke Is
linoorted. from the United State, and the
limestone from Interior Cuba. The smelting
works cover several acres, rislna- almost
straight up from the iur. They are cf
krt riiinv lust enmiffh to kfeen the water . . .
ob-k or naniiago where those copper the Dark Continent an
awav from the miners. There are already ,i. -.,. ,. , 1 uara ionuneni an
. , h,..ir.rt ,h-,.nrf .nn. nf nr. in ' ""v" " 61 co1" Prlod of fifteen years
" ' ' , ., , . . , , , or mose or the Grand Canyon of the private fortune.
sight. The syndicate liegan work last fall Y.iir.-.i- . . . . ... wuuu
. , . tl . , ,.-.. Yellowstone, and a large part of the ore
and made It. first shipment of ore last No- tuke t , . "
Toward Civilization
V ' ' 'i ff
on the Loamal, Lusambo on the P inkuru,
Lubeo on the Lulua, Popokabuka on the
Kwango, Zongo on the Vbangl, Ibernbo on
the Ittmbirl and Jambuya on the Aruwiml.
From these ports wide and easy highways
extend toward the Interior, some of them
specially constructed for automobile service
and others for projected railways.
Steamers and sailing vessels have been
launched on Lake Tanganlka, Lake Klvu
and Lake Moreo.- . The ports of Banana
Boma and Matadl, on the lower Congo,
are accessible at all times to transatlantic
steamers, and Banana, at the mouth of the
river, enjoys the great advantage of having
no sand banks to Interfere with naviga
tion. Communication In . the Free State hns
within the past ten years largely devel
oped by telegraph and telephone, the first
telegraphic line being established between
Boma and Matadl, July, 1895, on the 15th of
September, 1898, 'both telegraphlo and tele-
phonlo communication was established be-
tween Matadl and Leopoldvllle.' At the end
of the same year the wires ran for a distance
of 685 kilometers (425 miles) and In 1899 there
were some 800 miles of wire In use. Blnce
that time long distance telephoning has
been perfected and communications are
practically easy for distances of 300 and 400
miles. Wireless telegraphy Is now being
successfully experimented with.
Administration nf Jnstlce.
Justice Is now administered throughout
the length and breadth of the Congo Free
State. In the capitals of the various dis
tricts there are territorial courts having
Jurisdiction over both natives and Euro
peans and 'the Judicial v system is carried
out by forty-four civil tribunals and mill-
v. luimTi
Sistfii niii '- D
the most modern make, furnishing all the
processes needed for turning the different
grades of ore into the copper which Is
shipped from here to the refineries of the
United States.
Most of the ore Is of a low grade. When
ored stone In which h. Z it .Trn h,T
TJZZrl" UlTl Tt
crushed to- a dust and then flowed over
moving tables each fifteen feet wide and
twenty feet long. Each table moves so
that the copper sinks to the bottom and
finds its place at one side of the table,
while the dirt and gravel moves on. The
gravel is again crushed and washed until
the copper Is about all out of It. Much of
the ore is smelted, being mixed with lime
stone, coke and Iron oxide from Fllley's
island. Nova Scotia.
lp the Mountains by Automobile.
Leaving the smelter Mr. Cox and I rode
to the mines on the automobile kept for
the purpose. Our track was the railroad,
the wheels of our machine fitting the rails.
The road goes In and out along the Cobre
river, winding Its way through it deep
canyon, until It reaches an altitude of
about 1,600 feet above the sea.
The track was that of the old Spanish
railway and some of the rails were fast-
enPd together by chains and ninned to the
enPa selner oy cnains ana pinned to the
tles by woodw pins. As we rode, Mr. Cox
told me that It had cost the Spanish about
I6O0.000 to-bulld the road, but that their
freight rates were so high that they were
able to realise several million dollars In
dividends before the mines shut down. The
Boanlards used mules as a nuitlvo iir
The American company uses steam, and It
hat so Improved and extended the road
.. . ....
hI mln" , h.
Cuban Yellowstone Park.
I wish I could take you Into the mount-
paint. There are
great masses of brown earth and rock,
lted rock, green rock and rock of other
colors rise about on all sides, and In their
midst are the Shaft houses of the copper
"''n8"- wltn th" loads of ore coming out of
tn"m ,0.Le dumped nto the cars for the
......... ,,,,,,,-ra are 10 oe seen aooui
the works. Something like a thousand are
now employed, and this number will prob-
ably be Increased as the development pro-
gress.s. There Is no doubt but that tho
Cobre mines are still a valuable property
ana tnat ,hv wl'l continue to yield great
Quantities of copper for a long time to
Cuba Is said to have deposits of gold and
(Continued oa Page Sis.
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it
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V
v ,1
.
NATTVH FAMTliT AT MAT AD t.
tary courts, fifty-seven bureaux of vital!
statistics and twenty-six official notaries.
Over all these Is the high council whlchi
sits at Brussels, both as a court of appeal
and as a court of cessation In civil ami
criminal affairs. There Is a court of appeal
at Boma composed of a president and two
associates, a district attorney and a clerk.
The three Judges are chosen as far as pos
sible from different nationalities. To be
appointed president of this court the candi
date must be 30 years of nge, doctor of law,
mdst either have practiced, occupied a Ju
dltial position or taught law In a university",
for at least five years.
The Court of First Instance' of Boma
may sit In any part of the territory of the
state. Its competency Is general, covering
civil, commercial and criminal affairs. If
consists of a Judge, a clerk and a district
attorney. The territorial courts are com
petent to deal with all the infractions of
the law committed within their districts or
even beyond the Units of the same, even
If the parties reside or are found therein.
Crimes committed by the white people
and punishable by death are tried exclu
sively before the Court of First Instance
of the Lower Congo at Boma, where the
accused parties enjoy all the privileges of
a fair trial guaranteed by civilised coun-
tries.
The government Is constantly giving Its
Judicial agents strict Instructions for the
protection of the blacks and any Infringe
ment of the rights of the natives la severely.
punished. , . . ..
Medical Service.
The medical service Is composed of a
chief doctor domiciled at Boma, and one
doctor for every district, domiciled at the
capital, each of which has at his disposal
a certain number of native nurses. There
are now twenty-seven of these govern
ment doctors scattered throughout the
Congo Free State, besides of course, the
'private practitioners. In the capital of
each district there Is a pharmaceutical
depot, which supplies the drug stores of the
various stations-of the district. The capi
tals of each district, as well as the Import
ant stations, have governmental hospitals
for the care of the natives In the govern
ment service, they are generally built In
brick and are well-fitted. In Boma and
Leopoldvllle there are hospitals specially
fitted out for the care of white people.
Kdncatlonal Facilities.
The government has established school
colonies, managed by Belgian Sisters of
Charity.-where the scholars acquire a prac
tical, solid, professional training. From
these institutions the government has ac
quired the services of capable employes,
foremen and non-cominlBsloned officers for
the Publlo Force, the name by which the
army of the Congo Free State Is known.
The Belgians In 18S5 had only three mis
sions and six missionaries In the Congo
Free State; today they possess fifty-nine
permanent missions and twenty-nine travel
ing missions, attended by 384 missionaries
and Sisters of Charity. There are 528 chapel
farms, 113 churches and chapels, 623 lecture
halls, 3 intermediary schools, 73 primary
schools and 440 elementary schools. In
the latter the natives themselves teach
reading and wrltinr. There are 7 noor lv.
lums, 71 Christian villages and 72,383 con-
verted Christians.
The schools arre meeting with success
and It Is stated that the young Congolese
learn with ease and rapidity, speak French
well and are ant for lilnh erinrjitinn. Manv
,, T m ' H i
ll S Z.
rlous callings with
success.
a certain degree of
Commerce.
The Increase of trade with the Congo
Free State during the last seventeen years
has been remarkable, exports Jumping from
HS0.S50 In the year 1887 to some $10,000,000
In 1904. The Imports rose from about 1K90,
000 in 1892 to some SI.STjO.OOO In the year 14
Of this latter sum 3,500,ooo worth of goods
were exported direct from Antwerp, while
only goods to the value of 11,400 were ex
ported from the United States direct. Of
the total exports from the Congo during
1804, 0,7W,ou0 worth were shipped direct
to Antwerp and $-'70 worth direct to the
United States.
The fact that the great bulk of the trade
with the Congo Free State, as shown above.
Is concentrated at Antwerp Is due to that
port's being the universal market for all
Congo products, and Americans desirous
of extending their trade with the Congo
Free State must, under the circumstances,
do so through the business houses of Ant
werp. While the people of Belgium have opened
up a new and needed outlet for their Indus
try and stimulated their home markets
by the steady Increase of the Congo's trop
ical products, they have at the same time
worked wonders In the colonisation and
civilisation of Central Africa, and King
Leopold may well be proud of the first
twenty years of his cherished project In
bettering the condition of his wards In
d for which, for a
he sacrificed his
CIIL'ltCU HOWB,
A WWttier Roast
young woman once sat a boardtna-
house table beside a reserved and swkw.r
country boy whom she delighted to tease.
relates the Boston Transcript. When she
len she asked him to write In her
autograph album. The poem which John
O. Whlttler wrote there and which had just
been published stands as a warning to other
m. i.i... tK. -h. ,
seemingly dumb countryman may he
- m ...... -mm muK h a t a
be ia.,2h t mnw v.-. i.,.. n-.,
rself
friHi,. .,u .
Thy life may nothing vex it
Thy years be not a few.
And at thy final exit
JOajr Lhe dtvluiit hja due.
I