V
THE OMAHA SUNDAY BEE: MAY 1?. 1907.
i What the French Are Doing to Open Up the Greatest of Deserts
ft
I . aU "Sv ;
f AXs- T 1
( -IT-' :T: ; - -
.MJil ....
- f-- ' - - :- -
FREIGHT TRAIN OF THE CENTRAL SAHARA.
pa;er arranged that one-half of each
receipt can be pva to the passer rer and
the other doubled up and tied with a string;
to the baieae.
Most of the natives ca,rry their belongings
In bags not unlike coffee sack and much
of the checked Imesaie is of that natjrc.
At th- depots the poorer Arai threw these
baits over tr.elr shoulders and march off
with them.
First and s'ml-clw passengers take
Kuiner.ue! valines and bundles into the car?.
I am now traveling with nine packages and
they all go into the car. At every stop and
tart the porters take all my fluff in and
out for me and the rates are ro low that
the cost if handling !s little. Four cents
Is a bis enough fe for one man and one
food, lusty Arab can carry my baggage.
TUNISIAN BRAKEMAJf AT WORK.
fpyr1ght
I A I
117. hy
BISKRA,
hara. Mai
Frank O. Carpenter.)
in the Desert of
15. i Special Corre-
spondenoe of The Bee.) The rail-
re ad Is bound, to revolutionise the
Afriran oontoient. AlreadT the
Iron l.orv. who breath is smoke sad wnose
Ve is fire, is beginning- to Ugh? up the
darker spots of these blackest regions on
the globe. The work is rapidly go'ng on In
tern Africa, where they are building a
line from the" Cape of Good Hope to Cairn.
. This has been extended from the Mediter
I nanean southward for a distance as treat
I a from the Atlantic to far beyond the
V Mississippi, and the extension from Cape
Town to the north Is greater still. The
Rhodesia rallwry system reached the Zam
besi river tn lsr& Turin the last year It
as extended beyond that point at the rst
"f almost one mile per day. and It la now
at the Broken Hill mines, within less than
miles of Lake Tanganyika. I expect to
TO alor,- the (rreater part of this rmite be
foru I leave Africa, and will be able to de
scribe the va-Kus s!aes.
Jprnm the coasts of both eaat and west
-f rtra railroad are being built Into the
Ar.'rrtoT. which will give access to the cen
K 'A tral and southern parts of the continent,
jr Here In the north the French colonies hare
I an extensive railway system; Egypt la
J grtdlroned wl'h tracks and trunk lines ars
being; surveyed In the Soudan and la tha
Congo valley.
trains do not make more than fifteen or
twenty miles an hour and the railroad
cii cks at the stations are purposely kept
five minutes behind every other time In or
der that passengers may not get left.
The methods of ticket selling and baggage
checking are such that one should be at the
train at least a quarter of an hour bei. re
starting, and he will then have to wait his
turn with a crowd of Arab soldiers and
others, each of whom consumes at least
two minutes at the ticket office and twice
that time with the baga master. If the
ticket Is a return the agent figures out a
reduction of S3 per cent off the re.jilar fars
and makes a memorandum of the amount
on a ledger as we'l as on the ticket itself.
The ordinary tickets are somewhat like
ours, but the "returns" srd excursion
certificates are of the siie of a legal docu
ment and quite as Imposing.
Bastwasje Arrssgesieatf.
Only about seventy pounds of baggage
are allowed free and everything must be
weighed. Thers Is a tax of I cents for
checking baggage and the agent registers
the weight whether It is below seventy
pounds or not. The checks are not road
of cardboard or brass, as In our country.
They ars merely receipts on a thin, tousta
la the Cars.
The first and second-cass compartments
are comfortable. I am traveling first
class, and sometimes I have a compart
ment for myself sod son. The cars are
divided Into little box -like rooms by par
titions, which run across from one side to
the other. They are usually entered from
the. id-s and It is not possible to go
throug'n a whole train, aa in our country.
The s-ats are well cushioned, and aa the
sides are wai.ed with w'ndows the oppor
tunity for seeing are good. The second
and third-class cars are divided up In the
fame way and the second class is almost
as ffond ns the ftrt-
The third-class sats are bare board
benches and they are usually filled with
Arahs. Moors and K by!es. with a sprin
kling of private soldiers. Th latter re
ceive wngrs of only about 1 cent per day
and hence cannot travel In luxury.
F.atlna Arrinjrmriili.
Within the past year or so dining cars
rave been put on some cf these Algerian
tmina Others stop at the stations for
luncheon and dinner, and at every sta
tion there Is a lunch room, called, a bu
rette. The urual rate for dinner Is about 40
cents and for that sura one gc,ts an ex
cellent meal with a quart bottle "of white
or red wine thrown in- Luncheons are
off-n put up and brought to tne urs at
a cost of about W i nis each. For that
one gets two slices of roa.t b f or a hilf
chicken, several boiled eg 5s and a so
cheese, sweet oak s and fruit. There is
always a q-:.irt buttle of wire p-;t in. The
wine is good and the food is excellent.
Itailrnad Kmployea.
I have not the railroad wages at hand,
but they mirt tv exceedingly low. Every
station has a large n'imber of officers and
soldiers. A orR-road-" '!ep t whi h In
our country would hardly be thought
worthy of an apent requires a half dozen
guard- and the large ststions rrcpon'.on
ately mor. There is alwnys a chf der"t
manager, a bassano master, a telegraph
operator, a ticket seller and a r.um!'r of
porters. It takes a half rtmen tr.-n to stnrt
a train. The engineer whistles, one of the
guards rings a bell ar.d others run from
car to car and shut the dnrs while they
cry "Get on. gentlemen, if you please."
On the cars themselves there are mny
employs. There are engineers. flrmen
and hrnkemen ga'ore. Every train hss Its
mail clerk and its btgjnige man and often
sn express messenger as well.
TtelTronds for Vorth fr!ci.
The railroads of Algeria and Tunis'a st
present have a length of almost 3.-w miles.
The new lire projected numbr many
thousand miles mor. anl in the near fu
ture the railroad system of this part of the
world will probably be several times what
It Is now. One of the most remarkable of
the new schemes Is fathered by the young
khedive of Egypt. His majesty is rich and
he has trouble In investir.r his surplus. H
proposes to build a rsfiroa from Egypt
to Tripoli which may be extended cn around
the Gulf of Gabes and thu eorect with
the railway system of Tu-:ia.
Another scheme is to build a line through
the Atlas mountains of Morocco to Tan
gier, the two projects completing a great
trunk line from the Nile to the Atlantic.
The Morocco scheme cannot be attempted
In the present condition of that country,
and It Is doubtful whether the travel and
freight cf the region between Tripoli an 1
the Nile wn.ild ever make that part of ths
riad pay. The lerg-a of th:s trunk line,
all toil!, would be aout as lor.g as from
New Tork to Salt Lake City, and f illy two
thirds of It remains t be built. 'Here In
Alr'ria and Tjniia there are roads run
n:r;r east ard wft ?.lou .is tar as front
Ne-v Y-rk to Cl.!e,5-. at:d in Krrypt the
l:)iiil;ve lias a 1 real:.- bum methlng like
-i.-v or seventy miles from the Nile we3t
wrd.
On the Libyan Deserts.
A part of this route p-.es along the Med
iterranean through the Libyan desert. Tna
khenive has traveled on horaehaok over this
section ar.d was surprised to find that the
country has rich s--l and that it once sup
ported a hang.- pop ;!a:jon. Everywhere ha
e8t he .aw the rc-rams of the Romans.
There were ruined twns atid villages and
enough stones in them to build a hundred
new settlements. Hre and there he
rr sil rich o;is"s. and Be has advanced
the opinion that his road will pay. The
part already built is now doing so. and he
has widened the gauge to accommodate the
traffic. If it should ever be completed to
Tunisia, and the Morocco extension made,
it would bring Africa wltl in four hours
of Europe hy way of the Strait of Gibral
tar, and there will be a probable connec
tion with Asia by a rad which might be
built from Cairo t conr.ect with ti e lines
now coing south through Damascus and
Jerusalem.
Mnrprpd'i FalTtvny PoilH Itles.
As to Morocco, thst country will eventu
ally form a live field for railroad engineers
It is now in such an unsettled state that
the powers will have to take hold of It
within a sh rt time. Both life and prop
erty are unsafe, end It is Impossible for
foreigners to tmvel through lt-
Mirocco is one of the richest countries cf
Africa and one of the worst governed and
most backward- It ha ten or more mil
lion population and It la said to be far
richer than either Algeria or Tunisia. Ex
cepting the French regions of the Desert
of Sahara. M"rocce Is almott as large as
those two countries put together, and it
i
I L
A1' vi, J?' ' '
111 i1 1 1 11' hi mhssues... j - .
...n 1 . , 11. ni.-i.ii. iiii-ii., 1 1,1 11, 1 a
WATER PIPES WRAPPED WITH STRAW TO PREVENT EVAPORATION.
has no roads nor any highways of com
munication except bridle paths. It has
some large cities. suh as Fes. Marakech
and Mekinex. and eight or more coastal
ports. The crtuntry is such that railroads
eould be easily built through It. and I am
told that the natural resources would
even'ually make the roads pay.
One of the Crt lints to be constructed in
Morocco will be from Tangier, the port
opposite Gibraltar, to Fez, the capital.
The distance is 175 miles and at present
all the fre.ght between the two cities !s
carried on crime's, donkeys and mules.
Traveler? usitally go upon horses and ther
must always be accompanied by soldiers
or pay a tribute to the tribes along ths
way.
Another scheme Is to extend the West
ern. Algerian road, which now goes tr
Tlemcen. on to Fex. This wfuld connect
the chief capital of ths sultan with th
French colonial railway system and give.
Morocco access to almost three thousand
miles of railroad communication.
Still another road proposed 1s that from
Mogador to Marakech and Fex. This
would furnish Fes with a short route to
the Atlantic ocean. This was the line
favored by SI Mehdl el Menebbl. the ex-
A fries Versa the Werla.
Tn fact, railroad building Is now going
cn tn Africa about as fast as In any other
part of the world. The continent la increasing-
Its mileage at the rata of over Ss
per cent per year, and while It has yet
the fewest lines of any of the grand divi
sions of the globe. Its means of communi
cation ars rapidly growing.
At rresent ths chief railroad continent ks
North America. It has between 2V),0("l and
3o0.Cn miles of Iron tracks. Next comes
Europe with less than 3Q0.OW miles; and
after that Asia with something Uke 60.000.
Australia has 1&."0 miles of railroad lines,
and Africa a little, over 15.00ft. Of all the
countries of the world the T'nlted States
leads In Its iron highways. We have mors
tracks than all Europe, and three times as
many as all the continents outside ours.
Hers tn Africa the principal railroads
may be grouped Into three systema The
first embraces the Tunlaland-Algerlan roads
of the Atlas mountains, the second the
EgTPtlao lines and the third the South
African roads, which have a greater mlle
ag than those, of ths other two systems
combined.
Rail reads f the Atlas.
In this letter I shall deal only with ths
railways cf northwestern Alaska, and of
several which the French sre projecting
across ths Sahara. During the past few
months I have traversed nearly every mile
of track In ths region of the Atlas, and
have gone over the roads which are being
pushed down Into ths desert. I am writing
these notes at Biskra. In the Sahara, at the
end of a railroad which takes one almost
XM miles south of the Mediterranean ses,
and I have alresdy mspected ,the military
line which goes down Into the desert far
below this point along the borders of ths
Morocco
It Is generally claimed that the French
ars not good colonisers, and that they ars
allowing their vast possessions, scattered
here and thers over the world outstds
France, to remain as they were when they
obtained them. This Is not so as to Africa.
The fertile parts of Algeria and Tunisia
are covered with railroads. There Is a 11ns
about ss lor.g as from Philadelphia to Chi
cago with branch lines to the north and
south, connecting ths ports with ail parts
Of ths Tell.
Algeria aloce has now mors than two
thousand miles of railways, snd Its rail
way receipts ars between and
17.000.000 a year. There Is a heavy freight
traffic, and the second and third class pas
senger cars sre always well filled. There
ars sleeping coaches at high rates between
Can and Algiers, snd one can go scross
a gres part of north Africa by sleeper.
Ia Tunis; a. which Is almost as btg ss ths
-tats of Illinois, there are now something
ka 000 miles of railroada They ars
mainly confined to the northern part of
the country, although there ars some lines
running down ths ewt cosat and Inland to
fertiliser deposits which Ue there. These
roads sre a'l French and the Tunisian gov
ernment has recer.t'y authorized Urge -proprlatiwns
for their ex-enston.
A part ot ths Algerian system belongs to
the government, snd snnther part Is In the
hands of soma of ths Frenrh railroad com
panies. This Is so of the road from Orin tt
Algiers: It belongs to the Parla Lyons and
Idedlterranesa corporation, and Its chief
sAcas ars la FYs nee. The eVahara lines
ars largely military. "d they could hardly
si 1st without roverr.meist support.
Railway travel in a on hers Africa ts far
Clffsreat from that of ths faited State.
In comparison srl'b as thees ptnpls are stiil
a century or so behind ths (ssasa. Express
Warm Friend of
R
America in Days of Revolution
JCHESTER, N. T.. May IS. One slstance and he lesrned the English Ian
of the men who did most for the guage and American doctrines from no less
development of northern New a teacher than Franklin. For months
Tork was James D. Le Ray, a
Frenchman, who, like his father.
the Count de Chaumont. was one of the best
friends of the American esuse during the
revolution. The aid which these two gave
to this country at that time has been com
pared with that of Lafayette, but little
has been written about them and It re
mained for Dr. Charles W. Col. ins. histor
ian of ths Franklin County society, to
search out their deeds snd give them
credit for their part In the early history
of the country and ths state. The result of
Dr. Collins work appears in a little maga
zine called Forest Leaves which Is pub
lished In connection with the work done
for cumsumpttves at Sanatorium Gabriels
tn the Adirondacks.
"Among- ths great men associated with
the early history of Franklin county," he
ays. Le Ray de Chaumont Is surely the
must interesting personage. As courtly as
William Constable and nearly as learned aa
Richard Hanson, be had ths qualities
possessed. by neither; and his life touched
the great events of his time, both in Europe
and America."
The man who was known as Jame D.
Le Ray In America was James Donatien
Le Ray de Chaumont son of the Count de
Chaumor.t. He . was born at Chaumont,
on the Lorte near Blois, France, on Novem
ber li 1T0. was educated st the celebratet
college Juilly and at 17 became a courtier
of Louis XVI sod Marie Antoinette.
He was rich, handsome, of distinguished
manner and noble birth, and soon become
a court favorite. No Frenchman had better
prospects of social and political advance
ment when- the arrival in France of Ben
jamin Franklin changed the entire caurss
of his lifs and eventually led him to ths
wilderness of northern New Tork.
His father, the count, believed In the
doctrne of Roussesu, snd when the revolu
tion started he became sn advocate of
American liberty. He received in his palace
In Passy the American commissioners when
they reached Pans, snd Franklin remained
a guest of his household during ths eight
years of his sojourn In France.
Louis XVI could not receive the com
missioners without danger of precipitating
a war with England. The Count de Chtu
mont as sn afflcer of the government was
tn the same fix. so ha restgned his post,
although hs was shout to Join ths French
ministry, and as a private citizen took op
ths nearotjartona bet wean the king and
FTaaklm which Anally resulted la ths
'French recognition of American mde
pendenca. Ia a letter to Washington la W Franklin
ui4 that Chaumont was "the first In
Fraaea who gavs uu credit and before the
court showed us sny countenance trusted
us with X0K barrels of gunpowder snd
from time to time afterward exerted hm
self to furnish ths cor grees with suppli-s
of various kinds." .
Ths v art us supplies mentioned Included
food, clothing, muskets, cannon, ships of
wag ana money. In part these were ab
suluts gifts sad more than a bait sf Chiu-n-.snt's
great fortune was used la sdvances
to ths American cause. Some of ths ad
vances were pi-ovaslonel loans, but nothing
was expected la return until the colonies
achieved Independence and the rew nation
became abundantly able to discharge Us
obligations.
To all of his father's work tbs son, James
V La Ray, cava his most ssthusiasda as-
ynung Le Ray was engaged In providing
clothing and equipment " for Lafayette's
army and he was his father's first lieu
tenant when Paul Jones' famous fleet was
purchased and equipped.
Dr. Collins considers the . work of the
Chaumonts quite as Important as that of
Lafayette and he remarks upon the fact
that these noble Frenchmen are almost un
known In America, while the name cf La
fayette Is a household wrrd. He finds a
paxeliel In he case of Robert Morris, the
great financier of the revolution, who died
In poverty, neglected, and of whrni not
even a bicgraphy was written for more
than a century. But recent historians ars
giving to Morris a Juster measure of
fame, he say a and it rosy not be a far
cry when the American people will put
Count de Chaumont and his son In the first
rsnk among the men who made the re
public. The American loans caused financial diffi
culties for the count, and two years after
the end cf the utr he sent til son ta this
country to try to arrange a settlemenL
Wellington. Morris and Franklin urged
the cliilm, but an indifferent congress al
lowed five years to pass before voting an
adequate appropriation.
During this deiay the young Frenchman
formed intimate friendships with eminent
and progressive Americans, so his time
was not lost. Among th' Se men were Gou
vemeur Morris and William Constable. Le
Ray renounced his title of nobility and
allejl'ince to France, became an American
citizen and married an American g-.rl.
Miss Grace Coxe of New Jerey.
The American citizenship later proved
extremely valuable to him. When he re
turned to France to rut his father's aSoirs
in order he escaped arrest during, the
French revolution because he was an Amer
ican, and was also able to keep the family
estate from confiscation.
In 17S4 Le Ray was special envoy of the
United States to Algiers, and asain his
citizenship proved useful. The Count de
Chaumont was arrested as a royalist and
would have been guillotined but for the
Intervention of his son. The American
envoy's threats were too much even for
the half mad revolutionists, and the devo
tien to the American cause which the old
count ha J shown years before resulted in
the saving of his life and fortune.
At this time Cor.?ti.)le, Macomb snd
M.Cormick had effected their great pur
chase of northern New Tork lands and
William Cor.stabie was In Paris negotiating
for the sale of SVv'eti acres of wild land
In what are now Lewis and Jefferson
counties to Pierre Chaysanis. Le Ray's
brether-in-l.aw. Cliassanls and his asso
ciates planned to found cit! s in America
where refugees fnm the reign of terror
could find peaceful homes.
They organized the company of New
Tork. known Inttr as the fastnrland com
pany, whose stcry-of high purpose and
failure Is one of the most romantic in the
state of New York. After tre futile at
tempts of the Cha--anis syndicate to col
onize. Governor Morris and Le Ray took
charpe of the property and Le Ray eventu
ally becajiie principal owner. He also
purchafed of Constable vast tracts in the
present counties of Jefferson, St. Lswrence
and Franklm, and the great work r f his
life bepan.
He established his residence and offices
in Jefferson county, where the homes of
his agents, surveyor?, clerks and servants
formed tie village of Le-ravville From
this center the work of developing the
country progressed rapidly. Explorations
were made, roads wre built, mills erct -d
nnd the region was prepared fjr a-ttle-iu
nt.
.y 7 4 -ifwmr i- sv
t A,'-; . V. y' v I AA'r:A ..?;-:.':;.--l?i
i7 "T-V Wh''-jr'Y$i CM TKA V Ch tJyv T JK
LelS wS'rtli JBtei PvMi
1 mt m . . " Am s ti ss esJJtsm. W T- m . J 1
Then Le Ray returned to Europe for
colon.sts and thousands were sent from
France, Switzerland, the Netherlands and
Great Bril-iln. Le Ray knew the needs
of the new country and did not select the
colonists by chance.
As a result those who came were farmers,
gardeners, laborers, mechanics, mill wrigits.
tradesmen, priests, physicians and school
teachers. Le Ray furnished them with
the equipment cf civilization and the terri
tory was soon dotted with schools and
churches, erected largely at his exnense.
For forty years he continued this state
building, going to and from Europe, ascer
taining the needs of the people and supply
ing them. He also Induced other Euro
pesns of wealth and Influence to purchase
lands and promote the Interests of northern
New Tork.
In 17M and 171X M. Necker. the great
French minister of finance, and his famous
dnushter. Mme. de Stael, made large In
vestments. A letter from the latter is In
teresting as indicating the personality of
Le Ray.
"I regard you as a guide ' she wrote
to him, "and since it is owing much more
to your personal character than ta ail the
calculations In the world th.at I conritie the
fortune of my children to you "
Later she wrote that she was sorry that
she was unable U cross the ocean to sc-e
her property and sa:d:
"I understand 501 have managed your
lands with great skill. I cannot imagine a
mere nol le care.-r than yours."
Aiuiher important sale ii to Joseph
B napurte. kir.s of Spain and brother of
Napoleon. Le Ray was in France just after
Waterloo. He hud known Joseph Bona
parte for mar.y years end hastened
to lend him at s'.ntan .'e. The account of
Bonaparte's purchase la thus related by
Le Ray s son.
"The prince, having Invited Mr. L. ty
dinner, said suddenly t him: 'I remember
you spoke to me formerly of your g-eat
possessions in the 1'nited States. If you
still have them I should like very much la
have some in exchange f jr a part of that
silver I Lave In those wagons and which
may bs pillaged at any t n.e. Take Uii.tfjO
or '. (, f;ancs and give me the equivalent
In land.'
"Mr. L. objected "that It was Impossible
to make a bargain where one party alone
knew what he wag about. 'Oh.' said ths
prince, I knuw very well, and I rely mors
on your w rd than un my own judgment.' "
Le Ray tok the silver and Jewelry,
valued at 4m,civ francs and after Bonaparte
had vuiit-d America and had se-n ths
tract he received 2-us for landu In Ji-Cfer-m
snd Lewis counties. Of Jose pa Bona
parte s life In northern New Yurk much
has been written.
In 1K14 Le Ray gae mjcH of his property
to the management of his son. Vincent,
and tn the .schedule accompanying the
transfer is the information that 3-tS.liX acres
of northern lands WTe then unsold. Their
estimate value was HJ.j He continued
to pronvots the Interests of the colonists
until 1KX. when all of his American prop
erty was turned over to his am and ha
rttlred to France, whire he died in l4o.
Franklin county finds epec;al intereet In
the work of Le Ray on account of his
having built the first comparatively good
read In the county, the old St. Lawrence
river turrpike from Malone westward to
the Black river in Jefferson county. Ths
road was opened in V10 and was for many
years a very Important thoroughfare.
war minister of the sultan. Both tha
French and the Germans are now after
railway concessions in Morocco.
Rallroaas Across the Nhira.
More Interesting than any of thesa
schemes sre those which are p anned ti
connect the rich regions of the Atlas
mountains with the Soudan, that great
fertile, healthy belt of north central
Africa. The Soudan runs clear across the
continent from the Nile to the Atlantic,
snd it Is wonderfully rich In roonr-es and
peorle. The barrier between the two
regions Is the great Desert of Sahara,
which Is as long as the Mediterranean and
ss wide as from the Atlantic ocean to the)
Rockies. It Is In this desert that I am
now writing. I have ridden for many
mile over its rocky wastes of stone and
sand and have climbed the mountains and
plateaus which aro found here and thera
in many parts of It.
The Sahara Itself Is neither level nor
low. It has vast plains where the sand
stretches out on every side to the horizon,
but there are many places where the coun
try is rolling. There are gorges along tha
beds of dry rivers, there are mierhty bluffs
of stone and no end of hills and moun
tains. I am In sight of the chief rang
of the Atlas at Biskra, and Its hills ars
dryer than the Sahara. Itself. I rodo for
several hundred miles along the rang
which separates Algeria and Morocco. The
sands of the desert go to the foothills and
pile up there In great masses, while ths
slopes above are absolutely bars of vege
tation and altogether arid.
The average level of the Sahara through
out Is ss high as that of the Blue, Ridga
mountains In Virginia. There are but few
pieces where It drops to 5v feet above the
sea, and only one or two In which it fails
below sea level. Lake Chad itself Is sev
eral hundred feet above the ocean.
In the lower part of the central Sahara,
on the upper edge of which I am now writ
ing, there Is a plateau extending from
northwest to southeast, which Is on the
average more than iOnO feet hich. and
upon It there Is a mountain range which
rises in places to almost 10.W feet. The
mountains sre so high that they ars
crowned with snow In the winter.
In the western Sahara the country Is
almost equally rough, and there Is much
rolling land In the Desert of Libya, at tha
east.
-
Peer Faare for a Ha II war.
In addition to Its rolling character tha
desert offers many obstacles to railroad
building One is the- long stretches over
which the track must go without water,
and another Is the enormous cost of haul
ing the fuel. At Colomb P.echar. the ter
minus of the road which the French are
building southward toward Timbuktu, coal
Is now worth Cu a ton: and. unless mines
can be found along the line of the route,
a cheaper fuel must be obtained or tha
extension abandoned The stations at
present are chiefly at the oases; but even
there the pipes which supply the water
tanks are wrapped with, straw to retard
evaporation and every means is used to
Increase the water surply.
The Sahara itself can furnish but little,
support for a rsilroad. It Is p'ppered wllh.
oases, but the fertile spots are far apart,
and It Is only In such regions aa ths Fex
zan, Twat and Tafilet. a here there are a
large nuraler cf oases together, that there
will be many psssengers or much freight.
Ths Sahara has. all told, about i'0 square
miles of oases, but these are scattered over
a region larger than E.;r pe snd many of
them are Inaceespll le except to cun.s'a
The freight of the desert is chiefly mad
up of dates, grain and alii grasa Soma
tobacco and cotton are raised in the south
ern Sahara, bjt nm enough to form a
freight iiem, and the salt nur.es. which now
supply a part of the caravan loads, would
not make a great, trafilc.
Saadaa la DtsTereat.
The Soudan, st the south of the Sahara,
Is far different. It has an euormous popj
lation of native blacks. No one knows how
n.any there are, but the probability is that
they nun.lr between fifty and one hun
dred trillion souls. There are something
like twenty-five millions In Nigeria alone,
and thw French and German provinces con
tain mar.y m.iiiors more. There are tig
towns tr.'-re, such a KuUa ar.d Kano,
which are now taravan ent-r. ar.d others,
such as Timbuktu, which were cities once,
and which would he great again if a rail
road could t b'Ult to them.
At present the caravan trade is falling off.
The trains of L"' or more camels, guardei
by soldiers, which used t' start across ths
Sai-.ara with perhaps a half :n:!!mn dl.a-s-worth
of goods, consisting of ivory, gold
d'jst and slaves, have dwindle. 1 to tra-ns
containing 1 camels or 1 . aod 'Jm - ara
van trade d:nnn.r.es every year. It st:!l
carries some European merchandise acrobS
from Tripoli. Tceuiaia and Alger.a to tie
Soudan, but most of ue gxids f.r thai
(Continued on Page Four.)
