HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Times, 1888-05-18, Page 6BOTTLE OF OIL
'Wishing to take the night train at the
%mall station of hetes., end having: nothing.
to employ my attention about the village, J.
went early tothe station, and was ushered
into the waiting -room by the wabahmau, a
stout, good•natured.looltiing man in the
prime of We, who' wore, pinned across his
breast, an empty sleeve.
Aa I had an hour or more of leisure before
my train would, arrive, I paused the time
chatting with the watchman,and he told
ree the story of the adventure in which he
lost his arm. I repeat his narrative as near-
ly as possible in his own words.
Before I was intrusted with the night
duties of this station I formed one of a crew
of three aeotiontnen, who had in charge
seven miles of track upon our road, some
three hundred miles west of here, in the
roughest and moat lawless part of the Ter-
ritory.
Our duties were to keep in thorough order
the track upon our seetion, and we were
held responsible to the company for any
thing that would endanger or delay the
traits while upon it.
Our section began at Summit Station, and
ran east seven miles. Thence to Brewster's,
the next station east of Summit, and fifteen
miles distant from it, was another section
eight miles long.
The night duty of a section -hand is not
pleasant. In ram or shine, snow or sleet,
the section must be patrolled by one inan—
who employs in good weather a light hand -
ear for the purpose -ahead of our Overland
Pullman train, This train passed over our
section at midnight, and our departure was
timed so as to inspect the track immediately
ahead of it.
So, taking turns at that duty, we started
from Summit at ten o'clock sharp, and usual-
ly arrived at the " half -way house " about
ten minutes ahead of the train. Here we
met one of the men from the section east of
us, who had started about the same time
and for the same purpose. You see the
precaution taken by all well-managed roads
for the safety of its patrons.
How many of the passengers on the Over-
land to -night know, or knowing, give a
thought to the men who, since darkness set -
tied upon them, have been plunging through
the snow, for hand -cars are useless in such
weather as this,—swinging their lanterns
from side to side, examining carefully every
cut for fear of failing rooks, every bridge
for broken rails, thusenabling them to ride
in safety.
As I acid before, the men from each sec-
tion having patrolled fifteen miles of track,
meet at a little shanty situated beside the
track, just large enough to hold a small stove
and a few necessary supplies, and allow the
men to enter. Here they stay until the
train comes in sight; then outside, and dis
play their two wbitelights, that the engineer
may know all is well. Failure to do this
would result in a report; to headquarters,
and possibly in discharge from the service.
One night it came my turn to run the
section. Before starting, it occurred to me
that our supply of lantern oil at .the half-
way house was low; to I procured and filled
a quart bottle of lard oil, the kind which is
used for the purpose,; put it into the inside
pocket of my heavy coat, buttoned it snugly
about me, and started.
It was a stormy summer's night, as blas
as ink. My car ran smoothly over the rails
and soon I had travelled about half the dis
tante, and arrived at a bridge crossing Snak
River. Here I dismounted from the car
and pushing it ahead of me as I passed,
gave the structure a careful examination
found everything all right, and was abou
mounting my car again, when I received
violent blow upon the head which stretched
me senseless upon the rails.
Recovering consciousness after a few mo
meats, I found myself bound, gagged and
lying but a few feet from a gang of masked
men, whom I saw, as well, as the darkness
would permit, at work with bars removing
one of the tails just at the entrance of the
bridge.
Train -wreckers 1 I had heard a great deal
about the desperate character of these
ruffians, but was now making my first ac-
quaintance with them.
As they worked, they discussed the situ-
ation, and how they should dispose of me,
"I tell yer, Sam 1" one big fellow exclaim.
ed. " Best way is to tie him across the
rails, and let 'em finish him."
" Yes, that's so !" echoed the party.
"Dead men tell no tales, and he may have
Seen our faces."
"Ho 1 ho 1 ho 1 I won't listen to such a
Milan," said one who seemed to exercise some
influence over them. ",We shall have
enough to answer for before this job is fin-
ished without killing him. How this nail
sticks 1" he added with an oath. "The
man who drove these spikes must have
meant '6m to stay. Come, mates 1 He is
safe enough, and if we mean bnainesa, we
must be lively. The train will be here in.
twenty minutes, and we have no time to
lel:" and at the rail they all sprang with a
Twenty minutes ! What could I hope to
doto'save the train in my condition, with so
short a time ?
The thought of the terrible wreck which
must result if the derailed train struck the
bridge made me desperate. -Straining at the
oozes -which bound my wrists, I fancied they
gave way a little. I remembered the trick
of the necromancers who free themselves
from their bonds by alternately contracting
andexpanding their mueelos, and I lay in ai-
fence, working in a perfect frenzy of excite-
ment until I was able to free my hands. In
an instant my knife out of my pocket, and
my feet free.
Without waiting to' free myself from the
gag, X sprang to my feet, and, at the top of
my speed, started down the track in the di,
rection of the approaching train. With a
yell which told me I watt discovered, the
whole gang started in pursuit ; but I had
itoine. Tittle start of theist, and bounded along
the ties, bent upon stopping the train at
an�r cost.
i k. 1
In theinky b acknesa of the night pursuit
Was diifleult, Soen pop 1 pop 1 pop 1 from
the revolvers of the gang. They were firing
down the traok, in the hope of stopping txie
with a bullet.
Aa the gag, which I had not removed,
hindered my breathing, I wee forced to stop
for a moment to ottt It away. While so
engaged, there came a second volley, this
time more sttcoessfnl. I was struck in, the
left arm midway between wrest and elbow.
X should hams fainted from the shook to.
yew wib slat rough tato I but pre 'l
k
e
I
a
ly undergone, but ter my determination to
keep up.
"Braoe up 1" I called, as if addressing a
companion. " No time for such foolishuesa
.now, Tom. Remember the train 1"
This I said aloud to myself, for the solitary
work of my nightly rounds had given me
the habit of talking to myself, for want of
another companion,
Setting my teeth hard, I overcame the
faintness, staggered to my feet and ran on.
I soon noticed that the pursuit had ceased.
Either the train -robbers thought I was done
for, or they had returned to their unfinished
work, trusting I should be unable to atop
the train.
And now it flashed upon my mind for the
&rst time, How could I accomplish it /Light
I had none—my lantern was with the
wreckers.
While, I was thus deliberating, still ru
ning on as fast as my condition would pe
mit, instinctively I felt in my pocket f
matches. Ah, the oil Why had I n
thought of that before 1 Of course 1
" 01 cr;;oirse the oil will stop them, Tom
Spread it on the rails. Their old sevent
ton locomotive can get no grip on that iro
Smear it think, cover it well, rub it on with
your palm, so --both rails, don't neglect a
inch of either, For life, To1 for lif
Think of the men, women and little childro
upon the traiu J"
I worked with the desperation of
drowning man. Upon my knees, the bete
my disabled arm, pouring the oil, b
an inclination of my body, into my righ
hand, and spreading it upon the rails..
In ten minutes the quart of oil was ex
hausted, and as a result I had both rails lo
quite a distance very well covered with it.
I had worked backward from the ap
preaching train, and now rose to my feet a
the end of my labor and at the terminus
the greased rails.
The train was coming.
Already the rails were singing with vibra
tion as the heavy train approached. Her
they come. How awful the sight of a bi
locomotive, coming straight toward one upon
a dark midnight 1 The great, round eye c
the head -light streaming out into the dark
near, the roar of the exhaust, the hies of th
steam through the cylinders, together with
the rush and roar of ' the train, make up a
territying, though magnificent sight.
I stood upon the track, waving my hands,
far enough away to spring from it before the
train could reach me, but so that the head-
light would shine upon me and I could be
seen by the engineer, "Now for it," I
thought. She strikes the oil—the big,'seven-
foot driving -wheels apin round as though the
engine had been lifted in the air.
Friction, the propelling influence, is gone
now. She slackens speed. 1 could seethe
engineer plainly.
In my excitement I screamed as loud as
possible, in vain protest to the engineer,
who was pulling the little lever which sands
the rails,
Shouting is of no avail, they could not
hear me.
Had there been sufficient up -grade there
the oil would have stopped them quite. As
it was, the inertia of the cars composing
the train was able to paththe engine over,
sliding the wheels.
Bat one resource was left, and I thought
of it junin time. I stepped as close to the
rails as I dared, and with all my strength
hurled the empty bottle at the head -light.
It struck the glass and shattered it to splin-
ters, and the light instantly went out.
Then came the welcome signal from the
whistle for brakes, and I sank down un-
conscious.
When I recovered, a moment sufficed to
tell the story, and, proceeding .slowly, we
soon came to the scene of the trouble. The
tail had been removed and was lying beside
the track ; but, of course, the would-be
wreckers had seen by our careful approach
that their plan was spoiled and had de-
camped.
With the tools always carried upon a
train for such purposes, we soon replaced
the rail and proceeded.
I was carried to the company's hospital
at 5—, where skillful surgeons did the
best they could for me, but it was found
necessary to remove my arm, as you see.
And the company thought it best, to avoid
my meeting with pnssihle harm from the
gang I had foiled, to transfer me to this
point.
Now it is time for me to light up the
station, for your train will soon be here.
A pleasant journey to you, sir, and no miss
haps. Good -night.
n -
r•
or
of
•
n,
n
0.
n
a
e
y
r
of
6
g
£
e
Habits of the Ostrich.
The supposition that an ostrich lays but
one egg annually, and drops that oarelessly
in the sand, is nonsense. So alao is the fam•
iliar story that the bird is in the habit of
poking his head in the sand, thinking that
it may thus escape the observation of its
pursuer. The ostrich is no such fool. The
female lays as many eggs annually as any
goose or hen, and all the birds in the flock
use the same nest, which is a hole dug in
the sand in some included place where they
are safe from disturbance, When there are
twenty or thirty eggs the male bird hatches
them, sitting upon the nest continually for
thirty days, and is fed meantime by the fe-
males. Daring the period of incubation the
male bird is in an ugly mood and at tacks
fiercely with his bill and feet any man or
animal that approaches him. As the chicks
are hatched their mothers take care of them,
the brood being divided among the flock by
some instinct, and the cook is free to attend
to his own affairs again, Very often eggs
are found on the pampas, but such have
dropped in the chase or by hens that have
been unable to reach the nest.
BITS OF MAWS.
Honesty sometimes keeps a man from be.
coming rich, and civility from being witty.
—lChestorfield.
"Politeness is like an air -cushion; there
may be nothing in it, but it eases our jolts
Wonderfully."
How can God fila a heart all pre•ooeupied
with the ambitions and the plans for wealth
and self -advancement t
ti'appiness lies concealed in ottr duties,
whfoh, when fulfilled, give it forth as the
opening rase glees forth fragrance.
A geed deed it never lost : he who sows
°bonny reaps friendship; and be Who
plants kindness gathers ISve,y-ll3atil.
Sin is to be overooine, not eo much by
irtainbainfrig a direct. o Rion to it as by
cultivating opposite pies. lIl'rtillrr' ...
Railroad Flyers in England,
" You dan't know what fast traveling
means in this country."
An Englishman who had recently .made a
trip throughout the New England States and
the west, was discussing our railroad system
with a friend at a eaf°,
44 NOW listen and x'11 give you some news.
In England third clase passengers ride from
forty to forty-five miles an hour and nobody
pays extra fare on account of the speed.
From Now York to Albany it is 142 miles
by a splendid traok. There are ten express
trains daily between these cities, and their
average speed is twenteenine miles an hour,.
Between London and Sheffield, 162 miles,
the Great Northern runs nine trains daily,
with an average speed of forty-five miles
an hour, Between New York and Boston
the average speed is thirty miles an. hour,
and the tasteet, a train composed exclusive-
ly of aleeping cars, makes thirty-nine miles
an hour. Between London and Manchester,
203 miles, there are twenty trains daily,
with an average speed of forty-one miles an
hour, and some trains making fifty. Be-
tween London and Glasgow, 440 miles, there
are thirteen daily expresses, and their aver-
age speed is almost forty miles an hour, one
train being much faster than this."
"Yes, but that is only on favored linea."
Not at all, All over England and Soot -
land express trains, composed of first, second
and third elate carriages, make from thirty-
five to fifty miles an hour, while in America
a thirty-five mile train is called a stroke of
lightning. The fastest regular train in
America, so I am told, is on the Baltimore
and Ohio, which makes the forty miles be.
Washington ashington and Baltimore in fifty
minutes. There are three or four fast
trains between New York and Philadelphia
covering forty-six miles an hour. Between
Liverpool and Manchester there are fifty-
two trains daily, none of them slower than
forty-five miles an hour and four of them
making fifty-one and a third miles an hour."
Barman's Indifference to Death.
Three Burman were led out to suffer
death by being shot. They were perfectly
apathetic, not seeming to oars a bit, judging
by the way they laughed and talked and
smoked the never absent cigar. One of them
having been tied up, the other two squatted
down and watched the sentence being carried
out with intenseaterest. The volley was
fired, and so true bad gone the bullets
that the top of the Barman's head was
riddled with five of them, Turning away
in disgust, what was my horror and surprise
to see the remaining two prisoners rolling
on the ground, convulsed with laughter at
the effect of the Sepoys' rifles. It was
some time before they recovered sufficiently
to be taken up for punishment, and when
they were, one of them was smoking a cigar
and the other burst out Iaughiug just as
the order for firing was given.
The Burman, it will be seen from this, is
apathetic, apparently indifferent to death.
In spite of this quality, he is a coward in
action and rarely fights in the open or
stands his ground when attacked. They are
not a tall race, and in many respects re-
semble the Chinese; having flat faces and
small eyes. They wear their hair long
like a woman, and the greatest insult
they can receive is to have it out. In
daily life they are lazy, making the women
do everything; thieves and liars, and not to
be trusted in any business transaction.—
Neville Morris, in New York Star.
Facts Concerning Cold Waves.
There are many other curious facts con-
noted with the progress of cold waves.
Many instances occur, says Lieut. Wood-
ruff, where the temperature at a given
station, at the time of the appearance of
the cold wave in the northwest, is lower
than the minimum afterward produced
by the cold wave. It often happens that
a cold wave sets in from theextreme
northwest, and upon reaching the Missis-
sippi valley divides, a part going north-
easterly to the lower lake region and the
other part southward to the Gulf States.
In ei oher case the intensity appears to be
greatly diminished. This action seems
generally to be due to the sudden devel-
opment of a storm somewhere in the south-
ern part of the Missouri valley. Some-
times a storm of slight energy remains in
Kansas, Missouri and the Indian territory,
and has the effect of retarding, or even
totally destroying a cold wave. Again, when
a cold wave is retarded in this way, it
seems often to gather force and intensity,
and sueh rapidly forward and spread over
the entire country. Another frequent is
feature is that after a cold wave commences
the temperature continues to fall in the
northwest, and another wave is formed
entirely distinct from the first, • from which
it becomes separated by a warm wave. The
warm wave is only a narrow belt, but the
cold waves are perfectly distinot.
Nuts a1 Nut Trees.
The shell bark h kory tree thrives best
from
thirtyfi
o
t y miles from the sea-
shore. It will perform4''lbetter work in
fruiting if its roots are fed from a running
stream.
The butternut produces better crops on
the hills away from the shore, and it also
delights in damp feet. The fruit is better
if left on the ground until after hard frosts.
The blank walnut must be gathered and
cleaned of Ka husk before hard frosts. Then
the nut can stand any kind of weather.
Eat it and all other nuts with a small quan-
tity of salt. The oil in nuts requires a cast
iron digestive apparatus. The,salt aids .na-
tute in digesting the fruit,
Chestnuts will grow anywhere, but bet-
ter near the salt air. The cultivated var-
ieties can be improved by the aid of ter.
tilizers.
A Correspondent claims that a walnut
grafted on butternut stook produces fsuit
that is better flavored Athan the nee:red
walnut. The only difficulty is that the
walnut outgrows the butternut stock.
Swift Justice.,
Tho New York T#erald sae :--Yesterday
morning Charles Riokord was a member of
the pollee folie in this city. In the evening
he was a convict in Sing Sing, He was ar.
rested at four o'clook fit the act of stealing
and was sent on the 2 30 train to Sing Sing.
In the meantime he had been indicted by
the grand jury, arraigned before Recorder
Smyth and sentenced to tea yyears'imprison.
leant on a plea of guilty., That beats the
xrcord. 14 show' what the n *ohlnery of thr
law on o when handled vitlorousiy.
FRANK MARTIN'S SILVER HINE
ProbabIy the only Inr#tane'v Whore sheer
Laaiaess Brought a luau, a Eorttwe.
About three years ago .F rank Martin sold
the Horn silver mine at Era for $55,000.
By his drinking and gambling he has re•
duced it to about $1,000, and his wife now
petitions the Probate Court to have a guard-
ian appointed for hire.
To read the above paragraph one would
naturally any that ther a was nettling in it :
that it was a common every -day ooeurrence.'
But mantilla, Three years ago Faulk Martin
was as worthless and lazy a vagabond as
could well be produced—one of thorn who
never missed a meal or paid a cent. He re-
sided at a place called Era, in Altana
county, in Idaho Territory, had no occupation,
and sponged his living from his brother, who
had a small ranch and kept the Post Office
by the road side. One day his brother's vette
requested Frank to out her some wood.
Re refused, whereupon she beat hint out of
the house with a rolling pin, and forbade
him to ever enter her doors again. Sad and
dejected at the condition of affairs, Frank
walked up a hill in the rear of hie once happy
home, until within a evert distance of its
summit, when he sat down upon a flat rock,
at the same time stretching out his legs
and bracing his feet against a small boulder
in front of him. Re had not been there
long when the boulder under his feet gave
way and went rolling down the hill. Frank
raised himself and listlessly followed after
the rolling stone --but just here we will
digress and say that his then experience
exploded the old aphorism that a •' rolling
stone gathers no moss"—and, pioking it up,
was surprised at its weight and general
appearance. He showed the atone to some
miners soon after, and they pronounced it
horn.silver ore of the richest character.
Thereupon Frank prospected the place and
soon found a ledge which paid from the start,
so that in less than a month after opening
the mine Mr. Frank Martin's check was
worth its face from e3,000 to $5,000. He
had hosts of warm friends—indeed, his
friends were rod hot—reaching hem Hous-
ton on the north to Bleokfoot in the centre
and Hailey and Salt Lake in the ease.
One evening, after delivering a shipment
of his ore to the reduction works at Hailey,
Mr. Martin dropped into a restaurant and
ordered a square meal. He was promptly
served by a comely waiter girl, and being
in a somewhat hilarious mood, challenged
the girl to marry him then and there. She
accepted his proffer, a Justice of the
Peace was sent for, and the twain were
made one. About six months after this hesold
his mine for the sum above stated, and na-
turally enough the transition from extreme
indigence to much walth unshipped what
little intellect he had.
Moral : Wealth is a blessing to some, but
a curse to others.
A. HEMP EATER.
The Delusions ofa Mau Under time Influence
of the Drug.
A writer in St. James's Gazette gives the
following description of his marvelous sen-
sations {while under the influence of Indian
hemp. A friend of ours told us of his expe-
rience with the potent drug in Washington,
during the war, when he took a quantity in
an experimental way. In his case the haIlu-
cination as to tinte and distance were very
similar to those given below. It is not an
experience to be desired.
The room seems to turn round ; the people
near appear to rise to the ceiling ; the
pulse beats with extreme rapidity and the
throbbing of the heart becomes audible. The
will remains unaffected but thinking becomes
impossible, for ,one cannotrecollect anything,
the ideas seem to slip away. In another ten
minutes the characteristic indications of
hemp -eating appear. .Every object around
attains a monstrous size. Men and woman
seem of drobdiignagian proportions, the
cushions upon whch one sits seem fit for
giants, and any trifling obstacle in the way
when you attempt to walk appears so big
that you fear to step over it. The room in
which you may be sitting seems to stretch
beyond the range of sight, and one fancies
the street outside is recedingbefore one's
very eyes. All sense of time is lost now,
and when ho is spoken to, the hemp eater
fancies there are long'and apparently sense-
less intervals between the words. His own
attempts at speech are similarly marked ;
the syllables come slowly, laboriously, and
minutes seem to elapse betweenthe beginning
and end of a word. In this stage it is usual
to partake of more coffee, which changes
the nature of the sensations. A whiffet the
narghile that always accompanies the bover-
age,and the body seems to rise in to the
air and float about, though, inexplicably
enough, the feet keep firmly pressed to the
ground. Then one's lege and arms appear
to drop off and life and sensation concentrate
themselves, to one's thinking, in the back
of the head, which feels full to bursting.
Gradually strength leaves the smoker ; the
pipe slips from the nerveless fingers ; the
will altogether fails, and the body seems to
rise and float awayin space. A heavy, dream-
less sleep usually bueeeeds 'such an indul-
gence in the drug, sodas a rule the novice
awakes none the worse for the evening's
experiment. A littlelemon juice removes any
sensation of nausea or light headache that
may ensue.
African Explorers Attacked.
The Weser Zeitung reports that limed's
and Tappertbeck's expedition to the interior
of Cameroone was recently attacked by na-
tives, and that two officers wore severely
wounded.
Rued and Ta penbeck are officers in the
German army who made a notable journey
in the Congo basin once two years ago, dur-
ing which they discovered a large new river,
the Fkatta, emptying into the foot of Lake
Leopold 1., which Stanley discovered. Af-
ter their return home the Government sent
them out again with a well-equipped expe-
dition to traverse a groat region which has
never yet, been visited by white men. The
country stretching from Cameroon to Ad-
amawa on the north, and far toward the big
northern band of the Congo en the south, is
now the largest unexplored part of Africa.
It ie while engaged in thie important enter.
prise that their expedition has been attack.
ed by the natives, whose unfriendly divest.
tion
'i posi-
tion bad already been reported by travellers
who had gone a little Inland from Cameroons,
"Look here, doctor, if you could pay this
bill, you daocommodate n egreatly.' "Can't
do it, my dear sir, impossible ; but conte in
neat week, and 1 may be able to do coni e-
bhingg for you." "Then you expect lobe in
funds soon t" "Yet, I,waw young Slender-
1000
lend er-
I!0%.,1?... , .., ii or MI his bitPO1I iii,. ra. n
A COCKROACH LETTER 44
RIE
Trained to IIeip Convicts to Erica
e.
A oommon cockroach was trained p sot
as a letter carrier between Whitten R iter
and " Starlight Jack " Ryan, :onviote lithe
Southern Indiana Penitentiary, It is prob-
ably the first instance on record, too, where
there was any use found tor this little croa•
ture,
Rodifer occupied'a Dell in the tierjust above
the ono where Jack was confined, and for a
long time they had no aneane of oommuni,
eating with one another, Rodifer was adar-
ing fellow, but he had not euffieient imagine,
tion to get up a plan of escape, and he relied
on the bright mind of his friend " Starlight
Jack "to suggest an idea.
One evening Rodifer noticed an innocent -
looking cockroach running about on thefloor.
After watching its pambolings for a time
he concluded he could use it. So, writing
a short note to his friend, he tied it to the
cockroach's wing, and kneeling down on the
floor, he put it on the wall under the iron
balcony in front of his cell. He caloulated
that it would run into the cell underneath,
And it did.
Jack nobbled the paper, caught the insect
and read the note. Then he answered it,
and poking the little creature out on the
wall from the ceiling over the door be re-
leased it. The roach went into Rodifer's oell
and was caught. Then they fed and cared
for it, and used it in this manner for some
menthe. In fact it grew to understand its
business.
It must have been a female cockroach,
however, for one day it stopped to chat with
a friend and was noticed by a warden. The
note which was :vrltten in some sort of ci-
pher, wa staken off, and the hospital steward,
Dr. Sid C. Mo0ure, read it. Then the
beetle was put on the balcony floor, and it
ran into Rodifer's coll. Thus the officials
were rept posted as to the plans of the two
famous gaolbreakers.
After a time Jack began to suspect that
something was wrong, and added a postscript
to his letter something like this: "If every-
thing is right you will find a hair from my
head in this note," The warden read it as
he did the others, butd ripped the hair and
lost it. " Never mind it, " said Capt. Craig,
whose hair was red ; " put one of mine in
it," The answer came back, " That lastwhip-
ping must have been an awful one, Jack, for
it has changed the color of your hair." The
scheming of these two worthies came to
naught, however, and they reeved their
terms
The Partition of Africa.
Unless the European powers attempt so
day to possea themselves of Morocco
Tripoli, there will be no further scrambli
for the shores of .Africa. The Portugue
have seized almost the last unappropriat
stretch of the continent's Sixteen thous
miles of coast line, The natives betwe
Ambriz and the Congo have more than o
resiated Portugal's feeble attempts to brin
them under her sovereignty, but with
aid of a force of marines and a naval distal
along the 180 miles of coast, the has at la
gone through the form of adding the dietri
with its three little ports to her possessio
in Angola. Thus Portugal now claims a
unbroken coast line, about 1,000 miles ion
farm the south bank of the Congo river
Cunene. The entire African coast lin
south of the Mediterranean States is thus i
the hands of Europeans, except the few h
dred miles recently conceded to the Sultan
Zanzibar, and a stretch of 120 miles east
Liberia. France, Spain and Morocco hav
divided among them most of the oomparativ
ly worthless Saharan littoral, and the to
Somal coast on the Indian Ocean appears a
German territory on all the latest Gonna
maps by virtue of the treaties which the tat
Dr. Juhlke concluded with several of th
tribes.
The partition of the interior of the con
tinent has made very rapid progress on pa
per within tho past eighteen months.
map showing the claims of the various pow
ers reveals the faob that about five.sixths o
the continent south of the equator is no
owned by England, Germany, France, Portu
gal, and the Congo State. The largest un
appropriated area is the extensive natio
fngdom of Lunda,aouth of the Congo State
this region the Portuguese have recent'
anted several stations, with the consen
of the Muata,.Yamvo, and it will not b
surprising ii we here, in time this potentat
has become a subjectof the Ring of Portugal
The next largest region still in native hand
is the Zulu kindom of Matabeleland, which
in view of the recent gold finds, will be added
to the British protectorate in Bechuanaland,
if the Government wishes to please Cape
Colony,
A very large aggregate of capital and ener-
gy is now devoted to ascertaining the capes
Hides of these newly acquired possessions,
ante is encouraged to persevere in the
rge region of the Pronch Congo by the
regress DE Buezze is making in civiliziin
he largo riverine tribes, by the exports of
aboon, which, in the past few years, have
creased aeveral fold, and by opening of
new trade route along the Kwilu.Niadii
iver, which is attracting a good deal
f the ivory and palm oil trade that fernier -
went down the Congo. The building
f the railroad from Loanda to Ambaca is
ell on the way, and a survey is in progress
r the extension of the road to Melange,
which will make an iron highway about 400
Iles long towards Central Africa, Nothing
ut favorable reports have been published
om the engineers who are surveying the
ute for the 285 miles of railroad around the
ong o Rapids, and who had half cotnploted
eir work when they suspended operations
wring the rainy season. The Germans
e Opening a score of large plantation
mong the Usagara highlands, are building
any stone houses and training the natives
work, The English are sending two
olonics of farmers to 13eahnanaland, are
alking of extending the Kimberly railroad
r north towards the Zambesi, while the
gold fields bid fair to give a great
petits to the development of the soubh-
rn part of the continent.
It has taken men of splended faith and
thusiasni to set these apparently Quixotic
terpriees on foot. Much that they hope
achieve may not be aooemplished, for
any years, if silents they f halready
1a ittf e
who thought their projects were purely
topian, and never tired of declaring that
hing good could ever came cub of Africa
me
or
ng
se
ed
aha
en
on
the
ay,
st
ce
ns
n
to
e
n
nn -
of
of
e-
gg
s
n
e
e
A
1
w
t
e
e
s
K
Ii
In
pl
b
Fr
la
p
t
in
a
R
ly
0
w
fo
nab
fr
ro
thC
d
ar
a
to
0
t
fa
new
im
er
en
en
to
m
d
not
It would no doubt bhook many an noir
ess
who oonsldere herself a "star"
byooldenb liar id she avr
ppeff tris read bhab word baak»