The comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1884-1916, 1885-04-11
THE soUDAN RAILWAY.
an Undertaking Of Vast Iahu nee Upon
w a tie Future OF Africa,

An Undertaking of VAST IafIu nee Upon
s a tie Future OF Africa,
Il u,I.. tSt L,ris Giog ,Democratl, So,
"a iTherailway which the English ( lyern-
melt has decided to baildlin the SOU.
dan from S4akm is it.seems, not to
dc stopped at a the hills midway
in the IA esqrt, sbAt TO l8Ee pushed
straight acrjss The country from
rthe hod sen to thtJHue at i1erber
The EVIDENCE waich this abauJ,0l-
ment OF the i2 rcqtr gives that its dif-
,tQQ4l98 were not ap.regiated by Cen
WQlSeley last autu pi nc9i not now lie
enlarged upon llit i'm 'ertaSing IS,
however so1mEurtEnJ nlt5 immediat8
ASPECTS, and must iaevitabIy WELD 80
vast an in uence up9a The whole future
of theS Soudau thal lCs buiding will be
watched with WI ie$prell and peculiar
interest lfthe plansoptliped bg recent
English pW1efs h..Ne been carried out,
the first sections of the road, the engin-.
GERS, clerks and goo 0 thenavyics, must
by thstlH,s be very near&uakim, if not
already thero and at work. - t
b The line is TO b. the ordinary full
guage Of four feet e.ght AMI one-half
inches the material viii all DC sent out
ia ten milo. Sc lions, conllete and
tfeady for laying, aud it is expo ted that
from tNepty 10 tWcfrf We tAillS Oft
San bel4id ma Substantial manner each
Nugby i4ougn TINS 7peH6f seems Overl
LSaAguine in view Of the extreme heat of
shmlneB the distauGenfromt the place Of
manufacture, and tire hostility to tie OK
| pected from lSuan igmps fU}lowgrsr
and probably from thg EisharGtnsq qas
I. well, further west. There is, however.
little need Oh preliminary Surveying,
that having BEEN thoroughly done by.
Mai. H. e. trout, under direetion OF
+ Seh.. ttohe, ih lai9, and. having siace
Bten care uNy gone.oEer by experienced
ehsiAeefs 4 q read wli! "a all prob
abilItyg thcrefore,abe in operation by
learly fall9 HIM., .lt
pa The iine will in the main follow the
great carayaa route OF TIE Arabs, thus,
oi course, touching all the wells, which
fon the eastern hat Of the iour6ey are
Inimerous but small The distance is
bgiVen on the wsfl map as ~ miles,
Ethaagh, SoJe'of the routes are forty Or
| tifty'nilos longer. or atogt a do en-
lmies from uakim the road Is 0 or e.
| grayelly plain, but it tAen pldHges into
the mountains, rising at the Inflated
Sin&at, a d5z,n miles further on, to
over $50 feet abo Q the sea II contina
I ues through gerges and valleys till ii
reaches He fertile oasis of AraiI l1B
miles from the coast wiIioh is the chief
20 nj OF dcfense for the line. The mount
ain are lett a few miles further on, and
from the Eak wells, l3 miles tToln
6uakim, the road to the Nile is tree
less watFass and stony plain, crossed
at opepoint ly belt Of sand dunes
tye miles Iido and rising ncarl,
seyenty-hye feet atoyg tho plajna
This belt will cause the chief mechani-
cal diIcqltie9 Of the undertaking. for
! except at one or TWO points there will
! be no rock cutting in the mountains;
and it is thought That. all cutting may
| possibly be avoided There VIII also be
title earth work and no maSonary
Iexcept for culyGrts Indeed most
Of the route ~ practicable for
wagons Cen. Earle, it win be
remembered, marchel er it with
his rupPguns, and ir am el Baker
who has crossed it three times, insists
that the tramp for IN army wonld be
merely an agreea le promenade
Tbs leief is not shared by the authori-
ties clearly, or the railroad would not
b Heing built, it will as already intir
mated; eventually change the future
destinies,of the eastern .Aoadan. The
railroad ha been again and again urged
upon grounds Of political wisdom aud
commercial eypediency. ord llutferin
was an earnest. advocate of the road
which he believed would give a death
low to the slave trade of the Sondan,
and zen. Gordon some years before ad
Vlsed the construction upon similar
4 grounds. a9 >9atse''H9'3m .ia