The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1890-03-12
TO AFRICA, YOUNG MAN.
Coils p. Huntington Tells What He woul
Do If He Were Young.


Taking down map of equatorial
Africa and spreading it across his
knees. Coils P. Huntington laid his
forefnger on a certain spot and re-
marked:
IF | were a young man with $10,-
900 or $1OO,0OO I'd 60 there and make
millions"
The spot he touched was the town of
Upoto, on the River Congo, near the
northern boundary of the Congo Free
State, distant about 700 miles from the
Guinea coast.
What would you do there, Mr..
HuntingtonPn inquired the reporter to
whom this remark was addressed.
Trade" was the brief answer
Ivory, skins, precious stones"
Rubber. You can buy rubber there
to-day at a penny a pound. A young
man might 60 there and pay pence
pound for it and make fortune"
Would you advise a young man to
go there with less than 800, 600, or less
than $40 OOO?'
'tWell, it would depend on the young
E!9an. went to California i AZ g with
a party of young feifoWs from nv na-
tive State Connecticut, and when we
reached Sacramento the first thing they
did was to go to the hotel and spend
81 apiece for dinner. My dinner cost
me less than sixteenth of that sum. 1t
was always my rule to live within my
income. Any young man who does
that will get along"
Gould young man live in the
Congo Free State long enough to make
a fortune?n
ooh, the climate is excellent after
you get back a hundred miles or so
from the coast. There is no fever on
the uplands"
How is he to get his rubber to
market?"
AT present most of it is carried on
the backs of natives, and the lack of
transportation facilities accounts for its
cheapness in the interior. But you
know the Congo is navigable for many
miles, from Kinchassa, lin fact, to Stan
ley Falls, and by and by we shall have
railroad down there which will make
travel easy all the way to the coast. I
have recently put $4,000 in the road
and may put little more after while
When in Europe last fall 1 received a
note from King Leopold asking me to
call on him when I arrived at Brussels
did SO and we talked over the situa-
ton in Africa. l pretty soon discov-
cred that Leopold didn't know quite as
much about railroad building as did,
so l gave him a few points. I am go
ing into the railroad business in Africa
simply because I want to break up the
slave trade. I have been opposed to
slavery all my life, and gave good
deal toward abolishing it in this coun-
try. Down there in the heart of Africa
is the beginning and the end of slave
trade, and the time is not far off when
we will wipe it from the face of the
earth. / have also invested $50, 900
more in the proposed Berber-Suakim
Railway and $50, 900 more in the British
East African Railway. Thus I have
$150,000 in the three roads. l don't
look for any profits, but if any should
come they will be invested in Africa"
The price of rubber in Para, Brazil,
ranges from 80 cents to 81 pound. If
young man could only get hold of
$4,000, if he could only buy rubber in
the Congo Free State at penny a
pound, if he could only get it down to
the coast for a few pence more pound
If he could only get it to Havre or
New York for still a few pence a pound
if he could do all this he would make
a tremendous profit. Then if he could
live within his income he would GER
tainly grow rich. The principal thing
with most young men is the $4,000, or
rather the want of it. There are plenty
of lusty white slaves behind the count
ers in this city who would like to be
emancipated. And lots of them would
go to Africa on much less capital than
ls1 = -
market so princely a sum as that would
purchase gross of North American
Congo Free Statesmen.-N. Y ITG-
b7L7lR