Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1892-12-17
.CONGO'S COMMERCE.
Progress Of all important Rail-
road for Central
Africa.
When it is Completed it Will
Run Tourist Palace
Cars.
some Very Difficult Engineering
PrOducts OF the
Country.

! a ca bledespatch from the Congo,
announces LAaJ Tie railroad las been
completed from Mdtadi 10 Palabalia,
! ten miles AtJel The tracklayers reucn-
/ mat point, mile and halt Of the r0aI
was completed IN Ten days, though near
! ~ two years were taken To build Lne
mst ten miles. The railroad las beeu
carried beyond the obstacles that loug
made rapid progress impossible, says p.
| Z. Adams, in the Chicago Herald, and
now the great enterprise viii be easily
pushed forward until the upper river
at Stanley Pool is connected with naYi-
| CATION ON the lower Congo.
Mr. Stanley said once mat all the re
sources OF commerce on the upper river
would not be worth "A copper unLl be,ver
means OF transportation We're provided.
, Ihis was pessinisulc view, Tor lne
traders OF England, Belgium, Holland
and France III tact have pushed their
enterprises above The cataract region
uf the lower river, have established
stations Loo miles inland, have trans
ported dozen steamers 10 stanley
'UOl and thousands OF pOrters have
been carrying their merchandise 10
miles around the cataracts. About 40,
900 carriers, in the past Two years, have
been engaged in this transport service.
| ia another year OF SO the railroad viii
be completed, and then this army Of
portres will nave 10 seek other employ
ment, for the railroad will mOuopOliZe
the carrying trade.
The merchants OF Belgium, however,
/ tuoh SGtnlcys words 10 heart and Il
company called the Society OF the Upper
Congo, organized TO deyelOpe commerce
! congo, organized 10 develop commerce
( feasibility OF railIuod along the -oJ
miles of Congo cataIucts. Their steam
boats at Stanley Fool, had unImpeded
navigation along 5000 miles oil the Con
20 and its tributaries. They desired
,dsJ 10 learn ii the trade prospects OF
, the upper Congo region would justify
I the heavy cost Of Il railroad. So tnCy
sent an expedition tour years ago, which
spent a year IN threading the water
I ways OF the upper Congo, taking Il sOrI
! OF census of the people and making 1t
/ thorough study Of the country. ihe
exploring parry then drew up a careful
report with regard to the natives, their
desire TO trade, the kinds of merchan-
disc thcy would buy, and The various
/ products that could be secured for te-
/ turn curgoes 10 Europe.
The company was wen pleased with
/ the report and at once sent out two
other expeditions, one to make surveys
along the south bank, and To decide the
/ best rout. for the railroad and It's prob
4 able cost. RMS work occupied another
year, and after all this preliminary wOrk
it was decided to build the line on the
south side of tie river, starting from
Matadi, ninety miles above the Congo ;
mouth The engineers decided mat she
/ line, after SIirung the Congo for i've
miles, should ascend the Leopold rayine
To the plateau at Palabulla. From this
point to Stanley Pool there We're few
engineering difficulties 1t was esumat-
ed that the entire cost of the road and
equipment would be S5,O00O0O
I The money was raised, and the Congo
state gave the company valuable couces-
sions in lands and privileges to hep
carry out the enterprise. Agents We're
sent all over Africa wherever it was
though. natives could be hired as track
layers and laDorers. European carpen-
ters, blackSmiths and other artisans
were sent TO the Congo to Supehntend
departments and instruct natives 10
carry on various sorts of labor. AT first
most OF the army Of worAnen were Sc
cured from Zanzibar, Sierra Leone,
Lagos, Accra and the kru coast Of
Liberia. Then Dahuuey, Senegal ana
the Angola coasts furnished their con
tu-enL ana finally many wurlAnen were
employed froil the lower Congo uibeS.
Last summer the force o. black laborers
numbered 1000, on whom 1000 had
come from various points on the Guinea
coast
Harder railroad building is rarely seen
than that which uShcred ia the begin
ming of the enterprise. The river flows
swiftly and is fun of edies and Whirl-
pools 4 little further up The river az
the Icllalu falls, and the scene is where
Trckcy's Inflated expedition in l--6,
lrst heard the roar of the great cata-
ract. and found, in a few weeks crowded
with disaster, that these fails formed a
barrier they could not pass, The ae-
preston in the big hills hi the left is
The Leopold ravinc, mp which the rail-
road turns 20 reach the heights u
Palabaila
The road. from The starting point at
AIaudi an along this hin slope and UP
the ruviue GO Palaballa. haerbeen blast
"a out IF solid quargAte Of extreme
hardness. and progress has been made
with The utmost difficulty. The slope
along the river is very PERCEPTIONS ANA
in many places the track has been LAIRD
between two solid walls of rock which
was blasted foot 10y foot Sull greater