The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1893-07-11

QUIZ is Ghere not some way in which 1t
can be converted into a keystone for
the mighty arch that is to span the
continent from the Mediterranean to
the Atlantic? That is the problem
which has long exercised the minds OF
French statesmen, and which they in
turn have referred to their engineers,
who are among the best in the world,
with what result may be briefly in
Dictated.
First of all, they have shown that it
is possible to convert portions of the
desert into GASES by the sinking of
artesian wells. hundred and forty
miles south of Bislxra is the oasis %
Tuggurt, which has long supported
thousands of Arabs, with their hocks
and herds, but which was nearly de-
stroyed some years since by the wells
becoming so cholxed up as no longer to
furnish a supply of water Vegetation
withered until the wretched people,
stripped of what was to them the very
water of life, and too ignorant to be
able to renew the supply, were in de-
spair, and began to leave the country.
Then the French engineers took the
matter in hand, and, instead of trying
10 clear out the old wells, commenced
boring the solid earth and in five
weeks struck water to such a good pur-
DOSE that river rushed forth that
Yielded double the quantity furnished
by the great we'll of Grenelle at Paris.
10 the Arabs it seemed like miracle,
and they began to sing and dance in
the widest manner to express their
low The miracle was one which can
be wrought wherever men are willing
to take the labor or to bear the ex-
pense. OF course, to accomplish large
result, in the way of pasturage or agri-
culture, it would have to be repeated
on a tremendous scale.
But for the purpose of uniting the
two vast territories of Algeria and
Senegambia, the first necessity is that
Of direct communication, which can
only be by railroad across the desert
of Sahara Is this within the bounds
of possibility? Nobody's opinion is of
any value except that of an engineer,
and that have tried to obtain. In AL
giers the American consul took me to
see MT. DIOuoodlSs WIZ has AtAebdO q ok'C
eial study of the subject and taken
long journeys into the desert to survey
the field of battle. He did not conceal
from himself the enormous difficulties
IF travelling 1900 miles with the want
Of water, the want of wood for railroad
ties, the want of everything. He looked
in the face the possibility of those sand
storms which might bury railroad
train, as they have buried thousand
caravans. All this he had taken into
consideration, and yet, looking all OBJ
stacles and all dangers In the face, he
did not hesitate to assure me that in
his Judgment a railroad across the
desert of Sahara was quite within the
resources of modern engineering. But
were the dream already fulfilled, the
desert crossed and the tide of travel in
full course, the whole African problem
would not be solved. This would be
one step toward it. 1t would pierce
Africa at vital point. 1t would over
come the greatest difficulty in her
geography. 1t would touch regions
otherwise inaccessible. 1t would take
tAe Soudan in the rear. 1t would make
a direct connection with the western
coast, to take the place of the long
ocean voyage.-H. NJ. Field, in N. Y.
Evangelist