The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-12-03

about one of the holy cities Of Mohamme-
danism. He reached Harrar III safety
and remained there nine days. The peO-
pie who gave him a most kind reception
never dreamed that he was other than
he represented himself TO be or he would
never have left their city alive. The city
was not seen again by white explorer
until after all that region came into the
possession of Egypt, in 1879. To-day it
has regular mail communication with the
rest of the world. For long time the
mails were confined to caravans when
they left the coast; but this method did
give satisfaction because II was irregular
and so mail carriers were finally engaged !;
and now, at stated intervals after the ar
rival of steamers on the coast, camel
driver with a small escort starts over the
sand wastes, and in five days the mails
are distributed to the officials, the Greek
merchants, the other white men, and the
eduaated natives who live in Harrar.
There is nothing that moro wildly IL
Illustrates the wonderful progress now
making toward the utilization of the
hitherto neglected parts of the world
than the growth of postal facilities.
This great convenience is even outstrip-
ping other agencies Of civilization, for it
is creeping into some particularly inaCCCs-
Sibe districts ahead of them. No white
man dare to-day risk his life in Mecca
unless he is able To assume an impone-
trable diguise. But the Postal Union is
there through the instrumentality of the
Sultans government. Anybody may
send letters to Mecca at the regular
Postal Union rates and they will reach
their destination. OF course Mecca has
practically no communication by mail
with the western world, but the mail
bags are often plethoric with the letters
from all parts of the MOhammedan
world. Probably no agency will be more
helpful in the long run in breaking down
the barriers that remain than the postal
service.
A little over four months ago a letter
was sent from the Sun Office to Port
Moresby, on the South coast of New
Guinea The whole of the great island
being Postal Union territory, the postage
was the same as to Liverpool, ) cents.
Last week an answer was received. Fiji
teen years ago not a white man lived on
the island except few Dutchmen on the
northwest coast. To-day there are eight
little ports on the south coast alone, TO
which a steamer line from Australia is
under contract to deliver the mails reg
ularly.
There are only few parts of the world
that cannot now be reached by mail with
a cOnSidera BILE degree of regularity.
China and Corea are the only densely
populated regions that form an exception
to this fact. But there are some isolated
communities that eagerly welcome every
scrap of information from the out
side world, and that receive the mails
only at irregular and infrequent inter
walls. Such are the Pitcairn islanders
and that other far-away colony on Tristan
da Cunha, in the Atlantic, who do not
know from one month to another when
they will be blessed with fresh lot of
letters and newspapers, though they are
certain that some day British man-Of-
war will come along with mail bag for
them.
Every year the out-of-the-way parts of
the world are reached a little more eXpe-
ditiOusly. our new steamer lines have
been put on African routes within the
past three years. Africa now has over
5000 miles of railroads, and the steady
extension of those lines that are pushing
slowly toward the far interior will, IN
the course of time reduce by many weeks
the present length Of the journey. To
day, if letter for New Guinea promptly
catches the outgoing mails at the various
points of trans-shipment it is delivered
there in less than seven weeks. SO, as
| we look over the great field and see the
rapid advance of postal communications
| telegraphs, and railroads, we realize how
wonderfully the works of bringing al
| parts of the world nearer to one another
| is progressing,