Southwest-sentinel. [volume] (Silver City, N.M.) 1883-189?, 1894-08-21

THE AREA or eAHARA NEARLY EQUAL
TO THAT or EURoPE.

A narrise 70 d Progress o. civilizations
which Epnihssring skhi Il 1syinp a.
ovsroome-Ths zmportant Point In tho
Solution o. ths AfrIoan Problem.
We have bat 10 LOOK upon the map 70
Beo how large q space upon the worlds
surface this mighty desert takes 20 L.
self. It covorg more square miles than
the whole OF the Mediterranean. hit
we're transported across that sea, n
would ~extinauiah Europe, for Il has
been computed inst Il you leave out
Scandinavia Il would nearly cover the
whole Of II. II Il were only sunk In tho
sea, the waves would roll over Il, and
Il would be remembered no more for
ever.
But Il insists on keeping its head
above water and above ground, crowd
Ing out fertile portions Of the earth,
while its barrennoss renders Il unit tor
human habitation. There Il lies on the
face Of Africa, q huge black spot, de-
serted BY man, a. Il seems 10 be accurBed
by God. No man passes BY Il or will
ingly puts his foot thereon. Even the
lonely caravan that skins Il like . bird
leaves no track behind II any more than
the bird in the air or the ship on the
sea. II passes and IL gone, leaving NOS,
trace Of life Ia man or beast OF bird or
any living thing. So far as wo can soo,
the desert ls an utterly worthless Dor
tion Of the globe.
With such an incubus covering full
half Of northern Africa there would
seem to be little hope Of making any
thing out Of It, since the cause which
renders Its condition 30 hopeless cannot
be removed. You cannot aboliah the
desert any moro tEan you can abolish
the sea. There It is, and there Il will
remain forever. Yes, but you can get
over the sea In ships or under Il by tels-
graphs, 30 that 1t is no longer a bar to
the intercourse Of nations. Il there any
way Of tanning the desert OF subduingit
90 that it shall no longer bea barrier to
the progress Of civilization This IL the
most important question 10 DO settled as
bearing upon the future Of Africa.
OF course II Il were left 10 the native
inhabitants all things would continue
as thoy were from the beginning Of crea-
ton. Nor has Europe at large any In
terOst In Il. But there Is one European
power that hes an interest IN Il. France
has large possessions on this side Of the
Mediterranean. Algeria and Tunis to-
gethor make q country as large e. one
Of the kingdoms Of Europe, which
France has the ambition TO enlarge still
further, 80 as to have a great African
empire, a. England has her Indian en-
piro. As part Of the materials for this
che has another great dependency In
Senegambin, on the western coast, a
country covering 400, 900 square miles.
II this could in any way be united to
Algeria, IL the two could be consolidated,
the new empire" would at once as
sumo vast proportions. But the desert
blocks the way. Il splits the proposed
empire like a wedge. 1t cannot he re-
moved, but Is there not some way In
which II can be converted into a key.
stone for the mighty arch that IL to span
the continent from the Mediterranean
TO the Atlanticl That is the problem
which has long exercised the minds Of
French statesmen, and which they in
turn have referred 10 their engineers,
who ara among the best in the world,
with what result may be briefly indl-
Gated.
First of all, thoy have shown that Il
ls possible 10 convert portions Of the
desert into GASES by the sinking Of ar
tesian wells. A hundred and forty
miles south Of BiskEa is the oasis OF
Tuggurt, which has long supported
thousands OF Arabs, with their hocks
and herds, but which was nearly de-
stroyVd some years since by the wells
becoming 30 ehoked mp % TO no longer
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 m despair
and began to leave the country.
Then tho French engineers took the
matter In hand and instead Of trying 70
clear out the old wells commenced Dor
ing the solid earth and In hve weeks
struck water to such a good purpose
that a river rushed forth that yielded
double the quantity furnished by the
great we'll Of Grenslle at Paris. To the
Arabs 1t seemed a miracle, and they be-
gan to sing and dance in the widest
manner to express their joy. The mir
acle is M that can be wrought wher-
ever men are willing 10 take the labor
or to bear the expense. OF coursa to &C
complish a large result In the way Of
pasturage or agriculture It would have
to be repeated on q tremendous scale.
But for the purpose Of uniting the two
vast territories Of Algeria and SeneRam-
bia the first necessity Is that Of direct
communication, which can only be by =
railroad across the desert Of Sahara. 10
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 Algiers the Amer
lean consul took me to see Mr.. Brous-
Hais who has made a special study Of
the subject and taken long journeys into
the desert 10 survey the field Of battle.
Re did not conceal from himself the
enormous difficulties Of travelling 1900
miles with tho want Of water, the want
Of wood for railroad ties. the want Of
everything. He looked In the face tht
possibilities Of these sand storms, which
might bury q railroad train, as they
have buried q thousand nj All
this he had taken into confederation.
and yot, looking all obstacles and All
hangers In the face, be did not hesitate
10 assure me that In his judgment a rail-
road across the desert Of Sahara was
quite within the OF modern
engineering.
But were the dream already fulhlied
The desert crossed and the tide OF travel
In fall course, the whole African prob