The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-05-18

the Nro1i vaile4 to gain tir pIalca
abpyc hiiie' ALTER b,liec If ~lc,l hnl
To b" thrown act0,,7 ioitilpu7 rilcr
i'Fe cnsin'cs- -a'i that Il third Of til.
woik $50 lone a ihlrl If the co,l
cXrcndc'i when tic iir,t - milo, ui
thr inI- ",re !Ad and in lh~ first
w'rh .it'l they rcarAci he plateau
they pr~hcd IL lpa'i ahead a nile aud
a llaii
one great tronhlc wa- the labol
question. The Gong" native, living
along thr route wnuI'! not engage in
the rough WORK Of vradug and laying
ira rs. Agents had Ia bc ..cut all
o'cr Africa. wherever it wa thought
that natives might be hired a, track
layers and laborcrS. Atiirst the army
OF workmcn wa secured from Xanzi-
bar, Senegal Lagos, Accra and the
coasts Of Liberia, Dahomcy and An
COLA They were under the supcrn-
tcndcncc OF over 2DO European car
pcntcrs, black smiths and other arti-
sans, who were sent to the Congo to
supcrlntcnd departments and show the
natives how to carry on the various
kinds OF labor. But the work was
very hard aud the climate very trying
TO all the natives Of other parts of
Africa, and hundreds Of them died
and other hundreds deserted. Cut of
'',oOO men who we're engaged OH the
Congo railroad from carly in 1890 to
May, 1892, about 800 persisted. Nat
urally this frightful mortality made it
very difficult to rcplcnish the ranks Of
the wOrkmcn. AT last an unusual cx-
pertinent was made. and it resulted
disastrously.
1t was well / IN that Chinese COO
lies had proved to be very useful rail
road hands during the construction OF
our Central Pacific and Of various
other roads i'll the Dutch East Indies.
They were sober and intelligent work
men, and the Congo State authorities
decided to test their efficiency in trop-
zeal Afrlca. Late in lS9i, 32O Chi
ncsc were landed at Matadi and at
once went to work grading the road
bed. The first reports Of the cxperi-
mcnt were very favorable. for the COO
lies worked willingly and with intclli-
gcncc. but they had no reserve of
strength against the trying effects of
pioneer conditions Of living and bad
climate. 1t was not long before they
began to die. and those who kept on
their feet were hardly able to lift their
shoycls. So the Asiatics were sent
back home. Chinese labor was a fail
urc on the Congo, though it has been
successful in tropical East Africa
among the coffee plantations of Usam-
bara. where the Germans have en-
nioycd about 300 uooIios with excel.
lent results.
The labor problem was solved at
last IN x happy manner. The Congo
natives Tor many months had watched
the Imported blacks at their labors,
and few of them were finally induced
To ply the pick and the shovel. They
did fair work under white supcrintcn-
dencc, and they liked the bits of silver
that were given them once Il month,
Tor they could exchange them at the
stores for merchandise Their friends
decided they would like some silver.
too. and it was not long before the To-
cal labor market supplied all the hands
NEEDED on the railroad From I 900
to 1000 Ccngocs have been in the
service of the enterprise, and it is
they who have built the larger part of
the railroad. In other parts Of barba-
rous .\frlca. also native labor is now
used on an enormous scale in the
white enterprises. The brain of a
white man and the Drawn Of the Afri-
can arc workins together to reclaim
the Dark Continent.
All the steel bridges crossing the
little rivers were built in Europe and
put together in Africa. Some scores
of station buildings for the stopping
places along the route and houses for
the white personnel were also con
structcd in Europe aud taken in parts
to the Congo. AS the work progressed
the health of the entire force, both
white and black, has been better safe
guarded, and the mortality for two
years PAST has been comparatively
small. The high death rate of the
first years, slow progress of the work
IN It's early stages, and its large cost
wee effective weapons in the hands of
the enemies of the enterprise in Bel
GUM, who did all they could to wreck