Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1899-05-25
ABOUT THE DARK CONTINENT.
REV. S. PHILLIPS WERNER LECTURES TO
A LARGE AUDIENCE IN ATLANTA.
SPEAKS FAY0RABLY OF AFRlCA'S RUTURE.
Predicted that She Would be tho Coming
Continent--Has Made Careful Study.

has been engaged in missionary work
at Lucbo, South Africa, under the
direction of the Southern Presby-
terian church, delivered an exceed
.ingly interesting lecture at the Con-
tral Presbyterian church last night
to a large audience.
The sub iect of tho lecture was
slight on the Dark Continent"
The lecture was full of valuable in
formation concerning Africa and
was listened to with great deal of
interest.
During the course of his talk Mr..
Werner said that the prevalent idea
among many Southern negroes that
they could return to Africa and gain
dominion over the country was a
mistaken one. Africa, he said, was
controlled by tn . Caucasian race and
would continue to be SO controlled
as long az the white man remained
the dominant race.
This idea Of the supreme domina-
tion of tho white race Mr.. Werner
brought out in bold relief. At the
very outset of his remarks he said
that he desired to put in as forcible
words as possible his strong belief in
the rightfu' dominancy of the negro.
lie then spoke of the civilizing
benefits of peace that were the
duties of the white man to the nc.
gro.
Beginning with early explorations
under Livingston and the destitution
prevailing in Africa at that period,
50 far as civilizing influences we're
concerned, the speaker outlined
briefly the benefits that the white
man had wrought in half century
Of residence.
''The onward march of civilization
since the time of Livingston has been
something remarkable. The mighty
Congo is now traceablc from its
source to the sea. OF the 100000
of square miles not one inch is un-
governed, and mission stations dot
the continent from one end TO an
other. Christianity has wrought a
great work and to-day master and
man sit down to a common commun-
ion table. And all of this has been
the work of half IA century.
"a great deal has been said about
the unhealthincss of Africa. The
continent is divided into two sepa-
rate and distinct districts-thc coast
regions, which are malarious and ex-
ccedingly uns.ealthy, and the noun
tain or plateau lcyions, which are as
healthy as any section in this or any
othe: country. 1t is in these nigh alti-
tudcs that the white man lives and
rules the rest of the continent"
The founa and flora Of the CONT
ncnt was next touched upon. Mr..
Werner described at some length the
extent of the natural resources Of the
country. In certain localities he
mentioned the fact that the rubber
industry was more profitable than
gold mining. Speaking of queer
freaks in fauna and flora, the speaker
said
zone day l went fishing with one
of my men. | carried pole and he
carried hoe. While my line was
dangling in the stream he was in
dustriously digging in the mud along
o the banks. Suddenly he dug up a
solid cake of mud, out Of which flap
ped live fish. After killing the
fish he walked few steps to palm
tree, from which he extracted q
quantity Of OIL Then the bark CT
another species of palm was removed.
This bark was placed on tho fire and
the fish, after being dipped in the oil,
was placed on top of it and cooked.
After eating the fish he disappeared
for few moments and returned with
a ilagan of sparkling native cham
pagnc extracted from another spe-
cics of palm.
"This may scem improbable, but
it il fact that certain species Of fish
makes its home in the mud banks of
rivers. 1t is also true that the bark
of certain palm trees is impcrvous
to fire, and tho sap from another
kind of tree resembles fcrmented
cider or champagne"
The etheological differences of the
continent were then touched on and
the physical and mental characteris-
tics Of the natives explained. IIo
spoke of visit to native chieftain
named Dambcy, whom he described
rs being one of the finest specimens
of physical manhood that he had
ever seen. Speaking of the better
element Of the natives, he said