The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1899-11-05

begun the scramble for Africa. has
come OF with far less territory than
her rivals. II must be remembered.
however, that although she began with
u rush. that rush started only 1S years
ago. Previous 10 that time she had
nothing; now she has undisputed pos
session of almost 1000. 600 square miles.
She began her acquisitions in south
west Africa, where, by arrangement
with England, she came into possession
| OF Damaraland and Namaqualand-
I But it is doubtful il this half desert
country can ever be OF any practical
value. In fact, IL would never have
been allowed to slip through John
Bulls hands were II otherwise. Ger
many's greatest African possession.
however. lies in the eastern part OF the
continent, with British East Africa on
its north and Portuguese East Africa
on its south. This territory OF the Ger
mans includes the southern half OF the
I Victoria Nyanza and a portion OF the
shore of Lake Tanganyika, with about
100 miles OF coast line. Although sew
! eral efforts have been made 10 open
4 up this country. Germany does not
! seem 10 have the remarkable success
/ of the British in her colonlzing at
!
I country is little more than an unknown
desert. While Germany stin cHngs
stubbornly 70 an indefinite claim to
territory lying north of Ashanti. il IS
extremely doubtful that her African
possessions win ever materially IN
crease.
The same holds good Of Portugal.
who, at the beginning OF the scramble.
put forth tremendous claims fer
| colonial empire stretching across the
continent from Angola to Mozambique.
England soon stepped forward and
shattered that dream. and today the
actual Jurisdiction OF the Portuguese
seldom extends beyond q fringe %
coast territory. One OF her richest
| possessions. Delagoa Bay has just
/ passed into the hands OF the English
/ by purchase. and on the Guinea coast
| all that remains Of her old possessions
is small strip Of $4,000 square miles
south of the Gambia
Italy has had much the same luck as
Portugal. For many a year she had
cast a covetous eye toward TripOM.
France spoiled that scheme by curtly
I telling her 20 keep hands of. or there
would be trouble. So IL was not until
1882 that she took any step toward
getting a slice of the continental pie
that was going around. Twelve years
previously an Italian trading house had
obtained the cessiOn OF a little spot of
! land on Assab bay and here italy saw
the chance for forcing in the usual thin
edge of the usual wedge. In a little
less than six years she had reached
Cape Kasar and had prepared 10 alb
sorb Abyssinia. II was a sad mistake.
She bit off more than she could chew
and. after a series of humiliating dis
asters. was forced hack 10 her lttI
strip along the Red sea. She still ad
heres TO a vague claim on Somaliland
but it is doubtful II she viii ever be
able to establish this claim.
During all these struggles life has
gone darkly with the African. While
his eventual fate nay be. as scholars
and statesmen believe, that OF the red
Indian in America. IL will be a much
greater length of time before he wa
pass away from the continent which
the more virile white has wrung and Is
still wringing from him. But IL Is only
a matter OF time. and a very short time,
when every mile of Africa viii be open
ed up and every obscure tribe intro
duced 10 the railway engine and the
advanced ideas and the whisky bottle
OF the European civilizer. When once
Cecil Rhodes cream Of a Cape 20
Cairo" railway is realized and The
heart Of the Dark Continent Is pierced
by line of steel rails. the greatest
work in the transformation Of Africa
will have been accomplished. Chris
tianization, once the watchword 81 ey-
cry power that intruded so saneti-
moniously into the jungle Of the black.
seems of late to have been quite for
gotten in the mad rush for land
Just how industrious the different
great nations have been IN this respect
may De CLEANED from the following Ia
bic IN which is given an approximate
estimate Of the area claimed by the
different powers. France. it VIII be
seen. comes first. but n the Egyptian
Sudan and the other recently claimed
territories Of Great Britain be consider
cd as absolutely belonging 10 that en-
pire. France would be second in the
list OF African landlords: