The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1900-03-15

of a line terminating exactly at the
Transvaal frontier. and the govern
ment furnished the constructors with
maps on which the frontier" was def
| nitely indicated in commanding let
ters. To this point the road was
built under constant observation OF
military engineer officers of the lisbon
government. When declared by them
to be completed, the road was formally
opened with grand festivities. This
was In 1887.
Six months after, when the Trans
vaai was beginning to throb with
business energy, and with the coun-
try becoming veined with railroads
that must Of necessity converge at the
| frontier and communicate with the
sea and the outer world by means of
| the McMurdo road, the Delagoa Bay
enterprise was much to the fore In
Europe, and had taken a commanding
place in political talk at every capital
Of Importance. 1t was conceded that
| the Delagoa railroad must In time
play an important part in controlling
the destinies of the hemmed in Trans
vaal. From Pretoria to Delagoa Bay
| was only about 800 miles, as against
| more than 1,l00 by way Of Cape Town.
| The Beers had a dislike for everything
British. and every road leading to the
| sea, save the Delagoa route, led across
| hundreds Of miles Of British soil. Po-
| litical reasons were thus combined
with facts of logic in naming Delagoa
Bay as the natural point of ingress'
and egress for the Transvaal. 1t was
| natural. therefore, that the American
concessionaire was recognized as one
who could have an important word in
all matters dealing with the South
| African republic. AS a fact, he sought
only to make his venture a great sue
| cess on legitimate lines. A year after
his railroad was open for business
| four governments-Great Britain, Ger
| many, Holland and the Transvaal-
| were competing in their offers for his
| controlling interest in the undertaking.
THE TRICKERY BEGINS.
Recognizing possibly the fact that
| Its concession had been drafted in too
liberal a spirit, Portugal was now
treating the McMurdo venture in n
| manner portending no good. There
| were grounds for suspicion that the
| Beers and Portuguese were engaged in
conspiracy with a hope of forcing
the railroad into their own hands. The
| Beers could furnish money in any
! sum. 1t is fact, supported by docu-
| ments, that a continental banker ten
| dered Colonel McMurdo a certified
| check for about $5,00O.O00 for his in
terest in the road, acting obviously for
the Beers and Portuguese. The offer
was declined. Then followed a threat
to obtain the line by methods less hon.
est than direct purchase. Disturbing
as the threat was Colonel McMurdo's
belief was that the Portuguese would
never dare attempt so high-handed an
| outrage as the dispossession of him
self and his English associates from
their legal rights. He set very high
value on United States citizenship.
| The utter faithlessness of the Portu-
| guese was made apparent in many
ways. In 1889 the Lisbon government
| served notice on him that it had dis
covered. and that the dividing line be-
tween its territory and that of the
| Transvaal was six miles further in
| land. and that II the railway was not
completed to that arbitrarlly-named
place within four months the line
| would be seized by the government
| and the concession cancelled. Colonel
| McMurdo answered that to construct
railroad across ravines and over a
| range of mountains in four months
| was physically impossible, and said
that If he had the necessary time he
| would build the siX-mile addition glad
| ly. There was no lack of money and
other means on his part. The newly
| imposed condition was meant, obvious
| ly. to compel him to sell his interest in
| the enterprise. All engineers knew
| the additional six miles couli not be
| built in the specified time, especially
with the wet season just beginning.
The Portuguese invented this 'mov-
| able frontier" to serve their own ends,
and wasted no time in explaining why
| the originally frontier" had
| been discarded. They had conceived a
| frontier on wheels. as it were, that
could be moved about at will in their
desire to dodge the terminus of the
railroad. AS an interesting fact it
was not until two years later that the
| frontier between the Boer republic AMI
the Portuguese colony was fixed by
convention between the two govern
! ments, and then quite different
frontier from either the one to which
the road had been completed and the
one six miles inland was agreed upon.
| Every previous attempt to place the
dividing line had been mere guess
work.
RAILROAD SEIZED.
In May of 1889 Colonel McMurdo
died suddenly at his London home of
paralysis Of the brain as a result OF
overwork and worry The following
month the property of the Delagoa
Bay Railway company was seized by
Portuguese regiments, acting under or
ders from Lisbon. The outcry through
out Europe was very great. In Eng
land the feeling against Portugal was
intense. Indignation meetings were
held publicly. and a severance of all
relations with Portugal was strongly
advocated. 1t was even proposed to
exclude Portuguese securities from
dealings on the London Stock Ex-
change. A squadron of British war;
ships was hurried to Delagoa Bay
with orders.
| In America the affair was UNDER
stood. The widow of Colonel McMur-
do, and inheritor of his estate, appealed
to the state department at Washing.
ton to demand reparation, and Secre-
tary Blaine. cooperating with the
British government, promptly made
| demand upon Portugal for Dayment