The Globe-republican. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1889-1910, 1900-07-19
LAND OF THE SPHINX
EGYPT. a COUNTRY OF STRANGE
CONTRASTS.



looks upon Africa "a dark continent
in everything-even in railways, says
a returned westerner- Yet the fact is
that the Egyptian railways are better
run than many American ones The
railway that runs from Alexandria to
upper Egypt is one after which many
American railways might pattern 1t
IS double-track road 1t has heavy
steel rails The track is we'll ballast
ed It has elaborate system of sig
nal towers and pneumatic switches
Much of its roadway is lined with
heavy cut stone masonry parapets- Its
station platforms are also built of cut
stone masonry. Its station buildings
are of stone Its bridges and other
viaducts are of steel Its trains run
smoothly and swiftly. averaging IS
miles an hour There are many cross
ings in which the railway is carried
over the roadway steel viaducts;
the few grade crossings are guarded
by gates, with gatekeepers- Signal men
with flags stand at all switches, sta
lions and crossings Altogether the
equipment and operation of the road
are admirable For hundreds of miles
this modern railway goes through the
fertile fields of Egypt-most incongru-
Gus amid the primitive methods of
husbandry to be noted there
For as the express trains whirl and
shrek past the toiling fellaheen in the
fields you see that they are using the
same primitive implements that their
forefathers used when Pharaoh reign
cd. They still pillow with simple wood
en- implement. hauled by patient buff
falo oxen They still laboriously lift
water with sweep to the
head level of irrigating bitches.
They still use the sickle. as
they did in the days when
Ruth followed the reapers of Boaz.
And they still carry their bundles of
! or, in default of asses backs, upon
/ their own.
/ OF course, all agriculture in Egypt is
not on such rudimentary lines. Rich
1 men and corporations own land as
/ we'll as feilaheen peasants, and many
tall chimneys testify to the existence
/ of pumping works. Then, too. the
| Egyptian government has damned the
! Nile at enormous cost and is en-
/ gagged in other water storage schemes
! that will enlarge the narrow strip OF
irrigated land on either bank of the
| great river and thereby enlarge the re
sources of this wonderful country.
To talk of its temples, its pyramids,
! its ruins and its dead cities would be
telling twiee-to1d tales But man
| can gaze this fat and fertile river
| valley without being amazed at its
| productiveness. 1 have been shown in
| Virginia worthless lands which the
wastefu1 Anglo-Saxon had exhausted
| by two centuries of tobacco-raising.
But here in Egypt l see fields still as
/ fertile as when the first dynasty be-
gan. although they have been titled for
1000 years.
Some historians believe that Egypt
was the cradle of our AIyan civiliza-
ton Here, they say, nomadic man
paused al the great river when wan
dering from rabia-Felix into Africa
Gradually those tired of wandering set
tied upon the fat and juicy banks OF
the Nile river and began fitful hus-
bandry of the soil. Gradually villas es
grew up and thrift brought peace and
prosperity. The rich lands were di-
vided among the villagers. This was
the beginning OF real property The
property boundaries were annually OBJ
liberated by the rise of the Nile; regu-
lations We're made to settle disputes
concerning them; this was the begin
ming of law Wise men among the vii
layers observed that the SUM- moon
and stars had much to do with the vol
ume of the Nile flood; this was the be
ginning of astronomy The simpler
| villagers looked with awe upon these
wise men who spent their time com
muning with the stars; this was the
! beginning of the priesthood.
The priests soon claimed super