The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1902-07-13

ioNDON. July Cecil Rhodes hao .
notion that some day. long alee. ne
i,.,l gone TO his rest beneath the DO" iu.a
on die. Matappo Hills. South -ani'.a
..o,,fd ,,Isc mn 10 compete with the Unit
10 states just as the United StateS A
cise:, 10 make Europe hustle
Nncthci or not that dream was 700
W.. for lis foundation of facts II y &C.
tam that one branch of ITS supPoi
about 10 b. erected. and that the 'es 'li'
are gong 10 he of far-reachlnS iiiteie
and importance ,sr;o.
Il will not be permissible TO can
@hc Dark Continent. when II mas d
tremendous electric light IN the ii'i"u,S
of il YET that Is what II Is guns ~
h.,e The plan is not merely DREAM
~ within n few weeks an expedition Se's
at from London TO make an acluai "
timing on the work OF estabnsl''s
er;c,ori:, Fails. on the Zambesi River at'
electric power plant that VIII III IN.
mt TO blush the famous turbines
Niagara Falls. just as victor" -.
themselves greatly exceed IN iieisNt
width and grandeur those at
II is 20 be a dramatic sort OF 'ii'"''Ti
oor III. fails thunder out to-day on ti'e
ei,ance of an almost unbroken JuhEie'
t;rnonnta,ni and crocodles bask unois
,urbed in the Zabesi and mons staiN ~
- t.,1 Grass To the Barotsi. the ma
rive tribe which inhabits the surrounding
country. the great cataract IS So
md they pray TO it and oHer UP onl
sacririces for its Precipitation. And no"
49, n.h;t. man is coming to put the
hiack mans god into harness ana 1rahe
IT., 40 Tho work of more than a hundred
IT WAS AN AMERICAN IDEA
7, was Professor George Forbes, an
American engineer. VINO hau 80 ..
prominent part in the hafl'eSsiiis ~
no Niagara Falls who first suggested
mo, 1bn n7iIlionE of horsepower which
Iad been going to waste in the heart
# Africa should be put to practlcal use:
One night five years ago he ana AIN g.
Haggaid, a brother OF the author y.
king Soomon's Mines. VINO hao JUS
come bach from Africa, sat in the Amen
oeu,,, cIub in London, where the eX-
plorer told the electrician about the great
<.;ls in the Zambesi that Livingstone
had been the first white man 10 see
and that made the wonder OF America
seem a dwarf He told him how the
river. more than a mile wide. 1llnss IL
se,f. over the edge of a gorge 400 feet
deem and then zig-zags its way through
): rocky cany on twenty miles long
..Whv not make that cataract gen
crate electricity and carry the power
down 10 Rhodesi?' suggested the Amerl-
can engineer. and Mr.. Haggard jumped
al the idea.
1t didn't take long TO form synol-
cate called The Africa Trust, to push the
scheme ard Professor Forbes and MY
1jaccard were sent down to Rhodesia to
see Cecil Rhodes about getting conces-
.ioa from the Chartered COMPANY.
l.yentualIy. Mi Rhodes thought SO wei
OF the project that he Went into part
nership with the Africa Trust. but in the
beginning he gave them the twenty-five
Wear concession they asked Tor. ne
Colossus placed no restrictions on the
company as TO the amount OF water 'hey
might divert. but mace !. coiiu ',s
thar the beauty of the falls should not
he iniured-which was characteristic of
him.
FIVE MILLIONS TO START WITH.
Since that time Sir Charles Metcaife
The famous engineer has visited the 1alis
and reported favorably on the plan OF
.harnessing'' them, and the Africa trust
and the Chartered Company have joined
forces and now are all ready to spend
Sa.oo0.ooC on the installation A commits
sion of electrical engineers, which may
include two or three Americans, is no"
preparing to leave for putting IN the
,,lant as soon as the machinery can reach
The falls That will be when Rhodes
Cane to Cairo Railway, ever which the
material will have to be sent, IS putt
IN to the great contract The line is
now laid for forty miles north OF Bula-
on and probably that distance Will not
lie covered much before the end OF next
year.
The country over which the railroad
will have to be built before it reaches
the falls is about the most difficult its
engineers have had to tackle Eet-a mass
or hills and hollows of hard basaltic
rock like that which forms the canyon
of the Zambest. In the swampy land
near bv malaria is rampant. and the
dense forests which stretch away in the
direction of civilization are the deadly
..tsctse" fly's happiest hunting gorund.
The men who to build the power
olant at the Victoria Falls probably will
have as many close calls from wild
beasts as those who have been working
on the Cape to Cairo railroad and tele-
rraph line have done. but they are not
likely to have any trouble with the ma
+iycs The Rarotsi. who live about the
falls, have been in touch with the white
men so long now that they are almost
rid Of their old ways. They used to be
one of the most bloodthrsty tribes in
Africa but missionaries from England
have worked among them to such good
purpose that they have left off fighting
With their neighbors and now occupy
themselves with fishing and pottery
making and mcaiie growing. Some time
ago they elected to come under the pro-
fectlOn OF the lDdlleItu SelildiN ilit
one of its administrators lives among
them
HERE'S FISHING.
mt long ago. in private letter. that
administrator whose name is Coringdon.
ser: home an account of some of the
mos; wonderful fishing that probably
any one ever had. The gulf below the
Victoria Falls. which is known as the
..boilng pool" is filled with sort of
f-;.> 70 These
ISL some of which weigh as much as
Gr,y pounds. also live in the Zambesi
oboye and below the falls and the blacks
smear, them from their canoes. The ad-
: ,,fristrator. however. achieved the happy
fana OF fishing FOR barbel in the boiling
nool.. itself So he got steel wire 400
reet long baiicd his hook with locust
mud let IL down into the giddy chasm.
10 had n force of black men near at
lend and whenever he got bite bade
,hcn, Law hold on the line and haul up
the fish that was on the other end Of it