The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-09-14

threatened by all dangers from. wild
beasts to robber bands

threatened by all dangers from. wild
beasts to robber bands
The railroad will cross it in twenty
four hours. Now, of course, Professor
Uncle Sam does not impart this infor-.
nation merely as an interesting bit of
geographical history. He explains to
you why it should be important to you
personally as an American child. 1t is
because American merchants are send
ing three millions Of dollars worth of
cotton goods, very beautiful and solid
in texture, and very we'll liked by the
Philippians, into the country every
year. But Americans cannot increase
their trade as they wish, because the
caravans are so slow that it costs $193
ton TO transport goods from the sea-
coast to the Abyssinian cities. The
Arabs and Somali warriors and other
daring desert men who form the cara
vans and lead them know that they
take their lives in their hands every
time they cross the sandy wastes, SO
they take good care to charge accord
ingly.
Professor Uncle Sasm begs for your
attention while he tells you another
curious thing about this American
trade with Abyssenia. Don't you re-
member reading of those romantic
times in American history when the
fine old merchants of New England
used to load calicoes and molasses and
run on ships manned by daring sailors
and send them away to Africa to be
exchanged for gold and ivory and cof-
fee and spices? Don't you wish that
you could have been a child in those
days and seen it?
Well inst LOT
you to Fall River, Mass. 1t isn't a.
pretty town. There are no grass-grown
wharves and strange banks with pirat-
ical looking men with earrings and
dirks peering down at one from the
high bulwarks. You will see great
cases being swung into ugly, common
place steam lighters. If you follow
them, you will see them go down the
Sound to New York or I'D to Boston.
where they transfer their cargo into
rusty, battered, disreputable ocean
steamships.
You will not hear any of those sad.
wild sailor chanties that used to sound
in the days when the British cruisers
were objects of as much fear to Amer
lean merchantmen as if they had been
pirates. A few yellow Monaghan faces
may be looking over the side, or you
may see Malays or Japanese or Kama.
and chains takes the place of songs
and the smell of hot engine rooms is
waited over the pier instead of th4
odors of rare woods and spices. The
Fall River cases go into the holds and
presently hopelessly modern and nm
poetical tuEboat warps the steamship
out OF the crowded dock and gets her
headed down stream. Then the red
screw begins 20 wallow like a SUFFERING
sea creature AMI nff i,,,,,
ship. e-'
You will watch the vessel for awhile
until 1t disappears in the sun haze down
the narDor. Then you will go homs
ana no doubt forget it. But suppose
you make a memorandum to think of n
month or so later. Then You NAV
picture that ship to yourself steaming
oown the hot Red Sea. the sea of the
Oldest and most beautiful stories ~
the world. Everywhere around ~ .hn
neat is fiimmering on the water Ire
crew OF yellow and brown and white
men is living in every bit of shade ina,
can be found A few miles awav uas
a low, ugly. dismal strip of sand vim
out human creature or a hut or an
animal on it for miles and miles No
where is there sign OF life, neither -,
me ar or the sky, or the land, or the
water, except on the edge OF the sfrs,aS
where continual slow crinkling a.
a long white ribbon were fapping
on me shore shows that a heavy surS
is beating. Auti
AFTER weary miles Of putting ana roll-
ms the ship lies abreast - 49,
nllis place with probably only on
hnllaing mat deserves the name az y
holse-s long, low. one-st0ryr stri,ot,,r.
vita white walls and roof. that shine
eAsslnkiy " the sun Around h a.
eAtsn matched hsss. Ths fhlps deer