Barre evening telegram. (Barre, Vt.) 1898-19??, 1902-08-16
LIGHT IN DARK AFRICA.
Electrical Plant Will Be Erected
on the Zambezi.
SCHEME OF PROF. GEORGE FORBES

soHErE OF PROF. GEORGE FORBES
c.,. .. Cairo railroad to BE Tlumi'
mated and Electrified by Force
Furnished By the Great Catarse'
In the African River-Parf f's'e'
By Americans.
Over In London the Africa trust anu
the Chartered company have Joiheo
forces and are about to invest So'ooo''
600 in installing their plant beside the
waters of the Zambezi, where hitherto
the inhabitants of the jungle have heiu
undisputed away, says the chicago
Evening Post. Wild Africa OF the ex'
plorer will soon be thing OF the past
The sinuous Cape to Cairo railroad
the dream Of Cecil Rhodes. Is surely
making both ends meet, and when TINS
ID accomplished darkest Africa will be
no more. A commission OF electrical
engineers, taking the report OF Sir
Charles Metcalf, who as one OF the
most reliable engineers of the times
gave favorable opinion on the feasl'
bility Of "harnessing" the stupendous
volume Of water that flows over Vic
toria falls. Is getting ready to leave
England. As soon as machinery ar
rives on the coast 1t will be transport
ed to the falls and the work will be-
gin. This, however, cannot be done
until the Cape to Cairo railway Is built
to the cataract. The line Is now laid
forty miles north of Bulawayo, but the
falls lie 275 miles farther ON, and prob
ably that distance will not be covered
much before another twelve months
have passed.
The men who are to build the power
plant 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 telegraph line have had, but they
are not likely to have any trouble with
the natives.
Two or three American engineers are
interested In the project and have con-
nected themselves with the party now
making ready in London. The year
before the machinery may arrive is not
too long in which to take preliminary
steps. The jungle has many obstruc-
tons peculiar to Itself, and the fore
runners of working gangs will have
their hands full spying out the land
and discussing why's and wherefores
and ways and means. The native
tribes inhabiting the adjacent territory
look upon the mighty cataract as a
god. They pray to it and offer up
burnt sacrifices for its Precipitation.
These devotees must be conciliated,
living quarters and hospital accommo-
dations built and vast amount of de-
tail gone into for feeding and caring
for the workmen, as well as technical
matters in connection with the con-
Etruction Of the colossal turbines for
putting the falls to work.
1t was Professor George Forbes, an
American engineer who had taken a
prominent part in the "harnessing' of
Niagara falls, who first suggested that
The millions of horsepower which have
been going to waste in the heart of
Africa SHOULD be put to practical use.
One night five years ago he and AL
red Haggard, brother of the author
IT king Solomon's Mines" who had
lust come back from Africa sat in the
Athennum club in London when the
explorer told the electrician about the
great falls in the Zambezi that Liv-
ngstone had been the first white man
o see and that made the wonder of
America seem dwarf He told him
low the river, more than a mile wide
lings itself over the edge of a gorge
90 feet deep and then zigzags it's way
through rocky canyon twenty miles
ong.
why not make that cataract gen.
rate electricity and carry the power
Iown to Rhodesia" suggested the
American engineer, and Mr.. uasgard
umped at the idea.
1t didn't take long to form syndi-
ate. called the Africa trust, to push
long the scheme, and Professor
Eorbcs and Mr.. Haggard were sent
own to Rhodesia to see Cecil Rhodes
bout getting a concession from the
'hartered company.
Eventually Mr.. Rhodes thought so
veil of the project that he went into
with the Africa trust, but
n the beginning he gave them the
twenty-five year concession they asked
or. The Colossus placed no restric-
ions Oh the company as to the amount
f water they might divert, but made
conditional that the beauty of the
ais should not be injured, which was