The Washington times., 1903-04-19
TTaDSCOntinentaI Railroads.
The Iron Horse May Even Cross the
Sahara Before Long.

Sahara Before Long.
A little more than forty years agc
| the United States demonstrated to the
world It's ability to connect the Allan
! tic seaboard with the Pacific slope by
rail, without stepping outside Of its
own territory. Since then 1t has add
ed three new transcontinental lines to
the one projected before the war of
the rebellion.
Within a year Russia has all but
cempIeted the great trans-Siberian
railway, which viii ultimately furnish
an all-rail route from the Baltic to the
Yellow Sea.
It viii not be many years, perhaps,
before the Alaska-Patagonia railway
operates its trains through two cont
nents, and the Cape to Cairo" line
carries passengers from the most
southern point of Africa to the his
tcric delta Of the Nile.
By far the most venturesome prof
eet IN railway construction, however.
Is the proposal of a French engineer.
Jean Du TaiIlis, to build road
across the Sahara desert to the center
Of the mysterious continent. Even
| the absence Of water-a difficulty
which others sought to overcome by
the substitution Of petroleum-ap-
pears to Du Taillis to be no obstacle
to a successful solution Of the prob
lem.
"After a careful study of different
routes followed by explorers, says he
IN the Tour du Monde" PARIS. I
chose one, for purposes Of iiiustra-
ton, which furnished the least guam
tity Of water of any known route.
This route has a distance of 226 kilo-
meters, extending from OualIe to In
Bebanam, where the caravan has to
go without water for a period of SIX
days. 4 locomotive would traverse
the distance IN a few hours"
Nor does the climate Of the Sahara
furnish good grounds, IN the opinion |
OF this engineer, for discouragement. /
Or the contrary, though the thermom- /
eter rises to 1I5, 120, and even 125 de
grees, the heat is a dry one, easily to /
be borne, and the nights are always /
cool. The climate, IN short, is exempt /
from those dangers which are the re
suit of proximity to marshes and !
rivers.
Most interesting Is Du Taillis' dis
cussion Of the difficulty which the
presence Of dunes would occasion.
This difficulty, he thinks, Is greatly /
exaggerated, for the reason that the
dunes, contrary to accepted notions. |
are practically stationary. They are
10 the regular action Of two
winds, one lasting SIX months. and
blowing from the north, the other
likewise lasting SIX months, and
blowing from the south. There are
some exceptions TO this rule, but they +
are not material
The typographical aspect Of tins
part Of Africa, therefore, far from
being an obstacle to the construction
Of a railway, is in every way favora-
bic to such an enterprise. For one
thing, there are no viaducts to be
built, 10 tunnels to be excayated, and
few or no embankments to be con II
structed, Scarcely any engineering
skill would be required, and the cost
IF construction per mile would prob
ably be below the average elsewhere.
When we consider the hidden
and unexplored wealth of the Dark
Continent, and the development Of t
which it may be capable after contact
with civilization, It would not be sur
orisine 10 see even a trans -Saharan
-ailway built in this generation. Who
yer builds it We shall always feel a
pride IN the fact that the
United States led, more than forty
ears ago, IN the work Of constructing
he great transeontinental lines which
ire destined to rank among the most 7
)enefcent achievements of the twen-
ieth century. =
The Minnesota, launched al New Lon
.n., Ih-.rsdn,- L tEa larc.aat Ill l. IL :