Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-11-14

other provinces afe governed from Dakar in
Senegal 1t is at DakAr that the French
there are the chtef Offices with secretaries
and clerks. Eacfuproviace has lieutenant
governor but ALI report to the governor
general at Dakar
which is now being widened and deepened
by the French. The city lies right under
the shadow of Cape Verde and is connected
with st. Louis, the capital Of Senegal, by
railway. 1t has four French steamship
lines, which makeregular passages between
It and France. and tlere are British and
German lines to Liverpool and Hamburg.
Improving West Africa.
The French aresjust beginning to develop
their West African provinces. They are
laying out railroads ins French Guinea and
deepening the harbors.f They have built
jetty about thousand feet long at Con-
akry, the capital and chief seaport, and
they are cutting wagon roads into the
interior.
In Dahomey there are six thousand ma
tives now at work on railroad which will
eventually extend through the country to
Lake Chad, and there connect with the line
across the Sahara to Algiers. Fifty miles
of this road has already been constructed,
and the work will be steadily pushed. Rail-
roads are being built in the French Congo,
and also from St. Louis, in Senegal, east
ward.
African Cotton Fields.
These West African colonies are I'M
healthy. Dahomey is hot and malarious,
and the French Congo is noted for its
fevers The French can never develop the
country except by native labor. They I'M
derstand this, and are acting accordingly.
They have set out plantations in Dahomey
some distance back from the coast, and
are raising cotton there for shipment to
France. The cotton is better than the
American, and 1 am told that 1t brings a
been laid out in the French Congo and
elsewhere. The labor is cheap, costing not
more than 10 or 20 cents day. In some of
the colonies the people are very Industrious
Education goes on apace. There are mis-
sionaries In nearly all the colonies and mis-
sion schools. as we'll as government schools.
In the Congo colony alone ffty-six schools
have been established and a proportionate
numbeSin Dahomey and on the Ivory coast.
All these colonies trade chiefly with Europe
They buy bright-colored calicoes, beads,
knives and notions. trading ivory, rubber.
palm seeds and palm oil for them. So far
| the only thing they get from America is
our leaf tobacco, which Is sent there in
hogsheads, being first shipped to Liverpool
The freight rate from Liverpool to Daho-
| mey is about three-fourths Of a cent a
| pound.
The French in Madagascar.
| conditions in Madagascar. They have
| claimed to own that island for hundreds of
| years, but it is only seven Or eight years
ago that it was formally declared a French
colony. The queen was then deposed and
| carried to the French Island of Reunion
whence she was afterward taken to Algiers.
Madagascar is the fourth largest island
| in the world. 1t has more land than
France, and it's population is two and one
half millions. About one-third Of the ma
| tives are Hovas, a most intelligent people,
who until the French came were the con-
trolling element of the island. In addition
! to them are the Sakalavas on the west
coast and other tribes on the east north
and south. In the coast towns there are
| many Arab traders and also many negroes
from Africa who were brought in slaves.
The Island of Madagascar consists of a
high plateau with a fringe of unhealthy
forest around the edges. It's chief port is
Tamatave, on the east coast, and the cap
ital is TananarivO, in the heart of the
plateau. The French are building rail-
road from one to the other. 1t will be over
a hundred miles long. and thirty-five miles
have already been built
Tananarivo stands ION ridge five hun
dred feet high in the center of a rich farm
ing country. 1t has comfortable tWo-Story
houses, and the Hovas. who form it's chief
population, have many people of wealth
The public buildings of the queen are now
| used by the French officials, who are intro
They have improved the ports, have insti
tuted schools and colleges and are doing
much to better the country.
Some French Islands.
France has a big island empire. NADIA
gascar. alone is a long as from New
York to Chicago, and as wide from
Washington city to Boston. Just east of it
is Reunion, island not quite big as
Rhode Island, which also belongs to
France 1t is noted for its plantations of
coffee, vanilla and Spices Northwest of
| Madagascar are the Comoro Islands and
the Island of MayOtte, all very rich in
sugar, vanilla and coffee, and in the West
Indies are number of islands equally val
liable The chief of the West Indian islands
are Guadeloupe and Martinique. The
. French also own the state of French
Guiana on the coast of South America be-
low them.
France has also islands in the Pacific.
East of Australia it owns New Caledonia,
ment. 1t has the Wallis Archipelago
northeast of the Fijis, the Huon Islands
northwest of New Caledonia the Loyalty
Islands farther eastward, Futuna and Alafi.
south of the Wallis Islands, and the New
Hebrides 1t also has a large number of
islands in the South seas, and especially
the Society Islands, the most important of
which is Tahiti. with an area of GEO square
miles and population of ten thousand souls.
The French have also small colonies IN
East India and some very large ones in
farther India, such as Tonkin, AMMAN,
Cochin China and Cambodia, of which 1
have written in previous letters.
FRANK G. CARPENTER.
Towne-'Tve got bid to Tom Plane
mans wedding, and I'm blessed if know
what sort of a gift to send him.
Browne-"Whos the lady in the case?"