Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1903-06-06
MARcoNIS OF AFRICA.

MARcoNIs OF AFRICA.
Basutos Got Boer War News by a Sys-
tom of Wireless TeIesraphy.
Marconps system of wireless tele-
graphy has a rival, which Is already
centuries old, and was In operation
long before Franklin drew the electric
spark from the clouds down a kite
string or before Morse devised his sys-
tenn of dots and dashes over the elec-
trio wires. The Rev. c. A. Rideout, a
missionary Of the African Methodist
Episcopal church Of America, who re-
turned to this city lately on furlough
after four years labor among the ma
tive tribes Of South Africa in the terri
tory lying west Of Natal, described this
remarkable system Of wireless commu-
nication to the writer.
Shortly after began work among
the subjects of King Lerothrodi, the
hereditary ruler of the Basutos, dis
covered that they had system where
by the villages could communicate
with each other, used in times Of peace
to convey messages from one chief to
another, and frequently to the monarch
himself, and in times Of war to trans
NIT the intelligence Of victories and de-
feats. In every village there Is class
who are utilized as scouts. Among
these guards there are always two or
three men trained to the use of the
gourd drum.
"A large gourd such as those grown
In many parts Of the United States Is
followed out and thoroughly dried.
Then kids skin, stretched out and
dried by a native process, which makes
1t as hard and thin as parchment, is
stretched across the hollow of the
gourd. It is beaten with a padded
drumstick, and gives forth sound
which can be heard distinctly at dis
tance Of from five to eight miles. The
Basuto country is mountainous. and
the villages lie along the mountain
sides and in little valleys or glens,
seldom being at high elevation.
"The guard who has been trained to
the use Of the signal code-which Is
practically an African Morse alphabet
beats the message on his drum in
the open air, and the sound is carried
across the valleys and glens to the
next village, where it is interpreted by
another guard. There Is always a
guard on duty ready to receive these
messages. He can tell at once whether
the message is for his chief or the
head man of his village, in which case
he goes to the head mans hut and
makes the communication verbally.
If, however, the message is for dis
tant part, he repeats 1t on his gourd,
and so it is carried from village to
village, with very little loss Of time,
until 1t reaches the person for whom
1t is intended.
II was granted the privilege by King
Lerothrodi Of using his gourd tele-
graph system to send any message to
our other workers whenever I wished
and often availed myself Of it. 1t Is
not considered necessary to report
back the message to the sender. 1t is
simply carried along from gourd to
gourd, and I don't know of single
instance where it failed to reach its
destination properly.
During the war between the British
and the Beers we who were hundreds
Of miles distant from the scene Of hos
tilities got all the news with surprising
rapidity. We knew every victory and
every reverse which took place in the
Orange Free States and the Trans
vaal, and have known Of several in
stances where the news came by the
gourd air line hours ahead Of the mes
sage by field telegraph. You can read
lily understand how this surprised the
military officers.
"The same system is common to
many Of the African tribes, and the
secret is always confined to the few
trained men in each village, who are
chosen for their fidelity to the head
man or chief. Who first devised this
system nobody seems to know. It has
been in use for centuries. Among the
Pondos, the Tembis, and the Bechua-
mas, whose tribes I visited in connec-
tion with my work in Africa, I fire.
quently observed the gourd communi-
cation in operation. The drummer re-
ceives the orders from the head man
to send certain message, and he goes
out, and in a few minutes he can be
heard pounding out on the gourd short
taps, long taps, and taps in little
groups, taps with pauses between, and
taps close together, like the roll Of a
drum.
There appears to be no difficulty in
sending any kind Of message by the
code, and it was just as easy for the
operator, comparatively, as it would be
for the man who sits at the key in a
telegraph Office. have known Of mes
sages being sent nearly one thousand
miles. es."-Kansas City Star.
~ There are but few persons who
know how to walk up stairs properly"
said well-known physician. Usually,
Il.