The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1904-10-23
tai. CONTROVERSY THREATENED OVER EIGHT WONDERS OF THE WORLD

/, through tho ages. suddenly swerving
with walls 800 or 400 feet high. then dash
Ing and eddying through some thirty a.
forty miles Of hilly country! No wonder
the natives regarded the cataract with ~
and mystery, and that the words Of their
almost whispered canoe song say: Tia
Zambesi Nobody knows whence It comes
and whittier II goes, Some OF them SPEC
ulate about the rainbows seen In the COL
umns Of spray and say they may b tn
signs Of a Supreme Being. They viii alsp
refer in their own language to the colossal
the gods. The falls form the most trans
cendenuy beautiful natural phenomenon On
this side of Paradise. 1t Is admitted that
nor Ruskin.s pen describe It The lovely
rainbows in the columnssof mist n va
por are so brilliant that the eye shrink
these rise from the abyss deep as the solar
rays can penetrate It over arch, spray,
rock and forest. till. rising to the highest
point, they fall to find refractory moisture
The falls are double the width and
more than twice the heighth Of Niagara
Falls. Consider the width Of your Worlds
You then gain an idea OF the magnificent
sweep Of this mighty cataract They are
40 feet high and a mile wide, while Mag
ara Falls are but a half mile In Width
horsepower of the Victoria Falls approx
n ates an average Of $500. 600 horsepower.
as against 7,5A.0W horsepower or the
Falls of Niagara
ut was the cherished project Of Cecil
Rhodes to make the Victoria Falls the
center Of power along the Cape-to-Caaro
Railroad. TIE falls WIN be harnessed, Of
course, for the benefit Of British capital
since England controls the great rivers
Of Africa-the Nile. the Zambest and the
Congo. Professor George Forbes. who
power of Niagara, has estimated that eiee-
trio energy can be transmitted from the
falls Of the Zambesi for a distance Of AZ
least 500 miles. and engineers in London
problem. which will give into the hand1
Of man almost 1imitless power.
CAPE TOWN TO CAIRO By RAIL-
The Cape-to-Cairo Railway. which b
being built from q terminus toward tho
common center. the Victoria Fans, II
completed. with the exception of Q COM
paratively short distance. Within Q verY
brief time express trains will cover the
distance from Cairo to the falls In four
days. The plans Of Rhodes included tha
construction Of a bridge across the cata-
ract and built so close to the falls thu
passengers on passing trains would fed
the spray Of their cheeks as they ap-
preached the dashing waters. The frye
steps In this gigantic project have BEEN
taken. and a links have already been
forged in the chain which will connect
ape Town with Cairo. One span of this
gigantic structure VIII be 600 feet In length
n at a height Of 400 feet above the level
Of the river.
Tho cable. which has been placed In po-
sition preparatory to the construction Of
me bridge. is now engaseo In regular
transit OF passengers from bank to banE
u the Zambesf. The steel cable Is stretched
for a length Of $40 feet between sheer
legs eighty feet high. on the south bank.
md a tower tnIrty-s.x feet high. on the
north bank. The cable has a breaking
strain of 24o tons. and Is strung at q
height OF 40 feet above Iow-water mark.
TT may eventually happen that the
power for the operation OF the railroad
viii DO derived from the falls. It Is Is
sured. that towns will be lighted by Il.
including Bulawyo. 40 miles away, while
viii be supplied to the gigantic
.ystem Of mines ana Other industries " tn
house probably Will be located on q bench
ing In the second ztgzag. below the cas-
cades. and will be supplied with water
by steel tubes from the falls. Each pip0
Or tube. 8 feet In diameter, will drive q
and generator necessary for 600
and the chief engineer thinks
that tt VIII be advisable to lay down the
plants In units Of this magnitude The
Of voltage has not yet bean de-
termined. but viii be sufficient ct fhe be-
ginning to furnish electric energy to terri
tory within a radius Of 80 miles.
.Taken from every point OF view, thefu
8 no natural phenomenon In the vo1id.
.1thef as concerns falls, cascades oe any
,tner feature Of nature, which IN the 1eaSe
1ynt: our fals of thA zambeGl q VIes
- 4<