The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-11-19
RAILROAD BUILT TO MUSIC.
It Is in Dahomey, Once the Scene of
 Human Sacrifices.

Abomey the town in which Behanzin, King of Dahomey, lived, was infamous sixteen years ago for the slaughter of human beings that took place there an- nually. Some thousands of men and wo men were killed every year to win the favor of the gods or to be companions of deceased persons in the other world. All prisoners of war were thus sacrificed, and many slaves were purchased from neighborng countries for this purpose, says the Washington Post.
 Then the French overthrow the monster Behanzin and brought peace of mind to the million people whom he ruled with a rod of iron. Five years ago they began to build a railroad which has now reach ed Abomey, the scene of the human sac rices.
 The completed part of the railroad is seventy-fve miles long, and many hun dreds of the natives are now grading the roadbed for it's extension to the Niger river The French have had some funny experiences in blilding this road.
 It starts from the port of Cotonu and the French had no difficulty in getting the coast natives to work on the road, because they had been trained to work for nearly ten years, had become used to labor. and liked it's substantial results. There was trouble, however. when the roadbed approached the large native town or NdluH, Wflcn IS Il1eu Wlln ueHBnlS that are dear To the natives
 Few Dahomeyans when they go near this town resist the temptation to make holiday there. When the railroad came within sight of Waida the work men had just received their wages. They deserted to a man, and it was certain that they would do no more work till they had spent all their money. No effort was made to get the men back, but messengers were sent through the country to ring bells in every settle ment and proclaim that the French would pay good wages to women and girls 10 work the railroad. Within a day many hundreds of women and girls were carrying baskets of sand on their heads to dump into marsh across which the track was to be laid,
 The roadbed for the rails was thus built across the marsh, and the women were retained in the service until Waida was reached, when the faithless men sud- denly became clamorous for re-employ- ment.
 While the coast section was being built the inland part of the line was also started, but under different labor condi- tions. In the interior the natives had
 not learned to work for the white man, and they would not enter his service un- 1 til their chiefs brought pressure to bear | upon them.
 l A goodly sum was promised to each
 chief if he could guarantee to supply d l certain number of men. In this way suf l ficient labor was procured. The chiefs
 were held responsible for the faithful
 ness of their men. The faborers were
 we'll paid.
 But it took some time to train the men 1 for this hard work. Their native music
 seemed to provide the stimulus they need | ed. and so scores of musicians with tam i tams, or drums, horns, and other squeaky ] instruments were employed. | They distributed music all along the 1 line. The blacks seemed to forget their | fatigue when the music struck up. and | so the tam-tams and horns helped rail- | road extension all the way to Abomey.