Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-11-01
SPANNING THE DESERT
Telegraph Line Being Built
Across Sahara's Waste.
MAKING THOROUGH SURVEYS
Vast Stretch Of Territory May Be Re-
claimed by Irrigation.
COUNTLESS HIDDEN SPRINGS
Many Popular Impressions May Have
to Be Revised-Navigatio Of
the River Niger.

BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS.
Written for The Star and the Chicago Record
The French government Is building a tele-
graph line across the desert of Sahara, and
in connection with that work is making
thorough geological and biological sur
veys. Within another year anybody will
be able to send a telegram to Timbuctoo,
which. to the popular mind. Is an imaginary
place beyond the reach Of human civiliza-
ton. But Timbuctoo promises to become
a commercial center of great Importance,
and the reports Of the survey Of the great
desert are correcting many popular de-
lusions concerning that part of the uni
verse.
While I was in Paris a few weeks ago
the minister OF colonies and his assist
ants gave me some very interesting infor-
nation about these matters. The telegraph
line Is being built and the surveys are
being conducted under the immediate diTec-
ton Of the governor general of Algeria.
and If you will open your atlas and turn to
map of Africa you can trace the route.
The wires will from the city Of AL
giers across the sandy waste down to the
oasis of TOuat, which is very important
point. From there they will follow a cara
van trail that has been used for CEN
turtles south of the Ahagar mountains and
thence southwestward to Timbuctoo and
thence follow the river banks to the port
of Dakar on the Atlantic coast in the prov
ince of Senegal. The work began last win
ter and has been going on nearly nine
months. Many precautions and consider
able preparation were necessary, but thus
far no great difficulties have been .encoun-
tered. All water. provisions, materials and
everything that Is needed must be carried
on the backs Of camels. and supply trains
a ra ma 70 nd fro rxyiff
ity between Algiers and Timbuctoo and the
camping grounds of the several parties.
Labor Done by Natives.
The manual labor Is being done by natives
from desert tribes until recently in a saw
age state, and five years ago they would
have cheerfully slaughtered any white man
or Christian who ventured among them.
The early explorers used to stain their
faces and profess to be followers of Mo-
manned. In that way they gradually
gained the confidence of the wandering
tribes and obtained permission to make
their explorations and survey route for
the telegraph line. Thirty years ago q
similar work was done in Siberia. General
Arson Stager Of Cleveland, superintendent
of that division of the Western Union tele-
graph line, stretched a wire from the Ural
mountains to kamtchatka across the
snowy steppes of northern Siberia. He fol-
lowed very nearly the same trail that Is
road. The work was much more difficult.
and therefore the achievement was much
greater than that which is now going on
In northern Africa. The dangers and diff
ficulties were several times as great.
The explorations OF the French have
demonstrated that the great desert is not
such frightful place as has been rep
resented, and the world Will be compelled
to revise It's ideas as has been the case
with the Great American Desert. With
irrigation everything in the way of plant
life will grow with luxuriance in the desert
sands of northern Africa, and what is even
more strange. those sands are mixed with
seeds of a great variety of plants which
have been lying dormant for centuries
sarcophag of the Egyptian kings, they
still retain their vitality and will terminate
promptly when the soil is moistened There
seems to be no doubt that the desert Of
Sahara was once inhabited by large popu-
iaton; that the dry water-courses of today
were once great rivers, and that the deep
basins, many of them several hundred feet
below the level of the sea, were formerly
lakes which have evaporated in the dry air
and in the heat OF the sun since their
sources of supply were cut off iby the drift
ing sands. The rivers have vanished for
similar reasons. The springs which fed
them have been choked and filled with
sand. and there being no railfall. at
least very little, the water-courses have
lain dry ever since.
Reclamation of the Desert
The present condition of the desert is due
entirely to the causes described. and the
explorers assert that much of it may be
reclaimed with comparatively little trouble
and expense. Their experimental borings
have determined that the entire surface Of
the desert, at least far as the investi-
cations have extended, Is underlaid with
subterraneap streams and reservoirs which
can be reached by sinking wells at depths
varying from 200 to 1000 feet. according to
the altitude of the point where the boring
Is made. Numerous dry springs have been
found along the caravan trail. which have
been choked up with sand so that the water
has been forced to find an outlet below in
stead Of above the surface. These dis
coveries have enabled the French explorers
to establish camps along the trail for the
benefit Of the caravan and to introduce the
cultivation of dates. which are the staple
product of the desert. to much larger ex-
tent than at present. Palm groves are being
planted around all the wells, and shelter
houses are being erected.
There are many sheep. goats and cattle
in the desert. and docks and herds are driv-
en- across the trail every year to market.
This has been done for ages. The explor-
ers have found photographs carved In the
rocks in prehistoric times In which goats.
sheep and cattle well as camels appear
and evidences that oxen were once used
for transportation purposes.
There is good deal OF wild game In the
desert wherever water and food can be
of East Africa. They abound in animal
iife-lions. giraffes wild boar. antelope, ga
zelles and wild cattle.
Relics Of Prehistoric Civilization.
An immense number of relics of pre-
historic civilization have been found along
the dry water courses in different parts Of
the desert-stone axes, arrow heads, the re-
mains Of adobe dwellings. temples, tombs
carvings on rocks millstones. and timbers
that show evidences of having been care
fully dressed and even polished images
carved in stone, and walls of masonry deco
rated with relief work and mural paintings
that have outlasted time. Pieces Of tiles
have frequently been discovered in heaps
of rubbish, and sometimes loose sheets of
papyrus which shows that the people who
occupied the country had language and
libraries.
The numerous millstones are considered
evidence that wheat and corn were once
grown where the sand dunes now cover
the earth, because they would have been
useless without grain to grind. and the
carvings upon the wall often represent agri-
cultural scenes, farmers blowing. reaping
and grinding grain
The officials at the colonial Office in Paris
are not so free in discussing the results
of the geological investigations. They have