The times and democrat. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1881-current, 1906-01-10

le0Ruu lSouji'0 Ou liOW buo uJouCu
area OF the Nile about 10 miles up
stream ON Cairo that it was expect
l., 10 double the available supply Of
ater during tie period known as low
Nile.
Although the great African river
looms long and huge on the map, t r
more than three months every year it
ceases to discharge any water into the
Mediterranean. Hence, before there
could be any increase in cotton cult.
vation it was necessary to store flood
water, and the amount proposed to
be stored by Mr.. Whitehouse was 81
900, 100000 cubic Yards. This could
have been obtained from the Raiyan
valley, with depth of 220 feet and
Q surface area of $50 square miles, by,
allowing the Nile to raise the level Of
the proposed lake to that Of the In
undation in the adjacent valley, and
then closing the slulce gates, to be
opened In March. AS the Mile rises
shout 20 feet, it was, and Is, Mr..
Whitehouse's opinion that this differ
ence would Lave been more than SUI
ff,ient.
NO DANGER TO AMERICAN. COTTON.
IL take much interest in this ques.
tiop," wrote Mr.. Cardwell in bis re.
port. II desire to see the scholarly
efforts and the persistent researches
of one of my countrymen succeed; to
see American mind do good as a c. un'
terbalance to harm done by European
armies.
But years have elapsed and the
swamps and sand strewn regions OF
the delta remain as they were when
the Texas man was consul general at
Cairo and for /, 100 years before that,
although the SCORPION infested and
! hyena haunted depths OF the region
of Gehenna" have been traVersed,
measured and explored by score Of
experts employed by the Egyptian
government, or representing scientific
societies Of Europe and the United
States.
while the successful carrying Of
the pr jsct would obviously have a
wonderfully stimulating effect on
cotton growing in Egypt" said Mr..
Whitehouse in discussing this phase
Of the case, "the cotton growers Of
the south need not fear that a single
acre will be added to Eyypt's cotton
area through nv ffJrus for at least
five years. In 1891 and again In 1894,
it seemed c-l tain that the work would
be undertaken at once. In 1883 q
contr""t was made for reservoir Dam
at tn, st cataract; and even so well
informed a representative Of the
United States as Hon. E. Q. Pen6eld,
appointed by President Cleveland
ventured the prediction that l 600,
000.tc:es would be added before 1900
with an increase In the agricultural
output of at least 20 per cent.
THE DAM NOT a SUCCESS.
but th expectations have proven
to- be baseless. The dam itself Is a
well q mile aud quarter in length
Tne English engineers who designed
it as q private specula tion for an E 1g
lish company declared that 1t would
offer no obstruction to the high Nile,
but that the flood would pass as freely
through the sluiceVays as a river
through the piers OF bridge. On
August s, last, when the reservoir
should have been empty, the Nile had
headed up over 80 feet and was tear
ing through 140 passages, about 40
to 80 feet in length, and to 81 IN
width, at a rate Of more than so miles
an hour. Deep creVices had developed
on the downstream side, and 1t was
necessary to construct buttressei In
great haste. 1t will take at least wo
years TO complete these and other re.
pairs.
The cotton crop has been increas-
ed by the transfer Of sugar cane land
cotton cultivation" continued MI.
Whitehouse, but the official reports
show that the crops before 1898, when
the contract for the dam was signed,
have actually eycseded those raised
since It's com mpletlon. There has been
loud outcry to the effect that the
whole .cheme was gigantic swindle;
that a group of E glish speculators,
Of whom Sir Earnest Cassel was the
principal, quietly acquired over 1,000,-
900 acres, at prices ranging from tho
government registration fee Of II
cents per acre up to SO and $40, AND
then agreed to build the dam IN order
to raise prices and enable them to un.
load the land on the French and E lg.
lisn public during the four years the
construction work was In progress.
Even Lord Cromer appears to have
become alarmed at. the impending
crash. The price Of the lands was
forced up to nearly $500 an acre, and
when the spectators have unlOaded
the ground could not be remunerative
to the cultivator at any such prices.
WILL NOT EFFECT PRICE.
But to return to the cotton ques-
tion," said Mr.. Whitehouse in conclu
sion, the American growers have
nothing to fear. The Egyptian crop
of this year Is estimated to bs no larry.
er than that of 1897 or abUut l $780,.
900 bales"
A resolution calling on the state de.
partment for al the papers relating
Tn Mr.. WhitehOpse's operations In