The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1906-05-11
a Reflex Light from Africa as
Seen By 4
BOSTON GENTLEM AN,
Views.

Views.
The following extracts are from q
remarkable article in the Century
Magazine for M.y by Charles Ffanois
Adams. Mr.. Adams Is we'll and favor.
ably known as holding conservative
views on many questions afr acting the
South, His opinions Of the negro and
OF the future Of the negro race which
have been, perforce, readiusted after
q closer contact with the black man
In his home and at his best, are signi.
ficant as showing the tenGsnoy GUw-
49, fuller knowledge Of the race and
a truer appreciation Of It's possihlli-
ties. The article should be widely
read, marked, and digested.
BLACK AFRICA.
AS to Omdurman (this name is pro.
noupced with the accent on the last
syllable: the town Is only six miles
from Koartum) the morning CT ,bru-
ery 1ltt) spent there proved most in
teresting and singulary suggestive.
NM IL ~ I'LL 4 bbW AlI1Cd-uO
Egypt, but BIZ ok AfricA-its streets,
It's Inhabitants, Its martS, Its people.
AS an American, it then came direct.
ly home to me what those people were
and how they lived. 1 looked on the
l.rgcs6 native clty Of a stationary
barbarous continent-the chief c)m.
mercial centre of an 'inferiorrsce"-
I, and, comparing it with London, Paris
: or New York, those material outcome
asaf the two species indicated the differ
hh,ce of their capacities. For, tf
use, races like individuals OF the
X = Wee, must be measured and
i baSy their visible output: ahd al
ytannan Is to London, 80 is the AT
3 cady> the Anglo Saxon, ID stir oily
aAs 9 difference IL too great to admit OF
&leasurment. ALa then comes tie
gful corollary: What ia the duty
Ad what the function Of abe supsr
s. TO the inferior race under x istinp
2,dition, and In the present ad an
I'D stage Of civilization? Can we,
ysnave we o right to wrap ourselves 10
our somewhat Pharisaic individuality
and taking care Of ourselves, leave
the less developed, OF wholly undevel.
oped, to work out through force and
fraud o destiny which Is no destiny at
alp Unless as In tie former Sudan,
an unIendirg tale Of vlolene and
wrong be termed a destiny. But II
we have not such q right, and are un.
der an obligation, what L asked my
! self, becomes Of all my phHosophicaI
theories heretofore so confidently ad
vanoea? conscss to a faltcring. My
morning at Omdurmsn, and omy sub
tquent days in equatorial Africa, were
In this respect pointedly suggestive
1ndtsputablY educational. Wnen thus
face to face nth such a problem one
pOnders a good deal. ..........
In his do cription Of the dreary re-
gion known az Subtitle region be-
tween Lake No and Gondokoro-Ba-
ker refers to the natives-and he
wrote In 1864 what these who follow
In the track he blazed might write
today-"they are something superla-
tive In the way of savages; the men
as naked as they came into the world
their bodies subbed with ashes and
their hair stained red by a plaster Of
ashes and cows urine" And again
he addS-"the weather today (Jan
Fl, 1859 Is dull, oppressively, and
dead calm. AS usual eddless marshes
and mosquitoes. l never either saw
or heard Of 80 disgusting a country as
that bordering tie White Nile from
Khartum to this point" A f1er
mosquito breeding locality could not
be imagined; yet they did not annoy
ns to any noticeble extent, They were
indisputably there, and they bother
ed. making q mosquito net ujng at
nights q necessity, and mosquiso-boots
In the evenings very desirable; but
they were neither knorc numerous
moi nGfS Tenomous than, in their
season, here on the banks If Baston's
MCharles and the stories heard con
kFrning them struck us good mos
Patio. proof Americans as greatly ex-
sggeratsd. They we're mere mere
babes and ST cklipgs compared with
the ger uine Jersey breed.
But to return to Bakers narrative fot
one last extract; he winds up by say
inP-"it is q heart bIeaBirg river
without 8 single redecming point |
do not wonder at the failure OF all tx
petitions In this Wretohed country. |
could not believe that 30 miserable o
country existed as tho whole OF this
land. There is no game to be seen,
few birds, and not even ~crocodilcs
show themselves: all the water animal
are hidden In the high grass; thus
here Is absolutely nothing living TO
be seen, but day after day is pat sed
In winding slowly through the lab
Tinth OF endless narah." Then re-
feering again to the natives at the
now abandoned Austrian missionary
station Of Konisa, he says twenty
or thirty Of these disgusting, ASH
Smeared, s~tark-naked blutcs, armed
with clubs OF hard wood brought to a
point, were lying IDLY about" 1t was
just so at the no. landing place on
the 81 III Of February. 42 years later.
The Successors Of those Baker saw
were l~oiterirg about the woodiDg sta
GiCn one Of them a man, old looking
and omaciaUed, over sevep feet in
In height 3tark-naked with a long
spear In his hand clad oil In limo
cencel ......... ..............
Finally, as to conclusions. During
nine weeks passed in Africa, the only
really suggestive experience was that
obtained above the Junction Of the
two N les. A strong reflected light
was thrown on our most perplexing
homo problem-the African,iniAmer-
lea, 1t gave much food for thought