The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1907-11-12

ways teilahs al the depot ready TO
e@ify our stuff for five cents per piece.
how h Mails Are Guarded.
Most Of the Egyptian trains nave a
mai car next 10 the engine, an express
Sar back of that and also cars for ami
iildlS. our train carries one. in which
arc two blanketed horses. with Syrian
SFooTnS TO take care Of them. They
probably belong to some rich nabob
press.
the postal cars are carefully watch
ed. The bags Of mail are carried 10
them on red rucks made for the
The trucks are pushed by
the Arabs and mail is handled -
them: but a dark-faced soldier. VITA
rifle ana sword, marches along with
the mail and watches the bags taken
in and out. When a truck is loaded
the soldier goes with 1t TO the post
office wagons There is always a guard
on sueh Nile steamers as carry mail.
and the letters are never left without
some armed official to watch over
them.
Government Railroad Which Pay.
Before we go on with our trip. let
me tell you how the railroads are
managed. Both those of Egypt and
the Soudan are under the government.
and both systems pay. Those Of
Egypt, according to LORD Cromer's
i'Ach l'pOI l, L Io" earning ABOUT y
per cent on their capital stock and
their working expenses are only about
90 per cent of the gross receipts. The
business is rapidly increasing. They
Will carry $500, 900 more passengers
this year than last, and more thar L.
0C0,0 tons more freight. Egypt now
has something like 1900 miles of rail-
roads which belong to the govern
rnent. and in addition 500 or 700 miles
Of agricultural roads managed byapri-
val ~ rites Tho a in orc nf tho
latter are increasing, and they carry
more freight n passengers from year
to year.
The main lines are managed by
Egyptian and European officials. The
Superintendent Of departments. who
receive $4,000 and upward a year
each, are mainly Europeans, and the
inspectors and sub-inspectors. who get
from $50 to $240 a month, are in
the main foreigners. Under these men
are the native guards, track workers
and of various kinds. who
receive less wages. They are almost
all Egvntians, there being something
like 2.400 of them to about $50 Eu-
ropeans.
AS to the Soudan roads, they go
through a thinly populated country,
but the receipts are considerably more
than their working expenses and they
are rapidly increasing. In 1906 they
We're double what they were in 1908,
the chief increase being for the fourth
class passengers, who are natives.
scenes On the Cape to Cairo Road
This division of the Cape to Cairo
road milkS one of the richest countries
OF earth. / the Delta of Egypt,
which is more thickly populated than
any other part Of the globe. The land
IS as black as your hat, and it raises
two or three crops Il year. 1t is worth
from $500 to $1,000 III acre, and
furnishes q heavy traffic of cotton and
grain. the distance from Alexandria
to cairo is 1873 miles, and all the way
is through luxuriant farms, There is
no desert in sight until you reach
Cairo. Cotton is piled up at every de-
pot, there are boat loads of it on the
annals which the track crosses, and
fill the side tracks. The freight of
this region alone would probably pay
the of the road. and in addi-
ton there is the big passenger travel
from Cairo to Alexandria and from all
parts of the Delta.
The next division above Cairo goes
to Assiout, which is two or three
hundred miles further north. Then
comes the road from Assiout to
Luxor, ending up with the narrow
gauge line from Luxor to Assouan. All
of these divisions are through the mar
row valley of the Nile, with the de-
sert in sight all the way. For almost
q thousand miles above Cairo the celc-
DIdteu ~ sup ICES III Wlul1I IIoiIi
nothing TO about nine miles. In many
places it is less than three miles wide
The river winds this way and that. but
the railroad is comparatively straight,
and it is often far off from the river
amid the san and rocks. Such parts
OF the strip are uncomfortable. At
times the sands are binding, the dust
fitiS the cars and our eyes smart
These discomforts are somewhat -ooVi-
ated in h first class cars, All of
>, . 900 .h,ftn~r nnI JnJ1h1n WY
dows to keep out the dust, and the
inner window paneS are of smoked
glass to lessen the glare. With the
shutters up 1t is almost lark in the
cars, and when down both windows
give the interior the a~ppeararce of
twilight. When the white glass alone
is used the rays are binding, and the
sun comes through with such strength
tina it is not safe to have it strike the
back of ones neck as he sits in the
train.
Through Nubia by Rail.
found the conditions even worse in
the Nubian desert, which | crossed on
the railroad trOm Wady Halfa to Ber-
Der. That region is about the bleakest
and dreariest on earth. 1t is all sand
and rocks, with here and there a low
thirsty mountain. The NubianS them
selves call it the stone belly" and
the name is we'll chosen. The ca.s
must be kept closed to keep out the
dust. They have double windows and
shutters, and in addition wooden hoods
! I'VE the windows, in order that the
direct rays OF the sun may not shine
in. The cars have double roofs. and
the doors have windows of moked
glass. There is so much dust that it
comes in when everything is shut, and
thu porter brushes out the cars every
hour.
The scenery is dreary. The only
water is that pumped from artesian
wells, and the stone stations have no
green whatever about them. The sta
tons have not Ven a name. They are
known by numbers; and their only in
habitants are the railroad employees.
This is the condition all the way from
Nady Halfa to Abu Hauid. which is
a port on the Nile some distance above
the fourth cataract.
The Soudan Military Railway.
This road is a part of the Soudan
military railway, which extends from
Wady HaIfa to Halfaya. The line all
told is 576 miles long. n it has a
gauge of only forty-two inches. 1t IS
the road which was built by Kitchener
during the war with the MANN. II