Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-05-18
"The Water Tanks Are Wrapped
With Straw"
Copyright, 1907, by Frank G. Carpenter.)
AT BLSKRA,
IN THE DESERT OF SAHARA


AT BLSKRA,
IN THE DESERT OF SAHARA.
The railroad is bound to revolutionize the
African continent. Already the iron horse,
whose breath is smoke and whose eye is
fire, is beginning to light up the darker
spots of these blacklist regions on the
globe. The work is rapidly going in
eastern Africa, where they are building a
line from the Cape OF Good Hope to Cairo.
This has been extended from the Medter-
Sanean southwark for distance as great
IS from the Atlantic to far beyond the
Mississippi and the extension from Cape
Town to the north is greater still. The
Rhodesia railway system reached the Fam
best river in 1905. During the past year 1t
was extended beyond that point at the rate
Of almost one mile per day, and it is now
at the Broken Hill mines within less than
600 miles of Lake Tanganyika- 1 expect to
go along the greater part of this route be-
fore leave Africa, and will be able to de-
scribe the various stages.
From the coasts of both east and west
Africa, railroads are being built into the in
terror, which win give access to the central
and southern parts of the continent. Here
In the north the French colonies have an
extensive railway system; Egypt is grid
ironed with tracks and trunk lines are be-
ing surveyed in the Soudan and in the
Congo valley.
Africa Versus the World.
In fact, railroad building is now going
on in Africa about as fast as In any other
part Of the world. The continent is in
creasing its mileage at the rate Of over 30
per cent per year, and while 1t has yet the
fewest lines Of any of the grand divisions
of the globe. Its means OF communication
are rapidly growing.
he n a. roll q
North America. 1t has between 100000 and
100000 miles of iron tracks. Next comes
Europe with less than 100000 miles. and
after that Asia with something like 1000.
Australia has $4,000 miles Of railroad lines,
and Africa little over $1,000 OF all the
countries of the world the United States
leads in it's iron highways. We have more
tracks than all Europe. and three times as
many as all the continents outside ours.
Here in Africa the principal railroads may
be grouped into three systems. The first
embraces the Tunfsian- Algerian ROADS OF
the Atlas mountains, the second the Egyp-
tan lines, and the third the South AFRICAN
roads, which have a greater mileage than
those Of the other two systems combined.
The Railroads of the Atlas.
In this letter / shall deal only with the
railways Of northwestern Africa, and of
several which the French are projecting
across the Sahara. During the past few
months have traversed nearly every mile
Of track m the region Of the Atlas. and
have gone over the roads which are being
pushed down into the desert. 1 am writing
these notes at Biskra. in the Sahcca, at the
end Of a railroad which takes one almost
200 miles south of the Mediterranean sea,
and ! have already inspected the military
line which goes down into the desert far
below this point along the borders Of Mo-
rocco.
1t Is generally claimed that the French are
not good colonizers, and that they are al
here and there over the world outside
France, to remain as they were when they
obtained them. This is not so as to Africa.
The fertile parts of Algeria and Tunisia are
as long as from Philadelphia to Chicago
running from west to east through Algeria,
with branch lines to the north and south,
connecting the ports with all parts Of the
Tell.
Algeria alone has nov more than two
thousand miles of rai1waye and its railway
receipts are between six epd seven million
trafiic, and the second and third class pas
senger cars are always well filled. There
are sleeping coaches at high rates between
Gran and Algers, and one can go across a
great part Of north Africa by sleeper.
In Tunisia, which Is almost as big as the
state of Illinois. There are now something
like six hundred miles of railroads. They
are mainly confined to the northern part of
the country, although there are some lines
running down the east coast and inland to
fertilizer deposits which lie there. These
roads are all French, and the Tunisian gov
eminent has recently authorized large ap-
preparations for their extensions.
A part of the Algerian system belongs to
the government and another part Is In the
hands OF some Of the French railroad COM
panies. This Is so of the road from Oran to
Algiers: 1t belongs to the Paris, Lyons and
Mediterranean corporation, and its chief Of
fees are in France. The Sahara lines are
largely military. and they could hardly ex-
list without government support.
Railway Travel In Algeria.
Railway travel in northern Africa is far
different from that of the United States
In comparison with US these people are
still a century or 30 behind the times
Express trains do not make more than
fifteen or twenty miles an hour and the
railroad clocks at the stations are pur-
posely kept five minutes behind every
other time In order that passengers may
not get left.
The methods of ticket selling and baggage
checking are such that one should be at the
train at least quarter of an hour before
starting and he will then have to wait
and others, each of whom consumes
at least two minutes at the ticket Office
and twice that time with the baggage mas
ter. II the ticket Is q return the agent
figures out a reduction of 80 per cent Oh
the regular fare, and makes q memoran-
dunn Of the amount on a ledger as well as
on the ticket itsek. The ordinary tickets
are somewhat like ours, but the re-
turns and excursion certificates are of
the size Of legal document and quite as
imposing.
Baggage Arrangements.
Only about seventy pounds Of baggage
are allowed Free and everything must be
weighed. There Is q tax Of cents for
checking baggage and the agent registers