The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1907-05-21
Railroad Employees.

cellcnt.
Railroad Employees.
I have rot the railroad wages at
hand, but they must be exceedingly
low. Every station has a large num-
Der of officers and soldiers. A ross
roads depot which in our country
would hardly be thought worthy OF an
agent requires a half dozen guards
ana the large stations proportionately
more. There is always a chief depot
manager, a baggage master. q tele-
graph operator, Il ticket seller and a
number of porters. It takes a half
dozen men to start a train. The engin-
eer whistles, one of the guards rings
a bell and others run from car to
car and shut the doors while they
cry, Get on, gentlemen, if YOU please"
on the cars themselves there are many
employees. There are engineers, fire
men and brakeSmen galore. Every
train has its mail clerk and its bag
gage man, and often an express mes
Senger as well.
New Railroads for North Africa.
The railroads of Algeria and Tunisia
at present have q length of almost
5000 miles. The new lines projected
number many thousand miles more,
and in the ear future the railroad
system of this part of the world will
probably be several times what it is
now. one of the most remarkable of
the new schemes is fathered by the
young Khedtve of Egypt. His majes-
ty is rich and he has trouble investing
his surplus. He proposes to build a
railroad from Egypt to Tripoli which
may be extended on around the Gulf
of Gabes and thus connect with the
railway system of Tunisia.
Another scheme Is to build a limo
through the Atlas Mountains of Mo-
rocco to Tangier. the two projects
completing a great trunk line from
the Nile to the Atlantic. The Moroc-
co scheme cannot he attempted in
the present condition Of hat country.
and it is doubtful whether the travel
and freight of the region between
TripOli and the Nile would ever make
that part cf the road pay. The
length of this trunk line, all told.
would be about as long as from NaU
York to Salt Lake City. and fully two
thirds Of il remains to be built. Here
in Algeria and Tunisia there are roads
running east and west about as far
as from New York to Chicago. and IL
Egypt the khedivvc has already buftt
something like sixty or seventy mile
from the Nile westward.
On the Iibyan Deserts.
\ part of this route goes along the
Mediterranean through the Libyan
desert. The KhedIre has travelled on
horseback over this section and was
SURPRISED to find that the country has
Il rich soil and that it once supported
a large population. Everywhere he
Went he saw the remains of the Ro-
mans. There were ruined towns and
villages and enough stones in them t.
build 4 hundred new settlements. Herr
and there he crossed rich GASES. AMI
he has advanced the opinion that his
Will pay. The part already bullt
is now doing so. and he has widened
the guage to accommodate the traf-
fic. If It should ever be completed Ia
and the Morocco ~xtensio
made. it would bring Africa within
-four hours OF Europe by way of the
strait OF Gibraltar. and there will oc
q probable connection with Asia by 4
rOad which might be built from Cairo
to come with the lines now goin:c
south through Damascus and Jerusa-
lem.
Horocco's Railway Possibilities.
As to Morocco. that country WI.
eventually form q live field for ali
o engineers. It is now in such All
unsettled state that the powers VIII
have to take hold Of it within a short
time. Both life and property are u4>-