Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-11-23
Copyright. 1907. by Frank C. Carpenter)
Special Correspondence Of The Star
KHARTUM.
A.

KHARTUM.
a 5 REAL a!r.s estate boo" i" the heart
- Farm lands rising sky high,
4 y Town lots selling at fabulous
prices.
New streets reaching out into the des-
ert,
Residences and business blocks going
up. and the people crazy at the increase
In values.
ina, is what we have here at Kharturn.
/ have already told you of the rosperity
of the Nile valley. of the mushroom
growth of Alexandria and Cairo and how
farm lands in the delta are selling from
$500 to $1,000 per acre. Similar boom
conditions prevail in upper Egypt and
farm lands are rising all along the great
river 'Ass!out. Luxor. Assouan and the
towns and villages of lower Nubia are
thriving. and away I'D here. as far from
the mouth of the Nile by its windngs as
the Rocky mountains ara distant from the
mouth of the Hudson, I find the same
things going on. Lands on the Island of
Tut in the Blue Nile opposite Khartum
are priced out of sight, and real estate
spectators are trying to buy all they can
IN the Gezireh. that rich territory between
the Blue and the White Niles which here
Ing lots are selling at the governmen Mt
auctions for two hundred times what
their owners asked for them seven years
ago; and in Halfava. the suburb which
lies at the end of the railroad on the OPP
pOsite side of the river. the farms have
been divided into lots and are being sold
for manufacturing purposes. Farm lands
near the river which not long ago were
70 be had for S20 an acre are now worth
from $50 TO $500 per acre, and some
even more.
Chicago Of the Sudan.
khartum is bound to be the Chicago
of the Sudan 1t lies here at the junction
of two of the greatest rivers of north At
RIGA, giving 1t navigable highways to
Abvssinia and to the rich lands along the
watershed of the Kongo. 1t has railroa ds
connecting it with the Mediterranean and
with the exception of one stretch of less
t1Sn coo miles, where the cataracts lie
i las the main stream of the Nile to
give 1t cheap freight rates to Europe.
VI ithln the past year or so it has opened
a railroad to Suakim. on the Red sea, and
IN time 1t will be one of the great sta
tons on the main route by steamer and
rail from Cairo to the cape.
khartum is the capital of the Anglo
fgyptian Sudan l wonder If You know
what that means. II you do you are
wiser than most men. not on the ground.
This country is a world in itself and it is,
to Il large extent. UNEMPLOYED. It is of
vast size 1t begins at the upper end of
Egypt and reaches to Uganda and the
Belgian kongo, or farther than from New
York to the Mississippi. 1t is more than
i.0G0 miles wide; and it covers altogether
twice as much territory as France and
Germany combined. II is more than one
fourth as large as the United States with
Alaska and the Philippines added there
10: and 1t has some lands which are
richer than almost any part of our coun
.ry. The province of the GeZireh. to
which I have referred. could be irrigated
and form country more fertile and
bigger than Egypt, and there are regions
Of good rainfall in the south which are
susceptible of cultivation. The Sudan has
7ast forests and rich deposits of iron and
,ther minerals. 1t has extensive grazing
snds and at the time when the mahdi
>egan his wars against the khedive and
he Christians. 1t contained population
" more than 12.0O0,OOO It would prob
IDLY support ten times that number, al
hough it has only about 100000 today.
UNI. The best parts of it are reached by
egions will be tapped by railroads. some
VI which are already planned and soon to
,e built.
Story of Khartum.
called upon the governor of Khar-
nm this afternoon and asked him to
ell me the story of the city Said he:
The buildings which you see here are
III new but the town is older than some
If the mushroom cities Of the United