New-York tribune., 1907-08-18
TELLING TREES FOR RAILWAY TIES IN

3 O'Clock in the morning one of them dropped
off to sleep with his 303 across his knees. Along
came the stealthy Honess and actually dragged
the of the window and made off with
him into the jungle His bones not found
until three weeks later. and on that very day
both lions were shot.
At Kiu Station tAIile 261) even the advent of
the iron horse has not altered the aspect of
natural geological park. Enormous herds of
zebra Craze close TO the train. and not less
numerous are the hartebeeste, most awkward
and ungainIy IF antelopes. Ostriches. singly
and in pairs or in groups Of five or six. stand
and stare at the train and then scuttle of
with long Looping stride often breaking into
a run after great futterng of plumeS-
The summit of the line is reached at Nair"bl'
$50 feet above sea level. the summit oil lHe
Fast African Highlands. which bid fair 10 be
,.-.ne \ sanatorium for the whole of that part ot
Africa
Enormous difficulties We're encountered by
,ta aroiraers ut Iurlbwa CMIe 51S) Here We
find ourselves in the midst Of thick elephant
forest and the tribes shy, troublesome
neo,le who have caused enormous inc"hNeh-
i,uce 10 the administration Of the TalIr"ad VII"
their tbieving propcnsities, which extended 10
v+r,crfrs- tn. fshpates and bolts from the line
stealing the rails To make spears from ana lash
jon!ng miscellaneous irouwork into shIelGS.
S,,,a of those natives were convinced that the
power OF locomotive lag in the labor OF an HI
de6nit. number Of oxen. which they assumed
were shut up inside Hence, when the engine
stopped they would gather in curious cFo"NS
z,af-irp To see some door open and the ;ainIilar
horns and heads peer forth. Altogether TINS ROAD
cost S15 0,4O 900 and it's lake terminus IS close
To- the German frontier, on the eastern shore 81
Victoria Nyanza-
The rresent railroads projected IN the upper
Congo have suffered much from the mysterious
sleeping sickness that attacks their WORKERS anu
IN ono section wiped out nearly four thousand OF
them As 70 the white workers, one may truth
fully say that each African railroad IS marked
throughout its entire length with the graves OF
men ,,bo have sacrificed their lives in the ac-
cornplishrrent Of this pioneer work
Sometimes a stray explorer will come across d
small party Of surveyors assistants ana haIIFe
porters actually three hundred miles IN advance
of the construction party Such men are utterly
cut off from civilization and exposed |" grave
perils from fever, hostile natives, ard de9t''-7
and wild beasts. Their baggage must contain
nothing made of wood. owing to the astonishing
ravages Of the white ants. The iron telegraph
poles must be in sections, as TO be borne on
the heads Of negroes who are the only means oi
transport in many parts of Africa where the
tse-tse fly has destroyed every mule bullock
camel and donkey.
In many cases wide roads have to be cut
through the jungle SO as to prevent the tall RANK
oyercrowth cngulfng both tracks and telegraph
wires and also to facilitate repairs. The te!e-
graph poles, by the way. have been particularly
troublesome. largely because the herds OF wlid
elephants have looked upon them as institutions
speciaUy put up that they might rub their giant
bodjes against them-with dire results And
when all things appear to be going well with a
const struction party smallpox Will appear among
the black laborers, who are forthwith stricken
| with Consideration and throw down their loads,
so that the jungle track for score of miles VIII
| be Uttered with valuable property, which IN
many cases the white officers cannot recover