The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1907-11-24

sky high nr Town lots ots selling Ling
reaching out into the desert:
Residences and business blocks going
up. and the people crazy ut the increase
in values! That is what we have here
ut Khartum.
! have already told you of the pros
perity of the Nile Valley and of the
mushroom growth of Alexandria and
Cairo, and how farm lands in the delta
Sre selling from $500 to $1,000 per acre.
knilar boom conditions prevail in up
DER Egypt, and farm lands are rising
LII along the great river. Assiout. Lux
or, Assouan and the towns and villages
OF lower Nuba are thriving. and away
up here, as far from the mouth of the
Nile by Its windings as the Rocky
Mountains are distant from the mouth
of the Hudson, ] find the same things
going on. Lands on the Island OF
Tuti, in the Blue Nile, opposite lfhar-
tum. are priced out of sight, and real
estate SPECTATORS are trying to buy
all they can in the Gezireh. that rich
territory between the Biue and the
White Niles, which here come together.
in khartum itself building lots are
selling at the goyt+iniert auctions for
200 times what theh' owners asked for
them seven years ago, and in Halfaya.
the suburb which lies at the end of tile
railroad. on the opposite side of the
river the farms have been divided into
lots and are being sold for inanufac-
turing purposes Farm lands near the
river. which not long ago Were to be
had for $50 an acre. are now worth
from $50 to $500 per acre and some
even more.
The Chicago OF the Sudan.
khartum is bound to be the Chicago
ZION of two of the greatest rivers of
North Africa. giving 1t navigabie high
WAYS to Abysslnia and to the rich
lands along the watershed OF the Congo
II has railroads connecting 1t with the
! Mediterranean. and with the exception
OF one stretch OF less than 600 miles,
where the cataracts lie, II has the
main stream Of the Nile to give 1t cheap
freight rates To Europe Within tho
past year or SO il has opened IL rail-
road to Suaklr on the Red Sea. and
~ time ii Will he of the great sta
tons on the main route by steamer
and rail from Cairo to the cape
khartuin is the capital of the Anglo
EsHptian Sudan, | wonder If YOU know
what that means II You do you are
wicer than most men not on the ground.
Iilis country Is q world in Itself and it
Is, TO large extent, unexplored 1t is
of vast size II begins at the upper
end OF Egypt anu reaches to Uganda
ana the Belgian Congo. or farther than
from New York TO the Mississippi. Ii
is more than 1000 miles wide and IL
covers altogether twice SIS much terri
tory as FRANCE and Germany combined.
III Is more than oDc-fourth as large az
the United States, with Alaska and the
Philippines added tlerath, and il has
some lands which are richer than al
most any part OF our country. The
province of the Gez!reh. 10 whlch i
nave referred, could be Irrigated and
form u country more fertile and bigger
than Egypt, and there are regions of
good rainfall in the south, which are
4 susceptible, Of cultivation, The sudan
has vast forests and rich deposits of
Iron and othar minerals
IT has extensive grazing lands ana
at the time when the ntahdi besan MS
wars against the khediYe anu TIC
Christians It contained 4 population Of
more than 10000 600. 1T would prob
ably support ten times that number.
although has only about 2oDO.uDp
to-day. THIS country is all tributary
d to hartum. The best parts OF Il are
reached by the tipper Nile system ann
\ I'M - '@r r eions "it he tapped ~
railroads, some OF which are already
planned and soon to be built.
The Story Of Islnrtun,.
] called upon the Governor Of Khar-
tpm this afternoon and asked him to
tell me the story OF the city. Said he:
The buildings which YOU see here
are all new. but the town is older than
United States. II was born before Chi