The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-12-15

and are loaded with the volcanic dust of which the Abysslnian highlands are made. When the floods como they ~ring down masses of driftwood. upon which are sometimes to be seen the dead bodies of elephants and bufraloes, The waters come with great force, and the Atbara bridge, over which the railroad crosses the river has to be strong to withstand u em.
 Made By Yankees.
 It seems strange to me when I look at the mighty steel spans which cross the Atbara and reflect that John Bull had to hire Uncle sam to make them for him. Ths Atbara bridge was constructed by one of our hridge-building companies and was sent here in sections It consists of six great steel spans of 200 feet each, built upon piers which extend about 30 feet down under the river to the bed rock. The bridge is we'll built and I am told that it easily withstands the great floods.
 A Desert Railway Center.
 Atbara might be called one of the rail- way centers of the Sudan. Lying at the junction of it's two chief lines 1t has the principal offices and shops.~ and is the home of the director Capt E. c. Mldwin- ter, Bey. It was through letter from the governor general that l met Captain Midwinter, and had ? iorg talk with him about this new road to the Rcd sea. He had a part in building the line and is now it's manager. We first visited the railroad shops. which lie here in the sands of the desert, covering two or three acres of the bleakest part of the earth They are great sheds, with walls of galvanized iron and roofs of iron and plate glass. There are locomotives, cars and steel ties and tele- graph poles lying outside, and going in I found all sorts of railway repair and construction work were going on, The machinists were q mixture of whites. blacks and velows. representing a half dozen different nations and tribes. There were British overseers Greek and Italian mechanics Nublan blaclssmiths, and many Nubian boys who were taking a sort of manual training course in order that they may serve as locomotive enRin- eers. under machinists and trackmen. The machinery is of modern make and the shops are about as well equipped as our shops at Panama.
 How the Desert Ruins Railways.
 As we walked from lathe to lathe and from blaming machine to blaming machine Captain Midwinter pointed out some of the peculiarities of the wear and tear which the desert has upon railway ma- terials.
 Here" said he. as he pointed to the wheel of an American locomotive, in which was cut groove so deep and wide that could lay my three fingers in it, .is an example of how the sands ruin our car wheels The desert Is covered with grains as hard as flint. They blow over the rails and as the cars move they grind out the steel as though they were emery powder. AS a result a wheels life is short, and we have to cut down its tire every few months. Moreover, the sand gets Into the bearings, and there is con tinuous wearing which necessitates all most constant repair.
 "IIow about your sandstorms? Are they serious obstacles to traffic?'
 'At times, yes. They come with such violence that they cover the tracks; they darken the sun so that when you are in one you cannot see your hand before your face. They often spring up afar off. and you can watch them coming. At such times the sand gets into everything and grinds it's way through all parts of the machinery.