The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-12-20

z | NCIE SAM hSSP
 skinned as to the developments going on in West Africa That mart of the world is practically unknown to us. and still its trade is growing like Q green hav tree. All along the coast, from the senegambia to German South west Africa, railroacs are bulidlng' eX- permental plantations are peihg set oue, and here and there mines Of Narious l,fnds have been discovered. Away down near the Cape in the German possessions, tbere is A place called Otavi where val ,able deposits of copper are now being mined. The ore In sight Is said to be 100000 tons, and it is claimed that 1t can be produced so as to net $19,0O0,OOO clear rroflt Portuguese West Africa has cop per. iron petroleum and salt, and its oils and asphalt fields are now being worked by a British syndicate. I have already written of the great Katanga concession, which King Leopold of Belgium is work ing in connection with the English on the watershed between the Zambesi and the Kongo. This Is to be reached by railroad 1200 miles long through Portu- guese West Africa to the Congo Free State. It will open up larger copper de- posits than any ever discovered, and will flood the world with that metal and with tin. The tin mines run through a range of hills 150 miles long, and the copper mountains are something like 300 miles in length An extension or the Cape to Cairo road has just been pro- 5ected to this great mining region, and within a short time it will probably be a beehive of industry.
 There are valuable minerals in the northern part of the Congo Free State, and the French Congo contains gold, copper and iron. Gold has been recently found in the Kamerun belonging to the Germans, which lies Just to the north; and little beyond that is the famous gold coast, on the Gulf of Guinea, from which the English got the name of their s5 gold pieces The mines there have been worked for generations, and they are still turning out considerable. The output Is now something like $4,OO0,00O year, which is 40 times the product of 19O1 Tn 1906 PIT, 7,0O0 ounces of gold were taken out, and there has been steady in- crease in the product for more than five years At present both quartz And placer mining are going on. and large crushing mills have been installed.
 West Africa's New Railroads.
 As to the railroad development, it em- braces the whole coast of the continent The Germans have several large projects under way in Southwest Africa. They have already built line z37 miles long from Swakopmund to Otavl and the cop per mines. This road will probably some day be connected with the Cape to Cairo line running northward from Cape Town to the Zambesi and, in that case, it will shorten the distance between England and Bulawayo by 1900 miles.
 The Lobito Bay railroad has already been constructed for a hundred miles or so inland from the Atlantic; and there are now several thousand laborers work ing upon it. The road will be over 1000 miles long, and it will be made after the usual South African fashion. It's gauge is feet inches, and the rails weigh 60 pounds to the yard. The ties are to be of steel, on account of the white ants, which eat everything wooden; they will weight 70 pounds each. All the bridges are standardized, and the rolling stock is the same as that used in Rhodesia. Some of the engines are being built in England, but the heaviest ones are to be supplied by the Swiss and the Germans. By the time this road reaches the cop per mines the Cape to Cairo extensions will be there. and the route to South Af- rica will probably change, far as fast traval is concerned. Passengers will be taken to Lobito bay and will thence go by rail to the Transvaal. and especially to all parts of Rhodesia. There will prob- ably be an extension to Lake Tangan- yika, and we shall have a line across the southern part of the continent. There is no doubt of the completion of the Lo- bito bay road The company which is
 
 the copper mines; and there are tens of millions of dolars-I might say billions of dollars-of minerals awaiting it's traffic possibilities
 The Railroads of the Congo.
 The Lobito Bay railroad will be largely controlled by the Congo Free State The King of Belgium and his associates own a majority of the stock in the great cop per concession, and they will see that it is operated in the interest of Belgium's colony It will probably be connected with other roads which will open to trade the navigable tributaries of the upper Congo, and will form a part of the extensive railway system which has been projected for that country.
 Few people realize what Is going on as to railroad building in the Congo Free State. The Congo river is as long as the distance from New York to San Francisco and two of its tributaries are each al- most long as from the mouth of the Hudson to the Great Salt lake. The nav- igable waterways of the system, if stretched out in one line, would reach from New York to Singapore, or half way around the globe, and they are many that there is not spot in the whole Congo basin which is 80 miles distance from navigable waterways.
 The biggest European steamers now go up the Congo 100 miles from it's mouth to Matdul AL lHdL point there IS d TdllfOdu 250 miles long, which climbs past the rapids to Stanleypool. This road has been in operation for number of years Within short time a second gap on the river has been remedied by building a line just above Stanleypool 90 miles long, and third line is projected O. DO miles far above that. This line is \ ar the Hells Gate cataract and between Send we and Bull. Another railway is pro- jected which will cross the lower Congo to the copper mines and others are to connect the Congo with the Mediterran- can through the French lines proposed for the Sahara desert and with the Su- dan system by railway from the Uelle river to the Nile.
 Motor Cars for Mid-Africa.
 Speaking of the Uelle region this is in the northern part of the country ap- preaching the Nile watershed and until recently all transportation there has been by porters. Within the past year or so the government has been making roads and putting on motor cars and traction engines There Is to be one road from the Congo to the Nile, which will be 600 miles long, and motor cars built espe- cially for it are now being constructed at Liege. In addition to them very serviceable traction engines carrying cars each holding several tons of goods have been made, and these will be used for heavy freight The Belgians are also