The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1909-07-27
BY WARRINGTON DAWSON.

ABOUT THIS utlle city, NalroDl, WHICH
Col. Roosevelt makes his hunting
headquarters. and to which place he
will return the end OF July for rest
and To prepare for another expedt'
tion.
The climate Is the most peculiar.
Look at the map and you Will hnd
Nairobi about three degrees from the
equator. You might expect, lsherefore.
10 broll "a hours at time. be exposed
10 all rhe terrible tropical diseases
and insects. and be surrounded by
ell kinds Of Africa's savagest animals.
Nothing much doing.
When you get here you find your
self In al altitude OF some 5000 feet
In a pleasant little village which might
be an American outpost town, with
sun which Is certainly leodel ~
midday, but which sets to allow de-
lightfhl breeze at night, with no ferc-
cious beasts and few noxious insects
visible. and in no particular danger
from disease.
Then you are rather apt to conclude
that you are nearer the temperate
zone than the tropical. but this last
idea Is a distinctly dangerous one
10 get into your head. Venture out
betweep sunrise and sunset without
cork helmet and the vertical sun
rays will give you stroke and fever
Gs sure as fate. though the weather
may appear cool and the sky may he
covered. Dress too warmly AT noon 80
as TO gct overheated. or too lightly
at dusk SO as to get chilled and you
will scarcely escape being Ill.
"Jigsers" Burrow Into Feet.
AS for beasts and insects rejoice
at their not being conspicuous. but
dc not wander too far out OF town at
night without light. for there are
leopards still prying about after small
dogs, which they love. and there are
awful insects called jiggers, which
lurrow into your feet and lay sacks
of eggs there, and II you allow the said
eggs to hatch out in the flesh, you
will have serious trouble. which, in
some cases, has resulted In the loss
of foot.
However, taken all in ALL there are
slight risks from animals or insects.
and as for health, ii depends entirely
on s~o Or, three precautions which
are so elementarily simple that a man
must needs be a fool to neglect them.
The consequence is that Nairobi
makes one of the most delightful year
round resorts one could Imagine. good
for both heart and lungs, and general
bodily conditions
Nevertheless. IL an American or Eu-
ropean stays more than two or three
years al stretch, he becomes de-
pressed to the verge OF melancholia
and so violent in temper and unreason-
able in ideas that his best friends
would not know him. This is an ef-
feet of tie sun on the head In spite
of cork helmets. say climatologists,
but q few months in "a temperate zone
suffices TO set everything right again.
and II man may return to Nairobi and
feel good for several years more.
stone Buildings Spring UP.
The houses in Nairobi are desSyued
to resist heat, dust and moisture
rathen than tor durability and beauty.
Even the well-paid officials live In tin
bungalows, and the government offices
and the railroad station are also or
tin. They are one-storied, with peaked
roofs OF corrugated tin. All the
houses stand In expansive grounds to
allow gardens and trees, generally
blue gums. to be planted. This prev
alence OF tin was due partly TO diff
cultiss In transportation and partly
to the sense OF uncertainty about the
duration Oh the lONU iNbtll ~ 10 Oh'y
= some six years since the project Of
moving the entire town some miles
further up the line To better site
was seriously discussed and came
very near being adopted. Now that
the old site has won out. stone build
ings are beginning TO grow up on all
sides. and the government Is putting
I'D "a stone treasury and stone post
ONCE in the middle of the plain.
The hotels are onestoried like the
houses, but are built OF stone, as are
the leading stores. especially the head
quarters OF the various safari outfitters.
But the person who comes to Nairobi
to see a new phase OF life, will prob
ably prefer the native stores round
the bazar. where Indian vendors keep
shop behind gratings or curtains and
put their cord beds out on the veran-
dao TO allow room inside for client
or two.
Still the Negroes Country.
NairobPs streets present many pict-
uresQue scenes. Natives are every
where, and you do not forget that this
Is still the Negroes country. Walk
any day down the main thoroughfare,
called Governmental. which marks
the very center of the town, and leads
past the government Offices TO the
shopping district and the railroad sta
ton, and at what should be the busiest
part you will find a rude cart sur
rounded by a swarm OF Kikuyus block
ing the entire road What may seem
almost stranger than their presence.
Is the fact that they are in nobody's
way. since there are few people who
require to pass; and you may have
only few hundred yards to walk be.
fore your progress is blocked by a
herd of young ostriches being driven
along as IL the town belonged to them.
Although the usual means Of trans
port are OK wagons. sometimes
camel cart enters town with a ship
fnent OF furniture or provisions. and
on rarer occasions two are seen to-
gether, 80 that one would think one
self somewhere In Egypt. But the
purely African natives standing round
about soon dispel that Illusion, since
only Somalis have a trace OF the