The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-12-22
CARRIES SUIT CASE.
Fl. \. Mcbride OF American Consulate
i'm Belgian Congo Arrives Here.

II. A. Mcbride entered the Martini
ique yesterday carrying a suitcase
that bent him over.
Its silver he explained.
Family silver"
No coin.
1t came out that Mr.. Mcbride was
probably the largest private owner Of
Belgian silver coin now in Ne York.
1t represents what he has saved out
| of his salary the last year and a half
as American vice consul in the Bel
gian Congo. In his suitcase was all
the coin he was able to get from the
local bank in Bona. or the Congo,
when he left there about four weeks
ago, together with what silver he had
been able to hoard since.
Mr.. Mcbride arrived here two days
ago on the American steamship Ha-
Waiian direct from Bona. The Ha-
Waiian took over to Bona food which
saved the colony from starvation, and
she brought back 100 tons Of cargo,
ivory, rubber and cocoa principally,
worth about $780, 900. Mr.. Mcbride
brought with him samples of Euro
pean goods sold in the Congo coun-
try, and is going to be at the custom
house on Monday and Tuesday to tell
American exporters Of the opoprtu-
nifty of extending trade to a big re-
gion hat suddenly mas been cut off
from it's source Of supply in Europe.
There nave been s~anguinary fights
up the Congo, a French expedition
having passed through Bona, some
time ago to capture those two fling
ers," which Germany seized on the
! river about the time Of the Agadir
incident. OF these Mr.. Mcbride de-
clined to speak, except to say that the
: 1000 native troops in the Belgian
, Congo had been on the qui vive ever
since the war started, and all the
white inhabitants of Bona, to the
t number Of $50, had formed them
= selves into a civil guard. Every ship
1 bound up the river had to stop and
! pass examination.
Brings Native Curios.
In Mr.. McBride's baggage is a lot
= Of curiOs of which he will offer the
i choice to the Smithsonian Institution
t in Washington, idols and fetiches Of
various sizes, hardwood pipes that are
y as big as idols and shaped like them
curious axes and knives, native straw
L cloths of wonderful texture and col
1 OrS.
When the war started paper
money became worth almost moth
I ing said Mr.. Mcbride. Everybody
began boarding silver, and food be.
T came scarce. The country produce:
e practically no fOodstuffs, and as thu
e Belgian liners and the French liner:
stopped coming we were soon facins
a famine. So the leading men of tn.
= ANO o~AAAS d1i0 81
/, me to order a shipload Of provision
e from New York. With this suppl.
the Hawaiian got there none to-
as soon. 1t was Oct. 23, and every whit
ar person in he community turned GU
e, to welcome her. Actually we had n
L. potatoes, nc vegetables, and no flOu
ry left.
n I'VE got a little -four from the Por
ne tuguese colony Of Angola, but it wa
ed Of inferior quality, and after that tn
l. l 90 nnin h1f nuyn ~
O. foodstuffs. A really big opportunit
DIS has developed in the Congo and Al
COLA on account of the war. Onl
n an occasional English GOAT or a Po1
", tuguese stops there now. The trad
ial of that region is worth about $4,000
tie 600 or $1,000, 600 a year. Both co
onies nave been getting from tn
O. United States hitherto less hi
$780, 600 worth of goods a year, an
IS they have been sending nothing ovt
ite here"
nv Mr.. Mcbride took out some of h
~ curioS.
This is a kasal, or mutilatir
Ter knife, from Central Africa he sal
displaying what looked like a BATH
axe, with a short handle. the blad
al ia ,tened to the handle by finger
,er of metal. On these fingers" we
"a carved or stamped ffty-eight heads
These do not represent men WI
have DeeH KILLED., necessarily, DUl Pc
W sons who have had their fingers
their hands cut off, or otherwise m
- tilated by the owner of the impl
ra ment," he explained. Here is
are smaller one with only two heads
hu- it. The natives mine the iron Q
var and make these themselves.
Or Surprised by a Leopard.
hts '"This is the skin Of leonard sh
TO myself" he said, unrolling a perfe
no specimen measuring about seven fe
lelr Il wasn't leopard hunting a tall, +
ing after antelope, and l had gone ir
the the interior about 100 miles south
,Sed the river with a small gun. not kno
of ing there were leopards in the cor
lrs- try. l was rather scared when I S;
the beast coming toward me, but
by good luck I managed to put a bull
through one eye.
One The goods brought over by I,
der Hawaiian gave great satisfaction