Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1919-09-26
LIVERPOOL OF AFRICA
Is Outlook For The City OF
Dakaf.
.DY A PORT OF IMPORTANCE

.ricans. ~
kar, which is seldom heard
promises to be a focal point in
expected rivalry of European
les with the United States for
with South America possi-
that everyone is hearing a great
bout just now" says a bulletin
he National Geographic Society.
sudden interest in Dakar, the
n states, arises from dispatches
of proposed Paris to Brazil ana
i to Brazil rail and water routes.
Iso of a contemplated trans-At-
aeroplane flight from Dakar to
nbuco, Brazil
glance at the map will show why
holds a strategic position for
American communication" says
llletin. 1.-THE distance from Da-
the tip of Cape Verde, to
nbuco, the eastermost city of
south American continent, is
.715 miles as compared with 81
les from New York to Liverpool.
eady Dakar is a port of prime
.ance for vessels which ply be-
European ports and either
America or southern Africa.
nizing this fact the French have
yed the harbor,e with, its naval
ry dock, arsenal, torpedo boat
and facilities for transferring
from boat to train. Work on a
=. harbor and a larger dry dock
re under way.
kar also is important to its own
land, for it is the seat of ad-
ration for all the French posses
in West Africa, which include,
Senegal, of which Dakar is the
city, French Guinea, the Ivory
Dahomey, French Sudan and
tania. " e-
e visitor today would find a
ag city of about $4,000 persons,
vide, we'll laid out streets, large
cal school, hospitals and work
and he might have trouble
aing himself in, Africa were it
,r the preponderance Of swarthy
s as compared with only about
Frenchmen. =
IS than half century ago
lers brought back different re-
Then children could have been
'unning naked about the unkept
!, and eating, pig-like, from the
bowl. Mothers performed their
with babies strapped, astride,
their backs, and one writer re-
that children could be bought
Wiling mothers for few francs,
he did not state what one
want with the purchase.
men, literally, wore rings on
1ngers and bells on their toes,
mention amulets, beads, coins,
surprising assortment of trink-
ostly regarded as charms. Z
the Senegalese natives are far
avage, except in their ability to
Us many American boys learned
,served them in France. The
African tribes, such as. the Ber-
c Serer, the 'Rulah and the,
igo, all of which are represent
Senegal, are among the most
ed of the African natives.
Berbers, for example, have a
dating back to prehistoric
which mystifies ethnologists.
ire believed, by some experts,
been at one time the masters
Mediterranean. Today many of
we're they attired as we are,
pass for Americans. Their
light, and some, of them are
v times have the Berbers been
ed, driven out of their home
and, like the Jews, have be-
rangers in new lands, but they
maintained their racial identi-
physical characteristics, and a
mt love Of freedom. Their
like those of ancient Sparta
odern Russia, have fought by
islands sides, and their morali-
be judged from the fact that
tn penalty is administered for
:. They have what amounts to
al male suffrage, through an
y of all males, and the cqui-
of universal military training,
ach boy is equipped, when
with arms which he must be
} use until he is sixty.
ovice can tell a light skinned
from a Wolof, black of the
Both Dakar, and st. Louis,
capital of Senegal are in the
region. These ebony hucd
rship animals, revere \sharks
y, but their poetic imagina-
illustrated by the ceremony
served in crowning the king
I, an old state recognized by
lch government. After election
arch is presented with a vase
are seeds of all the plants
\ the kingdom, signifying that
I'd of the land
akar, too. towering head and
above the French, and we'll
e natives, may be seen Scrers.
orship holds the snake in VEN
and they belive in transmit
rs