Perth Amboy evening news., 1922-12-21
Geographic News
Bulletins by the
National Geographic Society
BELGIAN CONGO

OLoCOtSly III lh0 oCl8ldh SOh"
go of large quantities of pitch
blende. a radium bearing ore--a
discovery credited with the signi-
ficant result of reducing the price
of radium from 100000 to $7O,-
900 a gram-has served to empha-
size the probable great importance
to the world of this country at the
heart of Africa when 1t shall have
been full developed" says a bull
letin from the Washington, d. u,
headquarters Of the NationaN Geo
graphic Society.
In its potentialities, the Belgian
Congo might be called the Brazil
of Africa" continues the bulletin.
Like the largest of South Ameri-
can states. it 10 Of vast extent, COW
ers the heart of a continent. is sit
uated In the tropics, and has flow
ing through 1t n of the worlds
greatest rivers, capable Of carrying
an empires commerce. It Is only
to the Amazon, premier of rivers,
that the Congo river can in truth
me compared. Other great streams
are longer than either but one ap-
proaches them closely in the volume
of water which they pour into the
sea. The average width Of the
Congo il i've miles for about half
its nearly 5000 miles of length,
and In places it u rs much as six
teen miles wide.
perhaps the vast bulk of Bel
giau Congo can best be understood
II one imagines the country lifted
bodily and set down On the surface
Of the United States. Its 100000
square miles would cover almost ex
actly one-third OF the area, not in
GLIDING Alaska. If the southwest
ern corner of Congo were placed
at San Diego, California, the south
ern boundary would roughly cor
respond with the Mexican border
and the southeastern corner would
fall at the southern point of Texas.
Forming a YER rough square, It's
northeastern corner would lie at
Des Moines and its northwestern
corner in Yellowstone Park.
But though this comparison
gives a good idea of Congo's great
size. its latitude and climate are
far different from those of the states
covered. If it were shifted to the
Western Hemisphere in its true
latitude it would lie astride the
Amazon and would cover most of
the Guianas and a large slice of
northern and central Brazil.
Radio Replaces Savage Drum Sig
mails
What is now the Belgian Congo
has had an unusual history. LIv-
instore and Stanley put the
country 'on the map Soon after
ward an international committee
organized a government, called it
Congo Free State, and selected King
Leopold of Belgium to be it's ruler.
Many irregularities in the admin
Istration Of the region were alleged
to have resulted from this personal
rule, and in 1908 Leopold coded
the territory to Belgium. A year
later King Albert came to the
Belgian throne, reforms were push
ed in the Congo and a new con-
structive era began.
Measured in dollars and effort
expended, much has been done TO
of government as we'll as private
steamers ply the several navigable
stretches Of the Congo and the
lakes. Railroads have been built
around the various regions of rap
ids and falls. and r being pushed
into the interior. and laid to con-
meet with British and Portuguese
lines at the borders. Scores of ra-
dio stations have been set up and
now fling their messages where in
the past savage drum signals alone
were heard. The Belgians even
have a trans-Congo aeroplane mail
service which rushes European
mail acros the country twice a
month on the arrival of steamers at
the Atlantic port of Bona, at the
mouth Of the Congo.
Contains Gorilla Haunted Eden
But with all this activity, the
surface of the Belgian Congois
possibilities has barely been scratch
ed. Enormous tropical jungles K
those of the Amazon valley await
forestry. In the southeast
are extensive rolling prairies teen
ing with game, that, with the So
luton of the tsetse fly problem
would make excellent cattle ranges.
And chance discoveries have shown
that the mineral stores OF the
country are seemingly unlimited.
Copper, tin, gold and diamonds TO
the value of many millions OF dol
lars have been extracted. Some
coal and iron is mined and it Is
believed that much more exists.
Now, when science is finding epoch
making uses for radioactive sub
the opening of what is be-
lieved to be the worlds richest
radium ores caps Congo's mineral
climax.
Congo is not entirely a torrid
land. In the extreme east around
Lake Kivu-itself 5000 feet above
the sea-rise mountains as high as
Pixies Peak. In this upland region
the weather is delightful and the
slopes and valleys are described by
travellers as among the worlds
beauty spots. Nearby the night sky
Is lighted by the boiling cauldron
Of Africa's Kilauea. This Eden IS
the home of large numbers of mans
closest non-human relatives, GO
rtilas. The Belgian government is
considering the setting aside Of, a
large area in this region as a go
rtlla refuge where the creatures can
be preserved from the extinction
which threatens them. and where
scientists may study them in their
natural haunts. Naturalists have
found that unless cornered these
gorillas are far from ~ferocious, and
1t Is predicted that If protected they
Will become entirely tanned"