The Monmouth inquirer., 1923-02-15
FIND RADUmIN
BELGIAN CONGO
Means Reduction in Price of
Rare Metal From $4,000
to $4,000 a Gram.
VAST STOREHOUSE OF WEALTH
In Its Personalities Belgian Congo
Might Be Called "the Brazil of
Africa Possibilities Bare
ly Scratched.

iy scratched.
washington, D. C.-"Discoyery in
the Belgian Congo of large quantities
of pitch-blende, notwithstanding ore
a discovery credited with the signifi-
. cant result of reducing the price of
radium from $4,000 to $4,000
gram-has served to emphasize the
probable great Importance to the
world of this country at the heart Of
Africa when it shall have been fully
developed says bulletin from the
Washington, headquarters of the Ma
tional Geographic society.
''In it's potentialities, the Belgian
Congo might be called the Brazil of
Africa" continues the bulletin. Like
the largest of South American states,
it is of vast extent, covers the heart
Of a continent, is situated in the trop-
les, and has flowing through It one Of
the worlds greatest rivers, capable Of
carrying an empires commerce.
Area one-Third That of U. S.
Perhaps the vast bulk of Belgian
Congo can best be understood if one
imagines the country lifted bodily and
set down on the surface of the United
States. Its 100000 square miles would
cover almost exactly one-third of the
area, not including Alaska. If the
southwestern corner Of Congo were
placed at San Diego, California, the
southern boundary would roughly cor
respond with the Mexican border, and
the southeastern corner would fall at
the southern point of Texas Forming
a very rough square, It's northeastern
corner would lie at Des Moines and its
northwestern corner in Yellowstone
park.
But though this comparison gives
good idea of Congos great size, its
latitude and climate are different from
those of the states covered. If 1t
were shifted to the Western Henri
sphere in its true latitude it would lie
astride the Amazon and would cover
most of the Guianas and large slice
of northern and central Brazil.
"What is now the Belgian Congo
has had an unusual history. Living
stone and Stanley put the country 'on
the map Soon afterward, in 1882,
an international committee organized
a government, called it Congo Free
State, and selected King Leopold of
Belgium to be its ruler. Many irregu
Iarlties in the administration of the
region were alleged to have resulted
from this personal rule, and in 1908
Leopold ceded the territory TO Bel
GUM. A year later King Albert came
to the Belgian throne, reforms were
pushed in the Congo and new con
structive era began
Measured in dollars and effort eX-
pended, much has been done to open
up the Belgian Congo. Fleets Of gov
eminent as well as private steamers
ply the several navigable stretches Of
the Congo and the lakes. Railroads
have been built around the various
regions of rapids and falls, and are
being pushed into the interior, and
laid to connect with British and Por-
tuguese lines at the borders. Scores
of radio stations have been set up and
now fling their messages where in the
past savage drum signals alone were
heard. The BeIgians even have
trans-Congo airplane mali service
which rushes European mail across
the country twice a month on the ar
rival of steamers at the Atlantic port
Of Bona, at the mouth Of the Congo.
Contains Gorilla Haunted Eden.
'But with all this activity. the sur
face of the Belgian Congo's possibili-
ties has barely been scratched. Enor-
nous tropical jungles like those of the
Amazon valley await proper forestry
In the southeast are extensive rolling
prairies teeming with game, that, with
the solution of the tsetse-fiy 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 dollars 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 radio
active substances, the opening up Of
what is believed to be the worlds
richest radium ores caps Congo's min
eral climax.
"Congo is not entirely a torrid land
In the extreme east around Lake Kiyu
itself 6,000 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 Africas Kilauea. This
Eden is the home of large numbers Of
mans closest non-human relatives.
gorillas. The Belgian government is
considering the setting aside of a large
area in this region as a gorilla refuge
where the creatures can be preserved
from the extinction which threatens
them, and where scientists may study