| Show A SAHARA RAILROAD this ia is hn ii cm em and railroad builders the iron steed haa bits penetrated to many places I winch which were thought thou glit a few years nga to ve be dm passable for ia railroad grades I abid tracks all 11 difficulties however appear to vanish be before fore tile ho skill of the civil engineer and scientist and in U comparatively short time tire after the surveys are completed the shrill of the metallic m et allic steed ia is heard as a the train rolls along ov r routes once thought entirely impracticable shortening distances of travel and opening avenues lilies of trade and commedo com between t beell places which were measurably excluded from the great commercial world the last enterprise we have heard of is a projected railroad through the african desert tills subject i has engaged tho the attention of french scientists and engineers their project is to build a railroad oad from the french possessions in africa through the desert to the headwaters of the niger i S ithe rall road i in america says the frenchman precede the set aler tl er the train begins by running through deserts then the emigrant comes along the pleuna hins are tilled farms are laid out cities are built and lie queries why F france ance should ic not in ho billit what f america has done if if she lias has no great west she has liag a great south where itis it is possible to of miles of new railroad railroads in ili soudan beyond the sahara aie arc fifty millions of people who good facilities for exportation anti and imbor importation tation between lie in selves and europe with a view to bring about this a commission was appointed to investigate the project of build in ing such a road A number of plans were submitted among them was that of a direct line from tunis or tripoli to lake asad the commission k considered them all but could not decide upon any one of them in january of last year sir mr chelsy CHol doiy sy whom the E engineer in in Ali algeria cria was appointed d to take c charge bar g of surveying and com corn in I paring cwb routes between Tag huat and golea and between biskra bickra and the expedition sta started tied ac from jagunt in the direction of golea at a certain place they were illif ih i ormed that plundering bands from morocco lad crossed the frontier and choisy was ivas advised to fall back on Lag huat r this advice lio lie rejected jec ted lie ile pushed forward and reached golea on the of F february cb while J the bulk of the party was reposing from front its toils at golca golea an expedition was detached ward the south to examine the sand downs whick charee are called alegs I d laj lcj it wag was thought formed W ailio lio grea greatest obstacle to the build ing of a it railroad in ili a journey to Sole illet had ascertained that at certain points these downs aroon aly about 31 miles wide mr chofay succeeded in finding a spot M where their breadth is reduced to les than a mile A tunnel of sheet iron rcck alln bung those used in ill our pacific rail road to shelter iii elter the track trac 17 from snow would suffice to arrest the drifting sands and thus remove the only barrier that was thought thou glit to be im passable I they returned byway by way of war gla glai which was rendered almost im impassable as the natives had filled alp the wells along the I loute mr c reported in in favor of a line litie between biskra bickra and col F flatters latten who for three years lad been in command of the district of Lag huat buat and was quite familiar with all the features of tile sahara was sent out to make wake a new exploration of the same saine route the tile expedition included one mining engineer two military engineers and a body of soldiers an escort camels ac IR started on the t ath ali of march 1880 its object was to cross cross from the north to the south the tile country of the and after visiting Amad to push on to tho the district of air or A asben bell and thence to descend in into t the soudan from some point to bo be determined by circumstances this tills expedition however failed after following all alie itinerary traced as far as shab at the odthe alegs or c and sand dowid it abandoned its southward course and took a southeast direction lo 10 Te massin through the vaclev of the col flathers Fla flatters tiers ascribed this unforeseen deviation to the ill will of the Cha Chart aniba inba guide and their ignorance ot the lie course come of the upper ing harchar har ghar on oil the of may blay they were compelled to return to a i ili in consequence oatlie of the intense heat but they reached as far as lake men mank hugli hugh miles from their starting point points and had collected a great amount amo of geographical and find metrological knowledge which will ba beof of inestimable esti mablo value if the french government should decide in favor of an eastern line across the sahara and as far as building the road la is conce concerned arned it is S said aid the tile region leaves nothing to be desired in the summer of 1880 col flatters ers returned to F france rance and organized another expedition the government made an all appropriation of to continue the work and flatters left france again october 1881 intending to avoid the delay which caused his failure in his last expedition Idi tion in ili november he be commenced the examination of the country court try between tuat and the upper niger he ile relied on the experience fience his previous precious travels had given him and the good will of the Toun reg aggans with whom he lie had formed a previous us acquaintance tance and ho lie felt quite sure he would be able to extend his survey as far as soudan ilia his party was more numerous than the one ho lie had led before besides many of the officers who had been companions in the first expedition new ones were placed under his command among wh whom om maybe may be mentioned and quin when the expedition was heard from front at the begin i ning of this year everything every thing was proceeding satisfactorily although they lad advanced far into a region the climate of which is usually considered fatal to europeans col flatters wag then a good way down in n a northwestern direction from front the plateau of maider he ile had lad area already dy made a discovery which would be of the greatest advantage to the proposed railroad this was a stream of fresh water running on the surface for several miles a phenomenon n almost unique in ill the saharan rhion the tile exploration was not finished as 11 col flatters and some of his men died the date and cause of death arc ire not stated and tile matter rests in abeyance for the present but we expect to hear of an another other expedition being organized and the work continued until the completion of the vast project of building a railroad through the african desert |
