Engineering Wonders of the World
Volume I

152 ENGINEERING WONDERS OF THE WORLD. capped the engineers. Between the com- mencement of the work and the laying of the last rail at Bulawayo only twelve months elapsed. Bechuanaland is for the most part a flat, sandy country, rather arid, but presenting few difficulties from an engineering point of view. Rivers and valleys are few and far between ; while, as in the case of the great trans-continental railways of Canada and the United States, it is here possible to push ahead in almost a straight line. The stand- ard South African gauge of 3 feet 6 inches was adopted, in order to permit through trains to be run from Cape Town without the necessity for transhipment. Bulawayo was reached on October 19, 1897, and on November 4 the line was formally declared open to traffic amid a scene of great popular enthusiasm. The track Bulawayo for some distance outside Bula- reached. wayo had been decked for the occasion with tall Venetian masts and lines of bunting, while the engine hauling the first train to arrive from the south was also gaily deco- rated. A large party of English notabilities had gone out to Rhodesia at the invitation of Mr. Rhodes to take part in the festivities, which were kept up for some days. The length of the line from Cape Town to Bula- wayo is 1,362 miles. At Bulawayo the work of .construction paused for a time while detailed surveys were carried out northwards, to determine the most Negotiations with the ‘ Government. suitable route. Further, it was necessary to provide additional capital for the next section of the line. Mr. Rhodes had hoped that by this time the Imperial Govern- ment would have realized the great value of this railway to the whole of the South African States, and as an agent of civilization in the virgin North. Accordingly he visited Eng- land in the spring of 1898, and wrote a letter to the then Colonial Secretary (Mr. Joseph Chamberlain), laying before the Government certain proposals with regard to the exten- sion of the railway from Bulawayo towards Lake Tanganyika, and inviting the co-opera- tion of the Government in the scheme by means of a collateral guarantee with the British South Africa Company of the interest upon the capital required for the construc- tion of this portion of the route, some 700 to 800 miles. Had the Imperial Government been willing to render its assistance in this manner, there was every probability that tho Cape Government would have taken its share in the liability. Mr. Rhodes estimated the cost of building this line to Lake Tanganyika at two millions sterling, taking as a guide the fact that the line from Vryburg had cost, roughly speaking, £3,000 per mile. It was proposed that this portion of the railway should be constructed in sections of about 200 miles each, passing across some of the richest mineral belts in Rhodesia, and through a country well suited for every form of agri- culture. Another point that Mr. Rhodes em- phasized was the fact that it had long been the policy of the Imperial Government in India and in other portions of the Empire to encourage railway enterprise by subsidies and guarantees. He pledged himself to pur- chase the whole of the necessary plant, equip- ment, and rolling stock in Great Britain if this assistance were rendered him. Seeing that it was estimated that something like 160,000 tons of material—apart from all roll-, ing stock—would be required for this portion of the route, British trade would have bene- fited very considerably. Prolonged but un- successful negotiations took place between the Imperial Government and Mr. Rhodes. He therefore proceeded to Berlin, and interested the German Emperor in his scheme, receiv- ing from him promises of substantial assist- ance—when the line should at length reach the boundary of German East Africa. Mr. Rhodes then set about finding another way