252 



EMIN PASHA. 



ENGINEERING. 



detachment of soldiers at Un joro under the com- 

 mand of Casati, his sole European companion. 



There were four routes, any one of which 

 Stanley could take for his expedition : one 

 straight through the hostile Uganda country, 

 the second through the Masai country, a third 

 more southerly by the shores of Lake Alexan- 

 dra, and the fourth by the Congo. He chose 

 the fourth. The steamer " Navarino " carried 

 his merchandise and ammunition from Graves- 

 end to the starting-point of the expedition, 

 and thence to the mouth of the Congo, where 

 the Belgian steamers, loaned by King Leopold, 

 were to transport everything and everybody 

 to within 250 miles of Wadelai, thus reducing 

 by about three quarters of its distance the 

 march to be made overland an immense ad- 

 vantage, considering that every article has to 

 be carried on the backs of porters from the 

 sea to the objective point. Stanley took with 

 him a transportable steel boat, about 30 feet 

 long and 6 feet broad, which could be sepa- 

 rated and easily carried by two men, and when 

 in use could carry 22 men and 1,000 pounds of 

 baggage. He was also provided with a mod- 

 ern automatic Maxim gun, which can discharge 

 666 bullets every minute, with a range of about 

 2,000 yards, and which is provided with an 

 armor-plate as protection against assault by 

 arrows and spears. Altogether the expedition 

 embraced about 1,000 people. Arriving on the 

 Congo, Stanley dispatched couriers overland to 

 the King of Uganda, informing him of the ob- 

 ject of the expedition, and to Tippoo Tib at 

 Stanley Pool. He found the latter at Stanley 

 Pool, virtually in command of the whole coun- 

 try, and at once completed the arrangement 

 already mentioned. This was rather forced 

 upon Stanley, as he found that since his ab- 

 sence from the country the power of the Congo 

 Free State had been crippled at most of the 

 outposts. The Belgians, who had everywhere 

 been left in charge, seemed to have proved 

 quite inefficient for the work left in their 

 hands. Stanley Falls Station had been de- 

 stroyed, and all around that neighborhood the 

 savages were in hostile humor. 



The expedition left Bolombo on May 11, 

 and it was expected that it would arrive at 

 the mouth 'of the Aruwimi the first week in 

 June. At this point Stanley proposed leaving 

 the Congo and pushing on overland through 

 the unexplored territory 350 miles to Wadelai, 

 where Einin Bey was supposed to be encamped. 

 On Dec. 30, 1887, Dr. Schweinfurth, the ex- 

 plorer, wrote from Cairo to Berlin that news 

 of the junction of Stanley with Emin had 

 reached Cairo on Dec. 22, but without further 

 particulars. Jt should be mentioned that the 

 Egyptian Government gave 10,000 toward 

 the purpose of the expedition, not for the res- 

 cue of Emin. but for carrying dispatches and 

 ammunition to him. 



The general feeling among experts in Cen- 

 tral Africa exploration was that in choosing 

 the Congo route, which has 350 miles of dan- 



gerous and difficult unexplored country, Stan- 

 ley would find that he ran great risks. Sir 

 John Kirk, British Consul- General to Zanzi- 

 bar, said : " The Congo route by Mobangi or 

 Biyerre is impossible. No one is able to say 

 how many months such an expedition would 

 take. Besides, it would be necessary to bring 

 porters from Zanzibar, for the Congo negroes 

 are not used to that sort of work. The Congo 

 Free State depends even now upon Zanzibar ne- 

 groes for labor." Gen. Charles P. Stone, for- 

 merly chief-of-staff of the Egyptian war estab- 

 lishment, expressed the opinion that " a well- 

 organized expedition, thoroughly prepared with 

 such full information of the route, the obsta- 

 cles, and the dangers as can be given by Dr. 

 Junker, commanded by such a man as Stanley, 

 who is thoroughly acquainted with these coun- 

 tries and their population, starting in a favor- 

 able season, could effect the rescue, provided 

 Emin Pasha could hold out for the necessary 

 time, which Dr. Junker feels he can do." If 

 this expedition should fail, the result would be 

 to hand over to the slave-traders a population 

 of 6,000,000 and a province nearly as large as 

 Europe. 



ENGINEERING. Bridge at Ponghkeepsie, N. Y. 

 Ever since the first settlement, of North 

 America the Hudson river has been one of 

 the chief arteries of commerce. Forming with 

 its main tributary, the Mohawk, the most di- 

 rect route from the sea to the Great Lakes and 

 through them to the West, it has for upward 

 of two centuries been the main highway of 

 emigration. The canoe and bateau have been 

 successively superseded by the canal-boat, the 

 steamer, and the railroad. It must ever re- 

 main a natural highway for traffic, but with 

 the development of artificial as distinguished 

 from natural highways, it has assumed a new 

 character as an 'obstacle. A glance at the map 

 will show that it divides New England from 

 the West in a way that does not at all harmo- 

 nize with the demands of modern economic en- 

 gineering. For many years it has been bridged 

 at Albany, but there remained a long stretch 

 of 150 miles involving either an indirect course 

 by rail, or the transshipment of freight and pas- 

 sengers at New York. 



Several schemes for bridging the river at 

 Peekskill, Fishkill, and Hudson have been pro- 

 posed, but that at Poughkeepsie is the first that 

 has been pushed to a successful issue. The 

 bridge was designed about 1870. It has four 

 piers of masonry resting upon timber caissons 

 which are dredged to a depth of about 125 

 feet below high water. The dimensions of 

 these caissons are 60 feet by 100. Twelve 

 pockets were left open for convenience of 

 workmen, and were filled with concrete after 

 the caissons were sunk to their final level. 

 The tops of the caissons proper are 20 feet be- 

 low high water, and are surmounted by grill- 

 age-work 10 feet deep and closely correspond- 

 ing in area with the caissons themselves. The 

 solid masonry piers are 24 feet thick and 86 



