X 



THE RIVER TRAINS 



A BELGIAN engineer has perfected a most 

 ingenious system of transport for use on 

 the river Congo and its tributaries. Diffi- 

 culties of transport have always been a 

 drawback to the development of the Belgian 

 Congo, and many efforts have been made 

 in the past to improve upon existing 

 methods. Now comes the river train, a 

 system of mechanical portage designed to 

 solve the problem of river transport where 

 rapids are a bar to transport of the usual 

 type. The power unit for the river train 

 is a 300 horse-power steam launch of an 

 unusual type. The train consists of a 

 series of twin-hulled boats, 90 feet long, 

 six to eight being employed with each train. 



In order to appreciate fully what exactly 

 is in the mind of the inventor we have to 



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