A NEW FUEL

Grey River Argus, 22 April 1911, Page 6

A NEW FUEL

(biy I -ekjsxaph — Per Press Association) KHARTOUM, April 20. A factory for the preparation ol "sudd" fuel has been opened. It is regarded as an immense step in the economic development of the Souday. ("Sudd" is the native name of a growth of grass that infests the rivers and swamps of Upper Egypt, and has been noticed by most travellers in the Upper Nile and in the Soudan. It grows so luxuriously as to stop navigation and impede the free flow of the river. When the Nile is in strong flood it often clears away great quantities of the "sudd," but generally travellers by 'boat on tne upper waters of the great river are compelled to cut their way though the dense vegetation, in much the same way as the Staniford Smith party had to cut their way through the Papuan scrub. It has been shown that when dried and compressed, the "sudd" will make a cheap and excellent fuel. As it flourishes in unlimited quantity this vegetation, which has so long checked the free flow of the Nlic and led to the flooding of much low-lying, valuable land, the manufacture of "sudd" 1 fuel may become a great industry and take the place of coal in the steam traffic on the Nile, as 'black' labour is plentiful and cheap throughout the Soudan.)