Cape to Cairo Line.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVI, Issue 99, 30 April 1904, Page 4

Cape to Cairo Line.

That groat dream of Cecil Rhodes—a railway all the way from tin'. Cape to Cairo—is likely to be fulfilled earlier than was at one time expected, although perhaps not on the same (grand scale as he had planned. Tire contract has just been let of the line to Broken Mill Mine, which is 350 miles beyond the Victoria Falls. Mr Rhodes' plan provided for the railway being carried right on to Khartoum, but. the present idea seems to be to extend the line which terminates at Khartoum to the northern shore of Lake Tanganyika, and employ steamers on that great sheet of water to complete the connection, with the ultimate intention of having a railway from end to end. The railway ha 9 reached a point a few miles to the south of the Victoria Falls. The spanning of the great gorge will be the most difficult part of tho undertaking, and an engineering task of some magnitude, with which the spanning of Niagara offers no comparison. The cliffs at the Victoria Falls rise to a height of 420 ft ; those at Niagara to only 140 ft. It is proposed to carry the railway over the South African falls by a single span of 500 ft, which is the distance separating the sentinels of the gorge at the narrowest point. The engineering task, 'however, will extend over a distance of about 850 ft.