The Marion Daily Mirror

RAILROAD BUILT TO MUSIC.
It Goes to Abomey in Dahomey, Once Scene of Annual Human Sacrifices.

Abomey, the town in which Behanzin, King of Dahomey, lived, was infamous 16 years ago for the slaughter of human beings that took place there annually, says the New York Sun. Some thousands of men and women were killed every year to win the favor of the gods or to be companions of deceased persons in the other world. All prisoners of war were thus sacrificed and many slaves were purchased from neighboring countries for this purpose.

Then the French overthrew the monster Behanzin and brought peace of mind to the million people whom he ruled with a rod of iron. Five years ago they began to build a railroad, which has now reached Abomey, the scene of the human sacrifices. The completed part of the railroad is 75 miles long, and many hundreds of natives graded the roadbed for its extension to the Niger river. The French have had some funny experiences in building this road.

It starts from the port of Cotonu, and the French had no difficulty in getting the coast natives to work on the road, because they had been trained to work for nearly 10 years, had become used to labor and liked its substantial results. There was trouble, however, when the roadbed approached the large native town of Waida, which is filled with delights that are dear to the natives.

Few Dahomeyans when they go near this town can resist the temptation to make a holiday there. When the railroad came within sight of Waida the workmen had just received their wages. They deserted to a man and it was certain that they would do no more work until they had spent all their money.

No effort was made to get the men back but messengers were sent through the country to ring bells in every settlement and proclaim that the French would pay good wages to women and girls to work on the railroad. Within a day many thousands of women and girls were carrying baskets of sand on their heads to dump into a marsh across which the track was to be laid.

The roadbed for the rails was thus built across the marsh and the women were retained in the service until Waida was reached, when the faithless men suddenly became clamorous for re-employment. While the coast section was being built the inland part of the line was also started, but under different labor conditions. In the interior the natives had not learned to work for the white man and they would not enter his service until their chiefs brought pressure to bear upon them.

A goodly sum was promised to each chief if he could guarantee to supply a certain number of men. In this way sufficient labor was procured. The chiefs were held responsible for the faithfulness of their men. The laborers were well paid. But it took some time to train the men for this hard work. Their native music seemed to provide the stimulus they needed and so scores of musicians with tam-tams or drums, horns and other squeaky instruments were employed. They distributed music all along the line. The blacks seemed to forget their fatigue when the music struck up and so the tam-tams and horns helped railroad extension all the way to Abomey.