By G.Long. F.R.G.S.

It is strange that so little mention has been made in the British Press of the Lebanon -or Damascus -Railway, for no line has ever been built through more romantic country, or along a more historic route.

The track follows the course of that ancient highway which once linked Baghdad and Damascus with the Mediterranean Sea. 'This is probably the world's oldest road, and it was certainly in use long before history began, for here we are in the very cradle of mankind, and beside its route we can still discover the traditional tombs of Adam's two sons.

It was by this rocky, sun-baked road that the silks and jewels of Tyre travelled to the City of the Caliphs, so  that the glamorous beauties of the Arabian Nights could A level crossing near Damascus.                        be clothed in Tyrian purple. It is a road which was travelled by Naaman in his chariot, as by many a Hebrew patriarch, and it was here that the Apostle Paul

witnessed that heavenly vision which changed the whole course of his life, and altered the history of the world.

It was in the early 'nineties that the great project of the Lebanon Railway began. The task before the engineers was indeed formidable. The country was very difficult, two mighty ranges of mountains stood in the path, their rocky sides were swept by blizzards for half the year, and were baked by a tropical sun in summer. The only roads were narrow, steep, and stony, and infested by robbers, who, from time immemorial, had regarded the traveller as their lawful prey

A mineral train passing under the road near the summit of the Lebanon

There can be no doubt that the simplest way to reach Damascus by rail would have been to pierce the mountains with a long tunnel. This would have greatly reduced the length and the gradients of the line, and would have made it unnecessary to lay the track above the snow line, with the added perils of blizzards and avalanches.

Careful calculation however quickly proved that the cost of a tunnel would be economically impossible.

A suburban station near Damascus.

The cost of piercing hard rock is enormously high, even when no special difficulties are present, such as hidden faults, or springs, within the mountain. Experience with the Alpine tunnels proved that the cost per foot varied from £49 7s. per foot on the great Simplon Tunnel, to as much as £76 per foot on the Mont Cenis, which was the first great mountain boring ever made.

The rate per foot must have been considerably higher here owing to the cost of transporting machinery and skilled workmen to these remote heights, reached only by a narrow and difficult road, years before the motor car was invented.

Further, there was no prospect of sufficient traffic on this line to pay the enormous cost of a low-level tunnel. The Swiss tunnels serve important European main routes with a heavy traffic, but for many years after its construction, the Lebanon Railway had one through passenger train each way per day, and although the freight services were better it is clear that the revenue could never be very large.

The problem then was to build a main line railway through difficult country, and to do it cheaply. It was solved in a very daring way. A narrow-gauge line was planned to follow the course of the road, and was fitted with rack and pinion on all the steep sections. The line is 94 miles in length, as against a mere 70 miles by road. This is because many of the road hills were far too steep to be safely negotiated by a heavy train, even with the aid of rack and pinion, so wide zig-zags had to be constructed to ease the gradient.

The line began near the harbour at Beirut, and passing through the town and its suburbs reached the lower slopes of the hills, which are richly covered with glorious groves of oranges, lemons, mulberries, and tobacco. Real climbing began at Baabda, 5.1/2 miles from the harbour.

Here the line swung round the base of the mountain in a wide curve, and boldly climbed in daring curves and zig-zags to the summit of the range. The first part was not so bad, but at Aley, 14 miles from Beirut and 2,460 ft. above the sea, the sterner task began.

The actual summit is about five thousand feet; it is approached on both sides by naked rock, for the glorious cedars which once clothed these mountains have long disappeared.

The construction gangs toiled bravely but in much discomfort. During the summer the hated sirocco blew right off the burning desert, and filled the men's lungs with hot sand. In winter their task was even more trying, for the whole range was covered deeply in snow, over which tore howling blizzards of piercingly cold wind, and the course of the line was constantly swept by great avalanches which carried everything before them.

Long before the actual work began, surveyors had studied these bleak mountain sides throughout the year. They had ascended in winter and early spring, when the road was blocked with snow and the roar of the avalanches was often heard.

They carefully noted which slopes were exposed, and so in danger from the avalanches, and which were protected by crags. They also found where falls of rock and stone occurred, and made their plans accordingly. It was clear that the actual summit was too open for a railway, and so the summit ridge was pierced by a short tunnel at Ain Sofar, and the dangerous approach slopes were protected by cuttings and snow-sheds. Where the snow threatened most, the line was sunk in a rock cutting about 10 ft. deep, and then roofed over to keep out the snow. The lower slopes were protected by long snow-sheds. These were tunnels of wood or stone, in outline like an upturned U, and so shaped that the snow would glide over without carrying them away.

When the zone of snow was passed, the line descended rapidly to the plain, and at Reyak the junction for Baalbeck was built. To-day it is a great air-port, and a most important point on the pilgrims’ route to Mecca.

The line now traversed the Bekaa, which means " cleft." It is a narrow ravine between rocky mountains, and from time immemorial has been the haunt of robbers. These gentry regarded the railway builders as their lawful prey, and soldiers had to be placed on guard as the work proceeded. To-day the bandits have been finally routed, there are blockhouses every ten miles, and armed patrols of French troops keep careful watch. At Yafufeh the line passed the traditional grave of Seth, the youngest son of Adam, and at Neby Habil, near the gorge of the Barada, is the tomb of Abel-according to the Koran.

The pass of the Barada was a difficult stretch, as the line had to cling to the sheer side of the cliff, above the rushing river. As it followed the river towards the plain, the country became richer and more fertile, and the line passed through glorious orchards and gardens as it approached the Meidan, where the terminus station was built.

The Air Ministry recently announced that the Royal Air Force experimental high altitude aircraft, the Bristol

" 138 " with a special " Pegasus " engine, piloted by Flight-Lieutenant M. J. Adam, of the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough, Hants, had broken the world altitude record. It reached a height of 53,937 ft. (16,440 metres), which is 2,575 ft. (785 metres) greater than the figure of 51,362 ft. (15,655 metres) reached by the Italian pilot, Lieutenant-Colonel Mario Pezzi, last month and 3,993 ft. (1,217 metres) more than the height of 49,944 ft. (15,223 metres) achieved by Squadron-Leader F. R. D. Swain, A.F.C., last autumn. The Italian figure has not yet been homologated.

The aircraft took off from the aerodrome at Farnborough, Hants, at 5.40 a.m. and landed there at 7.55 a.m., the total flying time being 2 hours 15 minutes. There was a clear sky and practically no wind when the ascent, which took 1 hour 35 minutes, began. The wind in the upper regions was strong and from a westerly direction. Bad visibility occurred during part of the flight, the sky being completely covered by cloud. The performance of the aircraft and engine was satisfactory and no trouble was experienced with the sealed pressure suit.

The minimum pressure measured during the flight was 77.8 millimetres of mercury, and the lowest temperature was 48.9 centigrade; both those measurements were ascertained at the highest point attained.

The Post Office is engaged in an important telephone cable programme Tin Scotland, and a part of this programme entails the laying of two cables from Glasgow via Inveraray across Loch Awe to Oban. Over a considerable portion of the route solid rock has to be blasted out to provide a trench for the cable. The most interesting part of the laying of these cables was perhaps the section comprising 800 yards recently laid across Loch Awe.

The depth of the loch and the abruptness of the loch bed prevented ordinary methods being used. Consequently it was decided to attach 400 empty metal casks, each of 5-gallon size, at two yard intervals and thus to float the cables into position. These casks were sunk with the cable and in order to control the rate at which they sunk, each cask was drilled with a 3/16.in. hole below the water line. When the cables were in position, Post Office engineers in four motor-boats punctured the tops of the casks commencing from the centre of the loch. Careful timing and control of the work was necessary since the cables when laid must conform with the contour of the bed of the loch. On this account surplus cable was provided on each bank and fed into the water as the cable sank in the centre. To co-ordinate the work the Post Office established an ultra-short wave radio-telephone link between both banks of the loch at Port Sonachan and Kilchrenan.

These new cables will not only provide additional long distance lines connecting Oban with the main trunk system, but will enable this system to be extended to the Highlands and Islands of West Scotland, including the Outer Hebrides which will be extended from Oban by means of wireless telephone.

A NEW procedure has been brought into operation to secure the special attention of the exchange operator on calls to the Fire Brigade, Police or Ambulance Authorities in cases of emergency. Special equipment has been installed at automatic exchanges in London which will ensure that when a subscriber, whose telephone dial has letters as well as figures, dials " 999," an emergency lamp and buzzer at the exchange will indicate to the operator that the call is specially urgent.

In each exchange the telephone numbers of the Fire, Police and Ambulance Authorities are prominently displayed and when the exchange operator answers the " 999 " call by saying " Emergency, which Service, please Y " the caller should enquire for " Fire ! " " Police! " or " Ambulance ! " as the case may be, when he will be connected with the service required.

The number "999 " has been chosen as the only practicable number after careful examination of the technical and other considerations involved. " 0 " can still be dialled to call the operator, but the operator will have no means of knowing that the call relates to an emergency, and, in time of pressure, would not therefore give it precedence over other calls which might be claiming attention.

L.WILKINSON, "Electric House," 204, Lower Addiscombe Road, Croydon, have recently introduced on the market some novel mains motors of the induction type for A.C. only. We show on this page one of the geared type which cost 328. Thin laminations reduce temperature rise to a lower degree than usual in this type of motor. The coils are toped, dipped and baked. These motors will stand the 1,000 volts test. The bearings are self-lubricating-bronze impregnated with graphite-and a cup holds wool packing which can be replenished with oil. Interested readers should write to the above address for an illustrated pamphlet which fully describes the motors.

Those privileged folks who can afford a reserved seat in a theatre will be interested in a new device for enabling them easily to find the seats allotted to them. It is usual for the rows of theatre seats to be lettered or numbered, but these signs are not always readily seen, especially in cinemas in which the light is subdued. The aim of the inventor has been to illuminate these letters or numbers in such a manner that the light in the theatre is not appreciably increased. According to his device, the end seat of a row is provided with a panel of translucent or transparent material with an indicating mark thereon. A source of illumination is placed so that a beam of light is directed upon the edge of the panel. This arrangement will help the unattended searcher to find a seat not reserved for some other patron of the theatre.

IN the days of Queen Victoria, when the young were initiated into the mysteries of the A B C, they were introduced to an anonymous archer whose name began with A and who shot at a frog. I presume there are still in this country a number of archery clubs. The members of such clubs may be intrigued by a newly devised appliance enabling them to grip an arrow and bowstring without injury to the hand. When this is done by the hand only, even after very slight use of the bow, it is asserted that the tips of the fingers are apt to become sore. No doubt the fingers of an expert like the late Robin Hood would become hardened. But, in the case of the fair sex, some of whom are interested in archery; their tender skin is liable to abrasion. The above-mentioned invention comprises a pair of pivoted arms, each having at one end a clamp and at the other end a handle. The clamps grip the arrow and the strings of the bow. And this makes for a happy release Dynamo.