The road is being finished at the rate of
nearly two miles a day, and when completed will enable the army to bring
men and supplies from Cairo in a few days instead of the many weary
weeks which are now required.
The building of the railway through the desert has been entrusted to the
engineer corps. These engineers are soldiers whose duty it is to build
fortifications, railroads, bridges, or any works which the commander of
the force may think necessary.
In building a railroad the first thing to be done is to prepare the
road-bed, so that it will not give way under the weight of the trains
that are to pass over it. This is done by digging out or banking up the
earth so that the bed shall be level. When the earth-bank has been made
as high and as solid as necessary, huge wooden beams, called sleepers,
are placed across it at regular intervals, and on these sleepers the
rails are laid.
The correspondent describes the laying of the rails as follows:
"A great sight was the actual work of laying the line. We went out in a
car drawn by a spare engine, to see this at the place where the work was
in progress.
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