HEPrTER GAZETTE
Africa Calling
A REPORT FROM THS NEAR EAST
Br N. C. ANDERSON
Bt ITT ANDERSON
Yesterday the Commlss a r y
plane arrived and among the
many Items we received were
loads of Christmas cards from
home as well as Christmas pres
ents, and Valentines, so last
night we celebrated several hol
idays In one. Also arriving
were a bunch of Gazette -Times,
so now we are up to February
3, so vou see we arent too far
behind with the news of Mor
row county. But what prompted
me to think about this item
was the manv comments we
had In our Christmas notes
about "Africa Calling." So here
I go again.
Since the last "Africa Calling"
I have seen a lot of Niger and
finally have some extension
projects underway that promise
to be challenging, as well as
worthwhile. I hope. The oppor
tunity to see much of the agri
culture of Niger came after re
ceiving my new Land Rover
pickup in December. At that
time I began planning a trip
to take me into most oi the im
portant farming areas of the
country so I could become, first
hand, acquainted with the crops
grown, cu'tural practices, op
portunities for introducing new
crops and practices, etc. My
greatest concern was just what
is being accomplished under the
present extension program, and
how I could contribute to It.
Part of the answer was found,
but part of it may be a long
way off. Anyway, I saw a lot
of agriculture, some quite prim
itive, some amazingly advanced
for this part of the world. My
Feace Corps assistant and I cov
ered 4500 kilometers in 12 days
as well as visiting several doz
en agricultural centers. Peace
Corps volunteers working in ag
ricultural endeavors, nurseries
and experiment stations, mis
sionaries, chiefs of villages,
commandantes, and others. A
special mission was also made
for the Embassy here, too, as
the French would say, "jeter un
coup d'oeil" (have a look at)
the far eastern edge of Niger
in contemplating opportunities
for development of this vast
expansion of grassland, well
watered with oasis and evident
shallow water resources.
So with rood, water (boiled
and filtered), mosquito netting,
canvas cots and other camping
equipment, plus a 53 gallon
drum and five jerry cans of gas
to carry us between gas refill
stations, we set out early the
morning of January 27, return
ing to Niamey February 7. We
made the entire trip without a
flat tire or any trouble, other
than having to clean out the
carburetor three or four times,
evidently from water and rust
in the barrel we took with us.
We slept out on the ground be
side the road part of the time.
stayed in villages with Peace
Corps volunteers, one night in
a new school house that aid
funds has helped build, and one
night in a village encampment
We ate two meals in restaur
ants during the trip, mainly be
cause there were none to be
found in the area we were trav
eling in. We had a very profit
able trip with no bad inci
dents like getting bit by a cob
ra or cornered by a lion, but
there were a few mosquitos
that liked the taste of our blood
and we furnished them with a
lot of it during the voyage.
The economy of Niger is al
most entirely based on tradit
ional agriculture and livestock.
An estimated 95 of all the
people are engaged In these two
principal activities which ac
count for about 75 of the do
mestic output. The main crops
are millet, sorghum, cassava,
peanuts, pulses and onions.
Some cotton is being grown fair
ly successfully, and rice is com
ing into the picture quite rap
idly as it is a desired food of
the people. Livestock is the sec
ond principle occupation of the
country. It is virtually the on
ly occupation for the country's
600,000 nomads who account for
some 607c of the livestock pro
duction. Goats axe the most nu
merous of the livestock classes,
with sheep next then cattle.
There are camel and donkey
raisers that contribute quite a
substantial amount to the econ
omy in the draft business. One
of the real opportunities for ex
ports is livestock for meat, as
there is much demand for it
from the countries to the south
where livestock production prob
lems are many. While we aren't
particularly crazy about the
beef, some people who don't
like choice or high grade beef
would be in their glory over
here. There is little fat or even
a trace of marbling in most of
the meat tnat can be bought
during most of the season at
all. (Students of the Washing
ton State Livestock Short Course
who bumped into Dr. "Bull"
Durham from Lubbock, Texas,
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would appreciate what a busi
ness he would have with his
little pump and peanut oil to
artificially marble several hun
dred thousand head of cattle
each year!)
Because of this important con
tribution agriculture makes to
the economy of Niger, the pos
sibilities for extension which Is
almost non existent, are many.
I returned with a whole bagfull
of ideas and am now trying to
get some of them off the ground.
I can't give a blow by blow
account of the trip but woulj
like to just comment on a few
observations. First. I was sur
prised to see the huge quanti
ties of peanuts being produced
throughout the country. Being a
crop that is generally in world
surplus. I didn't feel too bad
about our wheat situation, as
there are peanuts stacked up in
Niger and neighboring Nigeria
in piles that would put pyra
mids of Egypt to shame. I guess
thev will be processed sooner
or later. Most of our production.
I understand, goes into refiner
ies for oil. a subsidy is given
by France and this really gets
production. Acreage has In
creased bv leaps and bounds,
and some areas we visited were
planning to increase production
next year by ten times. One of
the real interesting sidelights of
this increased production was
the need for fuel to furnish
power for a newly constructed
cement factory out in the pea
nut country. Evidently much of
the production was based on
the demand far the shells for
this power. We visited one pea
nut receiving station where pea
nuts are shelled, cleaned and
sacked, then piled for eventual
shipment to the seaport about
1000 kilometers to the south. At
this plant 150 tons were being
processed each 20 hour work
day. The plant reminds me a
lot of Gribbles pelleting pro
cess where there were several
stages to progress through, end
ing up by coming out in 150
pound sacks of shelled peanuts
that a virtual "bucket brigade"
proceeded to carry via the head
several thousand feet to the
stacking crew. I know some of
the sacks weighed more than
the carrier, but they trotted off
with the load on their head
like it was a sack of feathers!
We visited also, some primi
tive irrigation systems used for
vegetable and wheat production
where a white man hardly ev
er set foot. The small fields that
employ the flood system using
borders, were producing tons of
tomatoes, piement, eggplant on
ions (bv the acres!) gombo and
other African vegetables, main
ly ones used for flavoring
sauce, which they are very fond
of. At these irrigation areas
which were located wherever
there may be a wet spot of ac
cumulation of runoff, and some
along the Komo dougou river,
a "chadouf" or balanced arm
on a forked pole in the ground
furnished the lifting device
for getting the water into
the ditches. A large gourd
(calabas) with a string net
around it to carry the water
from the hole was the dipping
receptacle. I saw some working
these devices, and I swear they
were putting as much water in
to the ditch as a good small
electric pump. At these same
fields there was wheat being
produced that looked real good
to me. It looked a lot like
Gaines, a big loose bearded
head, they said It was hard and
no one knows where it ever
came from. It had been grown
for generations. From figures
they gave me I figured it to
be producing about 50 bushels
per acre which I didn't think
bad at all for Africa. (No fer
tilization). On the scenic side I saw a
lot of gazelle, much like our
antelope, many small foxes,
monkeys running all over the
place, jackals, a multitude of
the brightest and largest birds
I had ever seen, and last but
not least, ostriches. This was the
first time I had seen an ostrich
in the wild and when I came
up on them I thought I would
see how fast thev could run.
They might be clumsy looking
birds but they sure have the
speed. I chased them all over
the country, but got one on the
road and clocked him 60 kilom
eters per hour. He got to throw
ing up so much sand into my
radiator I had to drop back and
he got away. Another interest
ing sight is the Lake Chad cat
tle. These are predominent In
the eastern Niger area along
Lake Chad and into that coun
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try too. There went literally
hundreds of thousands of those
smaller than regular cattle,
along the shores of Lake Chad,
with their ball shaped horns
that looks much like a basket
ball coming out of the base of
the cows head. Crossed with the
other cattle of the country they
have the big round horn, then
a regular two foot horn on the
end of that, about as big around
as a mans arm. I have some
excellent pictures of them that
I was proud to get. I also was
much Impressed with the no
mads and their camel caravans
with the largest being 85 load
ed camels, but a lot more
young camels going along for
the walk, as well as dozens of
donkeys. It is quite picturesque
to see some of the Borroro's in
their black dresses sitting on the
rumps of their donkeys heading
for somewhere miles and miles
from the closest visible sign of
civilization. A visit to Agades
which is on the edge of the Sa
hara, was real Interesting with
the Tuaregs and their Sunday
markets, which includes every
thing from dried dates to cam
els and camel hair braided rugs
of which I ended up with two,
a camel blanket to go with my
camel saddle, and a few other
odds and ends.
After returning to Niamey and
getting caught up with the ev
eryday chores. I began planning
for some extension demonstra
tions. A recent trip to several
villages out in the bush where
the Chief of Canton accompa
nied, we Induced five villages
to go along with plots of about
one acre in size where I will
plow their field with oxen or
donkey, prepare for planting,
seed with a one row seeder in
straight rows with the recom
mended variety of the area us
ing the amount of seed per
square foot as found best suit
ed to the area, then cultivate
the millet or sorghum for weed
control, as needed. The other
half of the field will be farm
ed by the farmer in his tradit
ional wav. then we will see
who is the best farmer. If Al
lah is with me, and mv field
yields more, than I might im
press someone and pass on the
method IK the farmer can find
the monev to buy a donkey
(SS.OD-O.OO) an implement ton
time i at S75. find feed for the
donkey, and otherwise think
that the whole procedure is
worth the trouble. If he beats
me in yield, then I pav him the
difference in millet between his
and my yield. Just keep think
ing how much wheat I would
owe people like Frank Ander
son, Louis Carlson, Raymond
Lundell. etc.. if this kind of an
arrangement had been in ef
fect with some of our fertiliza
tion plots in the past 15 years.
Right now, and for the next
45 days. I will be involved at
least part time with a five man
agricultural team who have
been sent here to study the pos
sibilities for agricultural devel
opment in Niger. Thev are from
USDA Wasington. D. C, and are
specialists in agricultural eco
nomics, soil conservation, fores
try, credit and cooperatives, ex
tension, and livestock. They are
involved in a complete review of
all segments of agricultural de
velopment, both from the gov
ernment level, into the field.
Thev t supposed to come up
with a lone range program that
will insure a production gear
ed to the need for food to feed
and exploding population. I
have a number of pet projects
that I would like to promote,
but don't know how I will fare
with all the competition I have,
last Tuesday we had the group
out for a tour of some of the
projects underway, including
mv demonstration plots. It was
only 110 in the shade that day
and we never found any shade,
but we gave them a real good
ride in the back end of the Land
Rover, over some of the rough
est terrain in Niger. They were
ready to go to bed that even
ing. We became lost in the
brush which was higher than
the pickup, and wand e r ed
around for hours, but saw a lot
of new country. I think they
might have suspected we did
n't know where we were going.
Next week we take them out a
little longer, then the next week
into the grasslands of eastern
Niger. Some of the good live
stock growers of Morrow coun
ty would love to get their cat
tle into this grassland. It is
thick, as it comes with water
everywhere.
I visited recently an area in
the eastern part where the Unit
ed Nations are making a sur
vey on the possibilities of live
stock development in this area.
Under their study is a 10 mil
lion acre area that is being
thoroughly scrutinized with the
hopes of setting up a one mil
lion acre ranch where about 40,
000 1-2 year olds will be run
for a year or two until they are
out enough to put into a "warming-up"
feed lot, slaughtered,
then shipped by refrigerated
truck to Nigeria and other
southern African countries. A
contract was let this month as
a part of the survey to explore
for water possibilities. Ten to
12 holes up to 600 feet deep
will be dug to see just what
the underground water supply
is. If the protect sounds feas
ible at the end of the two year
study, the plan calls for a plant
costing up to $5 million to de
velop fence, stock and build
necessary headquarters for the
million acre ranch, as well as
develop a feed lot. slaughter
plant and refrigerated trucks to
take the meat to the consum
ing countries. Of course, it will
be necessary to find some coun
try to finance the project.
Well. I have gone on for some
time now. Better close with Al
lah klea. the good bye of the
Kanurl tribe of eastern Ntgar.
bt kit anderson
It has been a while since 1
last wrote so I thought I'd better
sit down and write a few linos.
I'm her-; In Niamey now, hav
ing arrived on Saturday, March
2ti. I'm enjoying mv vacation
with my folks and Rick, but I
only have two weeks and I'm
leaving next Saturday.
My trip from Nigeria was all
right I lef: Lagos on Friday. 25,
and flew to Abidjan. I stayed
overnight there with a family
from the American Embassy and
then came here Saturday after
noon. I enjoyed Abidjan a lot
more as It was my second visit
and I knew a little bit about it.
The family I stayed with had a
swimming pool so I had a lot
of fun.
Today in Niger is a national
holiday called Tabaskl. It Is a
feast for the Moslems and there
Is a big religious gathering. This
morning at about 8:30 all the
Moslems gathered at a cemetery
for prayers. There were about
20.000 all together. The Presi
dent, Hamanl Dlori. led the peo
ple in praxcrs. Just a ear ago.
when the Nigeriennes were hav
ing this "fete" an attempt was
made on Diorl's life. As he was
leading them in prayer, a man
threw a grenade at him. As he
threw it, his hand brushed
against hLs robe and the gren
ade landed 20 feet or so from
the President. It didn't hurt him.
but it tore up the chest of a
small boy and killed him. This
morning we went to visit the
missionaries who are in charge
of the Protestant church here
The wife of the minister had ob
tained permission from the Pres
ident to take pictures of the
praying for a film they are mak
ing of Niger. She wanted to
show that the country was Mos
lem. She was about 12 feet from
the President with her movie
camera and a slide camera. Be
fore the praying actually began,
she took a wide-angle shot of
the crowd. Later when the mo
vie was shewn, the police picked
out the man who had thrown
the grenade. She got some ex
cellent pictures and there are
copies with the American Em
bassy and the President himself.
Today, I thought, would be a
good day for a coup if Niger is
headed fo: one. Although the
military is out in full force,
there won't be any trouble.
Everyone Is reasonably secure
and happy despite what TIME
of March 11 says.
Since today is a feast day,
preparations are being made
throughout Niamey for the
grand meal at sunset this even
ing. All morning sheep have
been killed and dressed out for
roasting. The price of sheep in
town is up to 5,000 CFA, or $20
but the natives say that 20.000
sheep are being killed here.
Every family has one or two
stretched on wooden racks roast
ing by the fire. At some fires we
saw this morning while driving
through the city there were six
and seven sheep roasting. If the
family Is too poor to kill a
sheep, then a goat is roasted.
However, I didn't see one goat.
The sheep are skinned and a
man opens a small hole in the
leg to blow air into the animal.
This makes it much easier to
take the skin off. The hides are
saved as they bring a good price
ai me marnet.
This evening should be excel
lent picture taking time. The
drummers will be out In full
force and there should be some
dancing. I'd like to get out and
see things.
School's okay with me. I did
all right on my term grades B
in geometry, B in PE, A in Eng-
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KINZUA NEWS
Br VIRGINIA KELSO
(Held over from last week)
KINZUA The Doubled eck
card club was entertained Wed
nesday evening at the grade
school with Virginia Kelso as
hostess. High and floating were
won bv Helen Wright, low by
Pat McMInn and second float
ing bv Lllv Mav Nlstad. Others
playing were Marl Bo r I n g.
Mnrge Asher. Margie Ball. Kath
rvn Flack, Vonnle Browning,
Rita Conlee, VI Sllnkard, and
Virginia Sltton.
Mr. and Mrs. Jlggs Bowman
and daughters Sara and Cindy
went to Stanflcld Saturday
where they visited with rela
tives and plaved golf at Mc
Nary on Sunday.
Spending the week-end In
Portland where the men bowled
on Saturday night were Mr. and
Mrs. Don Sllnkard. Mr. and Mrs.
James Hulett. Mr. and Mrs. I.ee
Bailey, and Mr. and Mrs. Mark
Jelllck.
Miss Florence Ball of Tendle
ton spent from Friday until
Sunday visiting her parents. Mr.
and Mrs. Leslie Ball, When she
returned to Pendleton Sunday
she took her mother with hrr
and Mrs. Bell entered St. An
thony hospital where she was
placed In traction.
Mr. and Mrs. C. L .Flack were
In Hoppner Wednesday and
again Monday for medical care.
Mrs. Wavland Hvatt and dau
ghter Theresa spent the week
end In Portland visiting with
relatives.
Mr. and Mrs. Herschel Mur
dock left Friday on a short trip
which took them to Portland.
Newberg, Pacific City, Eugene,
Albany and Salem. On their
wav home thev visited with
Mrs. Carol Norrls In Prlnevllle.
Frank DeMerrlt went to Ar
lington Saturday to meet Mrs.
DeMerrlt who had come from
Portland by bus. She had been
In a Portland hospital for treat
ment. Earl Norrls went to Prlnevllle
Saturday to bring home Mrs.
Norrls who had been a patient
in the Pioneer Memorial hospi
tal for ten days.
Mr. and Mrs. Scott Reed and
family of Bend spent the week
end visiting with Mr. and Mrs.
Rustv Medlock and Mr. and Mrs.
Frank DeMerrlt.
Mr. and Mrs. Ernie Schell
went to Prlnevllle during the
week-end to bring home their
children Pete and Brenda who
had spent the past week visit
ing with their grandparents, Mr.
and Mrs. Rav O'Neal.
Mr. and Mrs. Lowell Sharp
and Dick Frank were business
visitors to Maupln on Saturday.
Mr. and Mrs. Sam Howell re
turned to Camp 5 Friday after
spending the shut down at
Monument.
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Ferrel re
turned home Sunday from Port
land where Bob had been In the
hospital. They went to Monu
ment first to visit with relatives
before coming to Camp 5.
Forrest Logan and daughters
Vlckl and Terrl came Sunday to
spend some time with Mr. and
Mrs. Clarence Woods.
Mrs. Jack Sltton went to Ar
lington Thursday to meet her
sister, Mrs. Mary Taffey of New
Orleans, La. Mrs. Taffey went
to Spray Friday to spend a few
days with her mother Mrs. Cora
Burnslde and then went to The
Dalles Saturday with Mrs. Slt
ton. Mrs. Sltton went back to
lish, A in French, A In history.
Our House won the Inter-House
Sports Competition In track but
I only did one race, the 8S0. Of
course, I did real good, 6th out
of 6! I'll stick to baseball.
I got my hou.se Stripe the last
week of term. It's a position in
responsibility but I can't explain
It too well Vou get more priv
ileges or something. Anyway I
was a good boy so I got one.
The highest a student can go is
School Stripe, which comes af
ter House Stripe. Only 4 kids In
my class have their HS so I
guess I'm pretty lucky. I sup
pose you would call It a perfect
system.
How's the weather there? It's
been plenty hot here but last
nl'jht It mined a little and cool
ed down some. The rainy season
will be starting again soon.
Well, I suppose I had better
finish this up for this time, if
you find time to write, send It
to Nigeria as I'm going back to
school on the 9th.
Yoollay forget
Don't Delay
Over The
Tee Cup
r DEE CRIBBLE
(Held over from lnt week)
Coifing news Is acaree thee
days, flie strong wind makes
weak golfers out of many that
do turn out
Sunday men's plav Is In the
very capable hands of Hon
Turner and Uiwcll Cribble. Sun
day, the 17th, found 30 rnen out.
and a real gotxl time was had
by all. Hurry O'Dnnnell made
coffee and served Juice and hot
rolls, too. (Didn't know ho cimlt
cook )
The day's low wrnt to Don
Turner. Kd Bennett was eltwest
to the pin on No, 4. Maurice
The Dalles Tuesday taking Mrs
Rurnslde with her so that Mrs.
Burnslde could fly to New Or
leans with Mrs. Taffey for a
visit.
The Needle Knocking Knitting
club held a mobile food sale
last Saturday realising $1250.
Those participating In the bake
sale were Delorls Shelton, Pax
la Brock, Judv. Sharon and I. or
ell Huhhrll and their leader,
Mrs Helen Shelton.
The Busy Bee Bakers hPld
their ninth meeting at the home
of their leader. Mrs. Wanlta
Hubbell recently. The president
Joyce Hatter appointed l.lnda
Rice as secretary for the re
mainder of the year. A discus
sion was held on the muffins
made at the last meeting. The
new business was plans for a
bake sale to be held at the Kin
zua Mercantile on April 30.
Nancy Benson, reporter
Mr. and Mrs l,ee Bailey re
turned home Thursday from a
three weeka trip to visit rela
tives In North Carolina. They
had good traveling going east
but returning home thev were
ahead of tornadoes in Knii.nu
and had Ice and snow In Neb
raska and Wyoming, and were
glad to get home.
rmn
'rV
4.
But it makes a great
antique
It's a good Idea to keep that old-fashioned
pump around. It'll remind you of that happy
day when you brought modern living Into your
home with' a wonderful electric water system.
Running water means so much to your
family's health and comfort. Makes so many
chores easier. Yet an electric water system
costs only pennies a day to operate, thanks
to low-cost rural electricity. An effective elec
tric water system Is Indeed your first step to
modern living I
ELECTRIC
WATER SYSTEMS
Wt'M b glad to hap you plin tho ft tltctrle
mittr lyitom for your homo or farm. Phono or
vilt ut for frtt Information, No obligation, of
courser
COLUMBIA
BASIN
ELECTRIC CO-OP
SERVING MORROW. WHEELER
Oroves had par on No. 9, for
hidden hole honor Long drive
honors went to Don Turner.
Since the committee had prev
iously decided that awards are
won on a bast of one time only,
It was "be kind to Ifcin" ween.
On Sunday, the 24th, 1.1 men
played. Alter the play, a draw
ing for partner ami matching
scores fount! Van Marter, Sr.,
am! Kay Maxitey partners and
low scorers. Joe Balfe and Uiw
ell Cribble were mvoiuI low. Itay
Mitxsey had close! to the pin.
Willow Creek Ladle played
both Tuesday, ant! the number
out both times wa eight. Dee
Cribble put the coffee on for
April V.nli, ant! Cora Mae Ferg
uson Hun nrd the day's play for
the Win. Carol and Cheryl Crib
ble were In charge.
Two ball foresomes will he
held on one Sunday each month
for Mav, June and July. Only eli
gible winners will lie the gal
now annul that!
ifsiMif s stm
GAZETTE-TIMES
JIM'S MEAT CO.
CUSTOM SLAUGHTERING
Stan field, Orvgoa
Curing.
Cutttiw.
Wrapt
Slaughtering
Dart- '
Moadara,
Wadnaadonnb
Friday
LOCKER BEEF AND PORK
Phoaa 44S-S623 Jim Tolas
Dot Night
ar.;: - ;
fJT
mailbox
NRECA
AND GILLIAM COUNTIES
mm