The Dickinson press., 1890-07-19
RUSSIA'S OIL CENTER,
A SECTION OF THE COUNTRY DE.
VOTED TO NOTHING ELSE.
The Basin of the Caspian Sea Rests on q
subterrancan Sea of Naphtlia-Discov-
cry, Appearance aud Large Output of
tho Beds-A Town of Fire.

The Basin of the Caspian Sea Rests on q
subterrancan Sea of Naphtha-Discov-
cry, Appearance and Large Output of
the Beds-A Town of Fire.
Tiflis is midway ON the railway that
cuts the Caucasus in its whole width
and puts the two seas in communica-
.tion-the port of Batoum on the Black
sea with that of Bakou on the Caspian.
AS we leave the capital in the latter di-
rection the eye is at first ravished and
then desolated by the changing aspects
of the land. The track follows the Kour,
which rolls its broad sheet of water ma
jestically through wild forests and rich
titled soil, while two chains of snowy
ridges stretch away out of sight in the
distance-the Caucasus to the left, the
mountains of Armenia to the right.
Soon we leave the river, which goes
to join the Araxes toward the south;
the plain gets broader and barer; tall
cages built of planks perched on four tree
trunks rise in the midst of the rice fields
like watch towers. The inhabitants of the
villages, who are all Tartars in this
region, take refuge at night in these
aerial nests; the marshy land is so un-
healthy that it is dangerous to sleep
there. In spite of these precautions the
peasants whom we see are devoured by
fever; their emaciated visages remind us
of those of the inhabitants of the Roman
campagna. After leaving Hadji-C Caboul,
the station in Moorish style where new
line branches off-"the Teheran line," 1
am told by the engineers who are build
ing it, and who hope to carry it into the
very heart of Persia-we enter an Afri-
can landscape, sad and luminous.
REMARKABLE SCENERY.
The mountain chains become lower;
they are now simply cliffs of gilded sand
stone festooning against crude blue
sky. At their feet the desert, sandy
eSpanse, covered here and there with a
rose carpet of Towering tamarisks Herds
Of camels browse on these shrubs under
the guard of half naked shepherd, mo-
tionless as q bronze statue. The fan
tastic silhouettes of these animals are in
creased in size and changed in form by
the effect of the mirage, which displays
before our eyes in the ardent haze Of the
horizon lakes and forests. From time
to time we meet a petroleum train, COM
posed of cistern trucks in the form of
cylinders, surmounted by funnel with
a short, thick neck.
When you see them approaching from
distance you might mistake them for
a procession of mastodons, vying in
shapelessness with the trains Of camels
which they pass. The sun burns in space.
Yonder green band glitters beneath its
rays; it is the Caspian. We turn around
a hill and behold! on this western shore,
in this primitive landscape, which seems
like corner of Arabia Petraa, a mon
strous city rises before our eyes, Is it
once more the effect of mirage, this
town of diabolical aspect. enveloped in
cloud of smoke traversed by running
tongues of flame, as it were Sodom for
titled by the demons in its girdlc Of cast
iron towers2
l can find but one word to depict ex-
actly the first impression that it gives:
1t is town of gasometers. There are
no houses-the houses are relegated
further away on the right, in the old
Persian city-nothing but iron cylinders
and pipes and chimneys, scattered in
disorder from the hills down to the
beach. This is doubtless the fearful
model of what manufacturing towns
will all be in the Twentieth century.
Meanwhile, for the moment, this one is
unique in the world; it is Bakou-the
"town Of fire" as the natives call it; the
petroleum town, where everything is de-
voted and subordinated to the worship
of the local god
OIL IN REMOTE AGES.