The Somerset reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1868-1909, 1890-09-18
RUSSLA'S OIL CENTER.
A SECTION OF TIE COUNTRY DE-
VOTED TO NOTHlHG ELSE.

hF tstAhiH VI tif ' aAplhn sen IL alh on n
subterranean Sea Of Saphtha-Bi.eov-
cry, Appearance and Large Output Of
the Beds-A Town Of Fire.
Tifiis Is midway On the railway tia,
cuts the Caucasus In its whole width
and puts the two seas In cofnmunica-
tion-the port of BatoHm On tho Black
sea with that ot Bakou On tbs Caspian.
As we leave the capital in the latter d.
rection the eye IL at first ravished aud
then desolated by the changing aspects
Of the land. Tie track follows the Kour.
which rolls u broad sAtet If water ma
jestically through wild forests and ich
titled sol, while two chains Il snowy
ridges stretch away Ont If sight in the
distance-the Caucasus 10 the left, the
mountains Of Armenia 10 the right
Soon we leave the river. which goes
10 join the Araxes toward the south
the plain gets broader and harer: tall
cages builtof plank Ierched On four tree
trunks Mss in the midst Of the nee fields
like watch towers. The inhabitants Of the
villages. who are all Tartars in this
region, take refuge at night ia these
aerial nests; the rnarshy land il 50 m
healthy that II Is dangerous TO sleep
there. In spite Of these precautions the
peasants whom we see arc devoured by
fever: their efnaciated visages remind Us
Of those Of the inhabitants Of the Roman
campayna. After leaving Had i-Caboul.
the station In Moorish style where a new
line branches off-"the Teheran line
am told by the engineers who are build
ing it, and who hop9 to carry it into the
very heart Of Persia-we enter an Arr
can landscape, sad and luminous
REMARKABLE SCENERY
The mountain chains become lower
they are now simply cliffs Of gildel sand
stone festooning against crude blue
sky. At their feet the desert. sandy
expanse, covered here and there with a
rose carpet Of Towering ts.inarisks. Herds
Of camels browse on these shrubs under
the guard Of half naked shepherd, mo-
tionless as a 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 tine
to time we meet petroleum train, com
posed Of cistern trucks in the form Of
cylinders, surInounted by funnel with
short, thick neck.
When You see them approaching from
a distance you might mistake them for
a procession Of mastodons, wing 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
hill and behold. on this western shore
in this primitive landscape, which seems
like corner Of Arabia Petr@a, mon
strous city rises before our eyes. Is 1t
once more the effect Of mirage. this
town Of diabolical aspect, enveloped in
a cloud of smoke trayersed by running
tongues of fame as it were Sodom for
titled by the demons in its girdle Of cast
i iron towers:
can find but one word to depict ex-
actly the first impression that it gives:
1t is 4 town of gasoneters. 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 chiinneys, 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
ur que 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.
The bed of the Caspian sea rests upon
a second subterranean sea, which spreads
its floods of uaphtha under the whole
basin. On the eastern shore the build
ing of the Samareand railway led 10 the
| discovery of immense beds of mineral
oil On the western shore, from the
most remote ages, the magi used to adore
the fire springing from the earth at the
very spot where its last worshipers pros
trate themselves at the present day. But
after having long adored il impious men
began to make profit by it commercially.
In the Thirteenth century the famous
traveller. Marco Polo mentions ION the
northern side great spring whence
flows liquid like oil" 1t is no good for
eating. but is useful for burning and all
other purposes; and SO the neighboring
nations come to get their provision of il
and fill many vessels without the ever
flowing spring appearing to be dimin-
ished in any manner, The real practical
working Of these oil springs dates back
only dozen years.
At the present day it Yields 1900. 900
kilogrammes Of kerosene per annum.
and disputes the markets Of Europe
against the products Of Kentucky and
| Pennsylvania. The yield might be in
CIR lsed tenfold. for the existing wells
give on an average 10000 kilogrammes a
day, and in order to find new ones it suf-
| fees TO bore the ground, SO saturated is
the whole soil with petroleum. c. Mar
win, The Petroleum Industry in South
ern Russia, compares the Aspheron Sau
insula to sponge plunged in minera
oil. The soil is continually vomiting
forth the liquid lava that torments it
en- rails. either in the form Of mud vol
ca"oes or of natural springs. These
springs overflow in streams So abundant
that it is hopeless to store their contents
for want of reservoirs; often they catct
fire and burn for weeks; the air, inpreg
mated with naphtha vapors, is then aslov
all round Bakou. -Harper's