Telegram-herald., 1890-07-19
RUSSIA'S OIL CENTER
A SECTION or T7E COUNTRY DE-
VOTED TO NOTHING Else.


tAe Bssss-A Tews 81 FiTs.
Tihis Is midway en the railway that
cats tie Caucasus IN is whole width
ana pats the two seas Ia communica-
tion-tbe port q Batoem On the Black
sea with that q Bskou On the C2sy2an.
As We leave T. aQi.al Ia the latter 6a-
recfion the eye IS al first rayished and
then desolzsed by the changing aspects
OF the land. The track follows he Kour,
which rolls its broad sheet q water ma
iesticSIly through wild forests and T1ch
titled soil, while two chains OF Snowy
ridges stretch away out Of sight IA the
distanoe-the Caucasus 10 the left, ths
mountains Of Armenia To tho right.
Soon we leave the river. which goes
10 JON the AraAes toward the south;
the plain gets broader and ba-er; tal
cages builtof planks perched On -four tree
trunks rise in the midst Of the rec flslds
like watch towers. The inhabitants Of the
villages, who are al Tartars IA this
region, take refuge at night IN these
aerial nests; the marshy land is 50 IN
healthy that il is dangerous 70 sleep
there. Ia spite Of these precautions the
peasants whom we see are deyoured by
fever: their enaclated visages remind u
Of those of the inhabitants Of the Roman
campagna. After leaving Hadji-Ca5oul,
the station in Moorish style where new
line branches oT-'-the Teheran line" /
am told by the engineers who are build
ing it, and who hope to carry IL 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 cliiTs of gilded sand
stone festooning against a crude blue
sky. At their feet the desert, sandy
expanse, covered here and there with a
rose carpet of Towering tarnarisks. Herds
OF camels browse on these shrubs under
the guard of half naked shepherd. mo-
tionless as 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 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 canels
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 Petrea. mon
strous city rises before our eyes. Is IL
once more the effect of mirage. this
town of diabolical aspect. enveloped in
cloud cf smoke traversed by running
tongues of fame, as it were Sodom for
tilted By the demons in its girdle of cast
iron towers?
/ 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 chinneys, scattered il
disorder from the hills down TO the
beach. This is doubtless the fearful
model of what manufacturing towns
viii all be in the Twentieth century
Meanwhile, for the moment, this one j:
unique in tho world; it is Bakou-the
town OF fire." rs the natives call it; thr
Il
voted and subordiaated to the worship
OF the local god
OIL ~ RE1-oTE AGES.
The bed of the Caspian sea rests upor
a second subterranean sea, which spread.
its foods Of naphtha under the whole
basin. On the eastern shore tho build
ing of the Samareand railway led to the
discovery of immense beds Of minera
oil. On the western shore, from tn,
most remote ages. the magi used to ador,
the fire springing from the earth at tht
very spot where Its last worshipers pros
trate themselves at the present day. Blu
after having long adorod it impious IneI
began to make profit by it commercially
In the Thirteenth century the famou
traveller, Marco Polo, mentions ION tn
northern side a great spring whenc
flows a liquid ike oil" 1t is no good fo
eating. but is useful for burning and al
other purposes; and 50 the neighborini
nations come to set their provision OK j
and fill many vessels without the eve
flowing spring appearing to be dimin
ished in any manner. The real practica
working of these oil springs dates bacl
only dozen years.
At the present day ii yields 1000. 90
kilogrammes of kerosene per annum
and disputes the markets Of Europ
against the products Of Kentucky an
Pennsylvania The yield might De in
creased tenfold. for the existing well
give on an average 10000 dlogrammes
day, and in order TO find new ones IL sui
fees 10 bore the ground, so saturated ]
the whole soil with petroleum. c. Mar
vim, "Thc Petroleum Industry in South
ern Russia compares the Aspheroa per
insuls TO q sponge plunged in miners
oil. The soil is continually vomitin
forth the liquid lava that torments II
entrails. either in the form Of mud 70
canoes or Of natural springs. Thes
springs overflow 10 streams 80 abundaI
that it Is hopeless 70 store their content
for want Of reservoirs: often they cato
fire and burn for weeks: the air, impreg
mated with naphtha vapors. Is then aglo'
Al round BakOu. -HaTpeTs-
After the Rain.
Cara-I have Just had delightfI
walk How deliciously fresh and puI
- s-..r.- IL aAs- -.