The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1890-07-17
RUSSIA'S OIL CENTER.
A SECTION OF THE COUNTRY DE.
VOTED TO NOTHING ELSE.

The Basin of the Caspian Sea Rests on a
subterranean Sea of Naphtha-Dis
cry, Appearance and Large Output OF
the Beds4-A Town of Fire.
Tiflis is midway OH the railwcy 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 BalSou 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,"
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
expanse, covered here and there with a
rose carpet of Towering tama1isks Herds
Of camels browse on these shrubs under
the guard of half naked shepherd, mo-
tionless as bronze statue. The fam
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 a green band glitters beneath its
rays; it isthe 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 fame, as it were Sodom for
titled 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 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. 49,.
OIL IN REMOTE AGES.
The bed of the Caspian sea rests upon
a second subterranean sea. which spreads
its floods of naphtha under the whole
| basin. On the eastern shore the build
ing of the Samareand railway led to 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 it 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 fo1
eating, but is useful for burning and all
other purposes; and SO the neighboring
nations come to get their provision of II
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 bach
only dozen years.
AT the present day it yields 1900, 00(
kilogrammes of kerosene per annum
and disputes the markets of Europe
against the products of Kentucky and
Pennsylvania. The yield might be in
creased tenfold, for the existing wells
give on an average 10000 kilogrammes q
| day, and in order to find new ones it suf
fees to bore the ground, so saturated is
the whole soil with petroleum. G. Mar
vim. THE Petroleum Industry in South
ern Russia" compares the Aspheron pen
insula to sponge plunged in minera
oil. The soil is continually vomiting
forth the liquid lava that torments it
entrails, either in the form of mud vol
canoes OF of natural springs. These
springs overflow in streams SO abundant
that it is hopeless to store their contents
for want of reservoirs: often they catcl
fire and burn for weeks; the air, impreg
| mated with naphtha vapors, is then aglov
all round Bakou.-Harper's
| After the Rain.
Clara-l have Just had a delightful
walk. How deliciously fresh and pur'
| h,