The Portland daily press., 1896-08-29
HOTTEST ON EARTH.
That Place is the Southwest Coast of
Persia.

The Temperature Averages 100 Degrees
in the shade. and Ofteu Reaches 149
Degrees.
When we wilt, swelter and persplre
under the affecting temperature OF our
hottest summer days, we have one I'M
failing consolation: It is hotter some
where else In one region only of the ter
restrial surface Is such relief denied.
That region is the hottest place on earth
the unhappy area in which the ago
nized inhabitant is overwhelmed by the
fact lat anywhere else in the world the
weather is delightfully."- oool-by COMPARE
son.
All will be glad to know just where
the hottest place on earth is. In times
past there has been much disputation
over the subject, but the authorities are
now agreed on the spot am about to
name. Curiously enough. this territory
is not desert, not even the Arizonn
plains, although poet described them
by declaring that the lost spirits, WAN
dering from their Internal abcdes, stood
on the border of that region, with eyes
blinded by the SUMS reflected glare, then
In terror hurried back to their sulphur
GUS lakes--to avoid the heat No, the
hottest place In the world is. with all re-
speot to ocean summer resorts, on the
seashorei
Tho region of maximum temperature
Is an extensive area on the Persian Gulf,
a part of the southwestern coast of Per-
STA. This territory includes also the
Bahrein, or Avail. islands. Throughout
this belt the heat Is something tremend-
GUS. June, July and August are terrific
-unendurable, save to the natives, and
hideous to them. Day afer day the mer
curry will mark more than 100 degrees in
the shade. By day here mean the
diurnal twenty four hours. Think of it,
you who look with fearful eyes on the
thermometers that register loo at noon
time. Imagine the horror of striking a
match at midnight and reading ITO. 1t
hardly seems possible, yet it Is officially
declared that this frightful heat is not
excessive In that country Often 40
degrees In tho shade is attained in the
afternoon. gs 49,
The Islands are small group named
after the largest, Bahrein. They lie be-
tween latitude Is degrees 80 minutes and
2e degrees 80 minutes north, and longi-
tude 80 degrees and 80 degrees 80 minutes
east. Bahrsin itself is about 81 miles
long aud ~ miles road. The population
is fairly abundant numbering $4,000 in
the group of islands. The natives are for
the most part Arabs governed by
sheikh, who pays tribute to the Sultan
of Oman.
.. The Island of Bahrein Ia the one peou-
liarly cursed. In the interior the ground
is billy with a fertile soil that produces
wheat, barley, dates, figs and the like.
There are abundant springs of good wat
err This is the interior. On the coast
there Is the awful heat that shrivels this
part of the world, and-there is no wat
Ct, only the undrinkable salt waves of
the Persian Gulf There are no springs.
Those of the interior are practically un-
anees and clumsy methods of transporta-
ton. One can scarcely imagine the tor
mentlng position Of those Arabs. OF
course they are not SO badly off as Amer
loans would be under like conditions,
since they have never acquired our taste
for Iced. drinks-espeoially ice water.
However, their case Is desperate one, 1t
would seem to us. Yet they manage
very well, for they do procure little
water. The way in which they acquire
the precious fluid Is sufficiently curious
1hsy get 1t out of the sea. HowP you
ask. They have no mysterious process
whereby the salt removed from the sea
brine is made thirst assuaging bever-
age. No, the water they get comes out
af the sea. but it is not sea water.
A mile from the shore of Bahrein are
the treasured springs of fresh water.
The sparkling wells bubble up through
the sands in the bottom of the harbor.
There Is Q depth of hundreds OF feet of
salt water over them, into which they
merge and are forever lost at the mo-
ment they issue from their subterranean
courses. But there they are, and there
they have been for hundreds, even thou
sands, of years. Hidden in the oceans
abyss, they have, nevertheless, been dis
covered by man, and from their supply
the city of Manahmah, thriving COM
mercial center, and all the other towns,
and every separate hut of the coast. gain
all the water that 10 used for drinking
purposes.
The means taken for securing the wat
er, before it mingles with the brine, are
at once simple and arduous. Divers are
sent down from boats stationed ove- the
springs. The divers invert their goat
SKIN sacks over the gushing waters, so
that the jets may enter tine bags mouths.
Eaoh bag, when filed, is closed water
tight, and the thing is done. These d.
vers are numerous class. and one whose
employment never oeasess, since the de-
mands Of the thirsty are constant. 1t ia
estimated that thousand sacks are filled
IL r.