The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-01-02
ON IHE EUPHRATES
The American Business Man Start
ing Booming Trade in
Il This Region.
Irrigating Machinery, Flows, Reap
ers, Bicycles, Etc, Astonish
ill., the Natives.

= the Natives.
From The Journal Bureau, Room As, Post Build
ing, Washington. & IL
Washington. Jan. 2.-Hand in hand
with the archeologist and the historian
of ancient dynasties goes the modern man
of business, and together, they are ac-
complishing wonderful things. This part
nership. at first blush illogical and alb
surd is being made, to serve alike the
purposes of modern commerce and of
modern scientific investigation, and no
where is it making for itself a greater
name than in the valley of the Euphrates.
the legendary birthplace Of the human
race. The scientist went there first, and,
in the face Of difficulties and dangers,
years ago began to uncover the ruins
of ancient cities and to decipher the in
scriptions of ancient kings. Nineveh
and Babylon have revealed many of their
long lost secrets, and throughout the
whole of Mesapotamia. and even farther
westward across the Jordan and through
out Palestine, slowly, yet surely, facts
which throw important and far-reaching
light 1nOn the history Of the most OBJ
scure times are being gathered by pa
tient Investigators for the use Of modern.
scholarship. The man Of modern bust
ness was later in commencing his WORK,
but what he lost by delay he is atoning
for by that energy and determination
which are his chief characteristics.
The forthcoming annual government
publication. Commercial Relations. thro rs
an interesting flood of light upon the
work that is being done in the land Of
the old Assyrians and Babylonians,
What has been done there, and is still
under Roadway by the scientists. has been
exploited frequently through authorita-
tive channels. The work Of the modern
business man in that historic field is less
we'll known.
Strangely enough, it is the American
and not the European business man who
seems destined to control and develop the
commerce of this one-time famous re-
gion. The large emigration Of its peo
pie to America has given rise to a ia
milarity with American articles and a.
taste for them. and have brought about
personal relations between the two cOun-
tries which are Of immense value as the
foundation of profitable business .connec
tons. Growing logically out Of this sit
uation is a notable confidence in Ameri
can integrity and in the quality of Ameri-
can wares. heightened by the growing
dissatisfaction with the cheap articles for
years imported from Europe. American
missionaries are also credited with haV-
ing an important share in this work Of
preparing the way for the coming of the
American business man; for example, in
one district. Harput, English, as the di-
rect result of missionary endeavor, is the
prevailing language Of the natives.
Without exception, American consuls
in this one-tine populous and prosperous
region say that the time has now come
for American trade to reach out and APP
prOpriate the commerce Of the entire
country. OF course, Turkish rule is an
impeachment to rapid development: the
diminished stock Of ready money and the
unsettled state Of credits, a direct re-
suit of that rule, are others; while there
IS ground for complaint in the fact that
two months are required for the exchange
Of letters between New York and Har-
put; but Notwithstanding these difficult
ties, our consuls agree that the outlook
for American trade is many times grea ter
than that of all the rest of Europe COM
bined.
Bicycles, Pumps, Etc.
A few statements from the forthcom-
Ing Commercial Relations will be inter.
esting as showing something of the
growth of that trade.
Our consul at Harput took with him tt
that region the first bicycle ever seer
there is 1900, when the consulate wa:
established. Within a year there were :
dozen wheels In operation along the ex
celent highways around that city, ant
now an American bicycle agency i
established there, with a growing trade.
An agent has taken up the introduction
Of irrigation machinery, and consign
ment Of American pumps and horsepowe
arrived last summer The question o
irrigation throughout this country, one
the garden spot Of the world, and, lil1
old Canaan, FLOWING with milk an
honey" outranks every other factor j
the country's economic development TIL
former vine-clad hills and valleys Of Of
Judea are no more desolate and sugges
tive Of the desert than are those of til
country between the Jordan and the Eu
pirates and beyond to the eastern borde
of Asiatic Turkey. Wherever the han
Of the sick man has been laid a bligE
Is has come
y The introduction Of American agricu
tural implements, notably plows, harrow
rakes, drills and haryesters, ETC., is grad
ualy driving out the primitive tools
the natives. Larger yields of grain al
reported from every section using tf
modern implements, and equally strikir
results were obtained whenever the whe;
drills took the place Of the old tin
. broadcast seeding. The reaper used e.
perimentaly last summer, did the wol
of forty-tive men, and will do the VOL
OF 'elghty-f1ve men as soon as the horse
and drivers become accustomed to it.
Note the following from the forthcon
ing Commercial Relations, regarding tt
Introduction Of the modern harvestir
machine in the Euphrates valley, west
Harput:
A Fight on the Reaper.
LAS the chief item in raising grain he
IS the cost of harvesting, it may readi
be imagined that the Introduction of SUI
n labor-saving appliance caused no lit
stir in a region where the laboring pop
Iation is 50 exceptionally dependent up
the earnings Of harvest 'time.z
Soon after the reaper was runni
regularly and smoothly, the. price Of
days labor descended promptly so p
cent from 2OH cents per diem to IA cen
The enterprising agent-as graduate
an American agricultural s. college-W
h forced at once to face q condition Of 6
fairs similar to that which followed t
@ introduction Of the spinning jenny a
the cotton gin. -.
Every attempt was made to wreck t
dreaded innovation. so that it was ne
essary to keep it at night in the owne
habtation. His garden of American We
etables was destroyed, his fruit, trees we
cut down, shots were fired at his hot
during the nighttime, and his Workm
We're induced to desert him. 81 T..
'In spite Of all these discourageme
the experiment was pluckily continued
the close of the season. r ..
."Another year will see the more swi(
spread use Of the reaper and the init
auction of the threshing machine. OF
naS ho fra ad ia