The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1904-02-24

than now. and in ancient days pro-
duced considerable gold and other met
ais, but now 1t ships little but dates,
wool and coffee, and even these are
gradually falling off. Mocha coffee is
produced ut the extreme end of the
Arabian peninsula, in a province called
Yemen, and derives it's name from the
little port it is shipped from. But the
people have no enterprise, the coffee
orchards nave been injured by insects
and blight, n the trees have not been
renewed. This IS accounted for by bad
government. AS everywhere else In
the dominions of the sultan of Turkey.
FOR Arabia is nominally n part of the
ottoman empire, the officials receive
nc salaries, and live off blackmail.
Hence, whenever a citizen gets a little
ahead, when he shows signs of pros
pelity, he Immediately becomes an
object of plumber and persecution by
the tax gatherer n by every other
representative of the government.
There is no incentive for the coffee
growers to extend their orchards or
TO increase their product.
one does not realize, until he comes
face to face with the fact, hat Arabia
is nearly half as large as the United
States. It's area is almost as great as
mat of India, and is nearly equal to
mat or our states east of the MiSsis-
sippi river. The population Is un-
known, because there has never been
"" CN''S't " II 10 SuIlOoCu ~ DC q
tween seven and twelve millions. The
distance from north to south is more
than a thousand miles, and from east
TO west 1t varies from 800 to 500. Yet
IN all this rmo territory there is
no centralized authority. The interior
Is goNercned by petty sheiks, each
being absolute over the members OF
his own tribe. Along a coast line OF
nearly $500 miles are only six ports.
where the sultan of Turkey maintains
pasha governors and garrisons to pro-
tect the collectors of customs, who are
REQUIRED to pay him a certain mount
OF triDut every year, III they wiring
it out of the people any way they can.
The relationship between the gov
ernment at Constantinople and the
Bedouins of Arabia is very slender,
n is due solely to the cohesive power
OF the Mohammedan religion. There is
no law in Arabia u the Koran; there
are no courts but the priests; there are
no mails, no ~postofiiCes, no postage
stamps, and a person who wants to
communicate with n distant fried must
send his letter by a messenger, which
Is expensive. or by a caravan, which is
the common way. There is no tele-
graph line. no newspaper, no railroad,
ana, strange to say not Il river in all
mat vast area except n few shallow.
rocky beds, which during the spring
bring down water from the melting
snow on the tops to the sea.
but for nine months in the year are
as dry as n CrematOry.
h captain tells me that they pro-
luce a curious phenomenon. The coast
OF the Red sea Is lined with coral
banks, built by those mysterious II
wonderful little Inasons who, like some
men that know OF, hate fresh water.
N wherever the spring floods fall into
the sea there is always q wide break
in the coral reef.
The mountains OF Arabia reach an
altitude of 10000 feet. and in spots
where behring's have been made the sand
is more than 600 feet deep. 1t is the
prevailing impression that Arabia is a
vast eNpanSe of desert, but tina is a
mistake. There are wide strips OF bar
rcn sand, which are irreclaimablc for
cultivation only because they cnnnot
be reached by water, but two-thirds OF
the country rs capable OF cultivation.
and, lying at an altitude of 5000 feet
above the sea, might produce cotton.
sugar and other scmi-tropical staples
IN quantities. Although
there are no streams plenty of water
can be had for irrigation rpo by
digging 20 or 80 feet, and the introduce
ton of windmil!s would simplify the
PUMPING problem. On the coast it is
Intensely hot, and the humidity of the
atmosphere during the summcr season
makes life almost uncomfortable. but in
the interior, upon the table lands along
the mountain slopes and i. the valleys,
the mercury seldom rises above So de-
SrecS, ever In midsummer. While
me direct rays of tho sun are intense.
II is cool In the shade, and at night the
mercury often falls below 30.
More than two-thirds of the popula-
tlon are Bcdou!n nomnds, without per-
manent places of abode. who live in
tents made OF camcls hair, lust like
the patriarchs Of bid. They have enor-
NOUS tiocks OF sheep n goats. and
herds of cattle and cnmels. The follow
the grass and move from place to place
With all their possessions. Thrrp arc