The Savannah morning news., 1904-08-14

often turned back in their course to
do this. to give their passengers the
invigoration of a short period of fresh
breezes. But Russian naval command
ers are not likely to do this. Their
whole system is characterized by lux
urious quarters for their high officers,
while the men in the ranks are treated
little better than cattle. Persons who
have Travelled on the Russian line
which runs to the Far East. made up
of the vessels of the volunteer fleet,
have many tales to tell of the spa
cious accommodations. with double
bedstead standing out in the ROOM
when they have happened to get the
quarters which in time of war would
be assigned to an officer of rank.
With this autOcratic theory it is hard
~ that the course of the patrOling
steamers would be greatly modified
for the comfort of the poor boys from
Finland who We're sweltering below
the decks.
The reason the climate of the Red
sea Is so extreme, aside from its near
ness to the equator. are the cloudless
skies overhead, the aridity of the
neighboring lands. such as the great
stretches of Sahara and Arabian des-
erts, and the absence of anything
which would mitigate the force of the
sun. The Red sea water often meas
ures on the mercury 80 degrees Fab
renheit, and has been known to go
above 100 degrees. The air is usually
cooler than the water, especially at
night when radiation becomes very
rapid. The evaporation of the Red
sea is naturally excessive, so that the
humidity of the air is great. The Red
sea basin is cut off from the general
oceanic circulation by a barrier rising
to within 500 feet of the surface in a
channel which is comparatively mar
row. AS no rivers enter the sea and
little rain falls. it becomes an evapor-
ating pan. The sea is naturally much
saltier than the outside ocean, but the
whole place would be a bed of salt
were it not for underCurrents of salt
water passing out to the ocean.
West bound passengers, get taste
of what is before them when they
land at Alden, which is on the Arabian
side, near the strait of Bab-el-Man-
deb. If the ashes from a coal-burn-
ing furnace were pounded down under
steam roller they would not make a
dryer foundation upon which to build
a city. The city's water is obtained
by distilling ocean water with coal
brought from England, although there
are in the upper part of the town large
ancient reservoirs for the storage OF
water conveyed for distance from
natural sources. The only green things
growing in Alden are three box-plants
in front of the government house,
which have a soil of their own, and
are constantly moistened with fresh
water. Even then these plants are
kept alive with great difficulty. Alden
is a great trans-shi rpng point. The
leading steamship companies maintain
machine shops there to make the re-
pairs sometimes necessary en- route.
The British navy maintains a branch
workshop. 1t is a great place for the
sale of ship supplies, since the traffic
of all nations passes through. The no.
tells are miserable, in spite of the fact
that not a few people have to lie over
there in changing from the regular
through steamers to branch lines con-
Meeting with side ports like those on
the east coast of Africa. The popula-
ton consists of Arabs, East Indians,
Portuguese, and various other groups
of Europeans. The British flag floats
over the town; its Notifications indi-
cate that in time Of hostilities the