The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1904-02-03
COT TON OF EGYPT
IS A DOGGY
Day Far Distant When
it Can Hurt us.
Under the Present System the Valley
of the Nile is Producing All the
Agricultural Staples of
Which it is Ca
nabIe.
pabIe.
Wm. E. Curtis, from Cairo, Egypt,
Chicago Record Herald.)


(Wm. E. Curtis, from Cairo, Egypt, II
Chicago Record Herald)
1t is a disputed question what the aver
age Egyptian thinks of the amazing i'm
provements that have been made in the
material condition of his country during
the last few years and how they have
affected his character. Many people be
lieve that he scarcely realizes them; that
they have not touched his soul or even
his consciousness at all, and that he
still retains his medieval conservatism in
spite of the public order and security
the relief from taxation, the even hand
of justic the means of education and
the higher wages that have been brought
TO him by the English administrator. 1t
is true that the oriental soul is very diff
ferent from that which inhabits the body
of the white man. His ideas are not our
ideas and his religion, his social habits,
his impenatrable reserve, his serene con-
temptation of fate and other peculiar
characteristics, whether good or i'll, have
not changed since the mlddel ages. And
although he has adopted modern cos
tunes to a considerable extent and has
allowed the women of his family to come
into contact with foreigners, he moves
very slowly. Cairo, with all its modern
improvements retains its medieval Gus
toms and appearance and is still the city
of the Arabian Nights. No matter how
much of the surface may be covered with
new buildings, old Cairo remains and will
remain and the evidence of modern life
we see is only a veneer. Nevertheless 1t
is scarcely possible to believe that the
farmer does not appreciate what has been
done for him The signs are certain, as l
will explain. He cannot be insensible to
the improvement of his condition.
1t is also a question of ever greater
Importance, particularly to us, how much
the cotton crop of Egypt will be increased
by the construction of the new dam at
Assuan and the extension of the irrigat-
ing system The cotton growers OF the
United States, however, need not be
alarmed 1t will be a long time before
the cotton fields of Egypt are expended
to a degree that will be felt by the plant
ers of the United States, and the in
crease will be much less than is Dopu-
larly expected.
Under the present system, the valley
of the Nile is producing all that it is ca
pabe of, and the only way to increase
the products and the wealth of the coun-
try is to bring more land under irrigation
AS told you yesterday, the present area
has not been increased to any consider
able extent for many centuries although
projects have been frequently proposed.
When Joseph, the son of Jacob, was
prime minister for Pharaoh, he conceived
the idea of turning the surplus water of
the upper Nile into what is known as the
province of Fayum, about miles south
of Cairo. A vast depression in the desert
known as Lake Moeris, by his skilful
engineers, became a. productive oasis,
which has added hundreds of millions of
wealth to the nation. MIR Cope White
house, son of the late Bishop Whitehouse,
of Illinois, who has spent much time in
Egypt, and is familiar with the desert,
rs we'll as the irrigation system, submit
ted to the government few years ago
plan to extend the system built by
Joseph and utilize it for the benefit of the
country. The l1hedive wrote him a let
ter of thanks and conferred upon him the
decoration of a grand commander of the
Order of the Mediidjeah, but his English
advisers pol8ed the plan into a pigeon
hole and no one has ever been able to
persuade them to pull it out again
Their Indifference, however, was due
other plans which they considered more
practicable, and it was determined to
construct an enormous dam at the first
cateract near Assuan, which will store
UP all the water that is not needed at the
annual inundation and allow it to be re-
leased when it is needed later in the sea-
son. This dam, called the Great Barage
is now practicable cOmD1eted IT WAS he.
gun in February, 1885, contract hav
ing been entered into with AIessrs. Arid
and Company, Scotch firm, who agreed
to build it for $1O,OOO,OoO, payable in 80
semi annual installments Of $400 900 each,
including interest, but they do not get
dollar until IT is completed The foun-
dationsr of the dam rest upon solid
granite lodges: it is 6.7S6 feet. or about