Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-05-03
25.c00. and being the center of consid-
cradle trade.
The Sultan Borrowing Again.


The German and French ambassadors at
Constantinople have been very busy with
the sultan all winter fighting over loan
which the Turkish government will prob
ably never pay. 1t is curious fact that
the financial institutions of Europe will
continue to grab at the bonds of a bank
rupt government when they already have
piles of them in their vaults upon which
neither the principal nor the interest has
been paid. Notwithstanding the low credit
of the Ottoman empire, when the sultan
manifested an intent to borrow $50, 000,-
coo for naval and military equipment and
supplies both Germany and France insisted
upon loaning him the money. upon the
stipulation that it should be expended in
their factories After quarreling all winter
the sultan split the watermelon and Dor
rowed 100000 in France and $500 0}0
In Germany. All of the German loan Is
to be spent In the purchase Of guns. while
the French loan is to be divided between
torpedo boats and a railway subsidy. in
Guiding SIJ0,0CO. which will be paid for 4
dead horSe'-the fifty miles of railway
running south of Damascus which has
already been paralleled by the Turkish
government and is now practically use
less. About 81 000.00o more is to be gwen
to the same company in the way Of sub
sides for extending its Ines northward as
have described.
The Line to Mecca
On the I'd of March / gave an account of
the opening of as far as the town of Ma-an
OF the railway the sultan is building from
Damascus to Mecca, which is expected to
play an important part in the future of
Mohammedanism and also meet a military
necessity by enabling the sultan to trans
port troops to southern Arabia where
very serious revolution against his author
ity is now going on. This railroad also
will open up large tract of country which
is now given over to focks and herds and
furnish American and European drummers
access to population of several millions
IN the most obscure portion of the world.
The railway is now in operation as far as
Ma-an, in the valley ION the other side o.
Jordan" and until very recently was being
pushed rapidly southwark under the di-
rection of Mr.. Heinrich Meissner a Ger
man engineer, who is using nothing but
American rails.
His engineers now building a new
carriage road from Jerusalem via Jericho
and Nebi-mousa, the reputed tomb of
Moses, to the railway at Amman.
rms road was proposed and is being car
ried through by Mehemed Rascheed Bey
present governor of Jerusalem, and will
bring Damascus within sixteen hours r.de
OF Jerusalem by land, eight hours by car
rage and another eight by rail- whereas
the journey by caravan requires from ten
to twelve days. This is a great con-
Venicnce for merchants and other ship
pers, and tourists, Bible students and
psychologists will be particularly interested
because it will open up Moab and the coun-
try east of the Jordan and the Dead sea and
enable them to go by rail within twenty
miles OF Petra, a place of the greatest in
terest, which at present can be reached
only by hot and tedious Journey of
twelve days across the desert on mule