The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1905-05-12

Mesopotamia and the other lands cas-
of, the Jordan are almost certain to be
reclaimed with a few exceptions and
they will offer a new and extensive
field for investment and commerce.
The lands are held chiefly by tribes of
Eomadic Bedouins. They are used
only for grazing and now sustain sew
eral million cattle, sheep n goats.
From these fiocks and herds comes the
wool from which the Turkish and Per-
sian rugs you buy at the auctions are
made. Many Of the rugs or the floors
OF Washington residences were rover
in the mud huts OF these regions and
shipped to Smyrna and CcnstantinopIe
for camel Visitors to Smyraa
have seen the caravans coming Into
that city every morning, each camel
carrying two bales Of $50 pounds each.
When the irrigation system Is COM
pleted and agriculture Is resumed
there will be an immense field for h
Introduction of agricultural machinery
and implements. The present popnla-
ton know nothing of such things, and
It will be necessary to obtain foreign
labor, who are familiar with n use
of ~labor-saving machinery. The haugh-
ty Bedonin will not work with hs
hands. He is a good deal like h
North American Indian. He will not
pillow, neither will he sow nor reap
Among the Arab race nearly all OF the
vegetable food is raised by women.
The men folk do their farming on
horseback and follow the fiocks and
herds.
If you will take a map Of Syria for
a moment it will make things clearer.
A railway owned by Frenchmen now
runs from Beirut to Damascus. There
it turns southwark and runs a distance
of about fifty miles on the eastern
slope of the Anti-Lebanon mountains.
1t also runs ~northward to Hons and
Hannah, and is now being extended TO
Aleppo under a subsidy of $1,000 per
kilometer from the Turkish govern
ment. TIL 8 road is to connect with
one running eastward from CONSTANT
nople which is now in operation for
about 200 miles. Aleppo is a very i'm
portant city having a population or
about 125, 200, and being the center of
a considerable trade.
THE SULTAN BORROWING AGAIN.
The German and French ambas'
doris 1T Constlntinople ave been very
busy with the sultan I'LL winter fight
ing er 4 loan which. the Turkish gov
eminent will probably never pay. 1t
is a curious fact that the financial in
situations of Europe will continue to
grab at the bonds of a bankrupt gov
ernu'ent when they already have piles
of them in their vaults upon which
neithe, the principal nor the interest
has been paid. Notwithstanding the
low credit of the Ottoman empire.
when the sultan manifested an inten-
ton to borrow $20,OoO.0OO for naval
and military equipment ard supplies
beth Germany and France insisted
upon leaning him the money, upon the
stipulation that it should be expended
in their factories. After quarreling all
winter the sultan split the watermelon
and borrowed $10,Ot0.OO0 in France
and $S,OOO,OOO in Germany. All Of the
German loan is to be spent in the pur-
chase of guns. while the French loan
is to be divided between torpedo boats
and a railway subsidy including $3.50
coo, which will be paid for a dead
herse"-the fifty miles of railway rum
ling south of Damascus, which a al
ready been paralleled by. the Turkish
government and is now practically use
less. About 100000 more is to be
given to the same company in the way
of subsidies for extending it's lines
northward as l have described.
THE LINE TO MECCA.
On the I'd of March 1 gave an ac-
count of the opening of as far as the
~~-, - At, ~. - 4I,A v~asfryny tho GrI1-
tan is building from Damascus to Nee
ca, which is expected to play an I'M
l,ortant part in the future Of Moham-
mechanism and also meet a military
| necessity by enabling the sultan to
transport troops to southern Arabia,
| where a very serious revolution against
his authority is now going on. This
railroad also will open up a large tract
| of country which is now given over to
| f,ocks and herds and furnish American
| and European drummers access to q
| 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
| of Jordan and until very recently was
being pushed rapidly southwark under
| the direction of Mr.. Heinrich Meissner
o German engineer, who is using moth
ing but American rails.
His engineers are now building 9
new carriage road from Jerusalem via
Jericho and Nebi-mousa, the reputee
tomb of Moses, to the railway at Am
man. This road was proposed n is
being carried through by MehemeC
Rasched Bey, present gove\nor of lie
rusalem, and will bring Damascus
within sixteen hours ride of Jerusalem
by land, eight hours by carriage and
another eight rail, whereas the jour
ney by caravan requires from ten tt
twelve days. This is a great conven
fence for merchants and other shippers
and tourists. Bible students and arch
biologists will be particularly inter
ested because it will open up Moab and
the country east of the Jordan and tn
Dead sea and enable them to go b,
rail within twenty miles Of Petra, {
place of the greatest interest, which a
nrosanf can he reachad only by n no