The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-01-12

about 100 miles from here, and the two ! places practically control the entrance
 to the Red sea and the Suez canal. As
 for Alden. it is the Gibraltar of this part of the world, as well as one of the great est of the British coalng stations Some thing like 5000 steamers and native craft call at it every year. The harbor is ex- eellent, and the outer entrance is more
 than Ahree miles wide The Inner waters
 have been so dredged that steamers of 2t feet can go everywhere, and there is room
 enough for all the vessels that pass through the canal to anchor here at one
 time.
 Alden is strongly fortified. The town stands on a volcanic isthmus, and it is guarded by a broad ditch, which has been cut out of the solid rock. It has a garrison of 5000 or 1000 men, guns of the latest pattern, and no one knows how many subterranean and submarine mines.
 A Desert City.
 l wish l could show you the town as it lies before me. It is the sorriest city I have ever seen. There is nothing to compare with 1t, except Iquiqui. on the nitrate coast of South America, and Iquiqui Is a Paridise to it. Imagine q great harbor of sea green water, the shores of which rise almost abruptly into
 
 white sand. There Is not a blade of grass to be seen, there are no trees, and even the cactus and sage brush of our American desert are absent The town Is without vegetation. It is as bare as the bones of the dead camels in the desert behind it. and it's tropical sun beats down out of a cloudless African sky. Every thing Is gray and dazzling white. The houses on the sides of the hills are white, the rocks throw back the rays of the sum- and the huts upon their sides are of the same gray color themselves.
 The city looks thirsty and dry. It is dry. There Is only a well or so in the place, and these, I am told, the English bought of their owners for something like S1 100000. Almost all of the water used is condensed from the sea, and fresh water always brings it's price. There are no streams anywhere within miles, The town is situated in the crater of an extinct volcano, and there Is one great depression nearby in which some famous stone tanks were made a thou sand or so years ago. These tanks are so big that if they were cleaned out they might hold 30 900 gallons of water. As 1t Is, they have now a capacity of only 5000, 900 gallons. The water is caught when it rains, and is sometimes auctioned out to the highest bidder. The receipts go to the English government, and a good rain may bring in s15,o0O or s2O,OOC or more.
 The People of Alden.
 This is my second visit to Aden My first was 16 years ago. when l stopped here on my way around the world. I do not see that the town has changed and I doubt whether it has any more people than it had then. The population Is about 40,OO0, and it is made up of all the nations and tribes common to the Indian ocean. It contains Arabs. Afri- cans, Jews, Portuguese and East In dians. There are about 4000 Europeans and in this number are the merchants officials and soldiers. The majority of the people are Arabs and the prevail ing color Is black There are tall, lean skinny black Bedouins from interior Arabia, who believe in Mahomet, and go through their prayers five times a day. There are black Mohammedans from Somaliland and black Christians from Abyssinia. In addition there are dans of various shades of yellow and brown. A few of the Africans are wool ly-headed, but more of them have wavy hair, and the hair of the women hang down in oorkscrew curls on both sides of their faces Of these people neither sex wears much clothing. The men have a rag around the waist, and the women wear only skirts which reach to the feet
 The East Indians are everywhere They do the most of the retail busi- ness and trading, and they are found