The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-06-08

spaces of solid earth White winged
aquatic birds claim the lakes as their
! own Rats from the marshes intest the
dykes and villages and are protected
from attack by a curious superstition OF
| the feliaheen. according TO which the
rats, as the flood recedes. turn 10 Dans
OF fertile mud to play part in producing
Basin irrigation reached a high devel-
opment under the Romans and stream
of grain from the whole Nile valley and
the delta flowed through Alexandra 70
the ports Of the Mediterranean. AFTER
the Arab conquest there followed ten
Z or eleven centuries of neglect which
caused an enormous decrease in cult
vabie area and a proportional decrease
In population. While the claim that there
were 12000.O00 inha bitants Of the coun-
Try when the Arabs conquered TX IS uOuot-
less an eXaggeratiOn. il is true that the
beginning OF the nineteenth century
found Egypt reduced in pOpula ton 10
about 1000, 90 and despoiled by shiftless-
ness OF great deal OF matchless Iafnl-
ing land AT present more than l,V4.Wn
acres Of land which produced crops du-
ring the Roman occupation now lie un-
der the sO-called great lakes" Of the
delta or are uncultivable salt marshes
Where the vineyards, palm groves ano
wheat fields once smiled beneath the sun,
great salty iagOOns now form a nome
for water fowl. The sites Of Tinnis, Tun-
ali and other manufacturing cities are
under the slOughs.
The retreat Of agriculture southwark a
result of the overflow Of part OF
the delta was followed in time By an in
crease OF tillable area further up the
Nile. due TO perennial irrigation vice
roy Mehmet Ali. a man of great lmagl-
nation and ambition. but rather lack
ing in fixedness of purpose, is given credit
for having introduced the idea OF peren-
NAL irrigation. and for having planned
and dreamed of such a structure as the
AssOuan dam. but his dream became an
accomplished fact only when British bus
mess methods we're applied to the solu-
ton Of Egypt's problem.
Viceroy Mehmet Ali is best remembered
as the Albanian toba ccOnist VINO was
sent to rule Egypt a century ago, ano
who. after numbering the Mameiukes ana
performing other and more creGltaDl1
feats attempted to make a conquest OF
the Ottoman empire. In addition 10 MS
ambition to become sultan Of Turkey the
Albanian desired TO become the father OF
scientific irrigation in Egypt Although
Great Britain dealt his army death oloN
at Acre. thus defeating his greater am
bition. he did found a dynasty in Egypt.
His net results as an irrigator were less
significant. Realizing that cotton ana
sugar cane culture would be possible ID
Egypt under q system of perennial iFri-
cation, the despot leveled the basin dykes.
using the enforced and UNPAID LABOR OF
the fellaheen. and attempted a storage
system TO provide for applying water 10
the crops the year round.
Sultan Hassan robbed the pyramid Of
CheOps of its marble casing to build
mosque in his own honor and was exc
Grated by the civilized world. Mehmet
Ali who ordered the pyramid RACED 10
provide stone for a delta barrage, was
saved from a similar fate by the quick
wit of a French engineer VINO told MIN
that il would be cheaper 10 open quar-
~ He finally neglected the barrage ana
never builded the reservoir. HIS success
sors made little progress with the irriga-
ton project
engineering feat. is the greatest land
mark Of progress in Egypt. As bride
for the Nile # has proved altogether
successful. Its construction was financed
bv London capitalists, Egypt agreeing TO
nav for il in installments, after its COM
Melton II was expected that the cost.
with interest would be S25,G00O00 to the
Fgvptian government. Because OF un-
expected conditions in the river bed an
additional expense Of 10 per cent in the
estimate was incurred
Work is now in progress to raise the
dam about twenty-three feet This Will
increase its storage capacity two ana
One-fourth times. The cost Will De s.
OO. OOG. and 100000 acres Of land now use
less will become fertile This land will
be worth from 800 to Sl25 an acre This
gigantic dam impOunding a billion tons
of s'the tears of Isis as they flow, is
pointed to by Englishmen as proof that
England is the greatest builder the Nile
valley has known, and that the tWen-
tieth century has produced the creates ST
Of Egypt's monuments.
Copyright, 1903 by Frederic J. HasklnJ
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Century Egypt