Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-07-14

ton of labor. and sometimes one is
tempted to think that they carry the
heavier ends of the loads You see young
girls ten and twelve years old with hoe
and spade when they ought TO be in
school or learning to sew and bake in
the kitchen. But the car needs so many
men in his army that their mothers and
sisters arc required to go into the fields.
You will notice. too. that women are
switchmen and 1agmen all along the
ing out of the car window YOU will see
at every crossing woman with flag In
her hand standing at attention, like a
soldier on guard duty. as the train
rushes by.
The government owns and operates the
railways. and although the running time
is very slow, not more than fifteen or
eighteen miles an hour, the management
is admirable. and there are some ex-
cellent features which might be initiated
with profit by the railway companies in
the United States. For example. at every
railway station. on the platform. is a
big wooden tank Of cool wafer with
plenty of clippers. Beside il is similar
tank of hot water so that the passengers,
who expect it. bring their teapots along
with them. When the train stops those
in the third-claSs cars rush out for hot
water. and then go back to their places
and enjoy cup of homemade tea. We
put tanks of ice water in our passenger
cars, but take the liberty of suggesting
that in the United States many tired
woman travellers would appreciate an op-
portunity of making cup of tea for
themselves every now and then
Trains of tank cars stand on every side
track. and We seem TO pass one every
few minutes, which is natural, because
crude and refined petroleum is the
principal freight hauled over the eau
Batoum. the principal shipping port on
the Black sea
Sleeping Berths Free.
Sleeping cars are free: at least every
frst-class railway carriage is arranged
in compartments so that the back of the
seat can be lifted to make an upper
berth, which is quite as comfortable as
those in our Pullnans at home but pas
sengers have to carry bedding with them,
sheets and pillows and blankets, and
make up their own hunks when it comes
time to retire. There is either dining
car or buffet on every train, from which
conee. tea, eggs. cold meat. bread and
butter are served, SO that a journey Is
made very comfortable.
When We went to bed, few hours after
leaving TlffiS, We were passing through d
beautiful and highly cultivated agricul-
tural country. When We awoke in the
morning We were in a desert and every
thing smelt of Oil. The first thing 1 saw,
W.. a
long caravan of camels loaded with cans
OF refined petroleum. Flooding through
the sand on the shores Of the Caspian
sea.
me surroundings are forbidding The
Caspian sea is not an attractive body of
water. Its shores are as barren as a
granite boulder. There is no fresh water
either above or below the surface of the
ground anywhere around the coast, and
the inhabitants are required to bring
their suppl In pipes for long distance
or else condense sea water.
AT every port is a floating condenser
some wOrn-Out steamer or sailing vessel
which has served its time carrying car
place of the shore and filled with ma
chinery for transforming salt water into
fresh. Sometimes the product is carried
ashore by pipes, but usually in large tank
barges, and then peddled around the
streets like milk In our cities from house
to house.
Population of Baku.
The surroundings Of Baku remind me
of the nitrate towns on the coast of
Chile. which are also waterless, but 1t is
much larger and more finely built than
any of them. There is already a popula-
ton OF l3U.0OO or more at Baku, and the
boosters are boasting of an expected 2OO,-
OOO at the end of this decade. There is
no doubt that Baku is growing very fast
in people and In wealth, although the oil
industry Is not prosperous. The Standard
Oil Company of the United States Is driy-
ing Russian oil out of every country ex-
cept Russia and its provinces.
There are many evidences of wealth in
Baku; many fine business blocks and
residences. churches and schoolhouses
shops and restaurants, and. indeed, 1t il
quite as up-tO-date as any city in the
| east. The large wholesale houses indicate