Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-07-20

race they have regular places for en-
campment. which are nearby groups OF
adobe houses used for the storage Of
their surplus forage and food supplies.
In each of these settlements Is mosque
built entirely of mud and a medresse. or
school, at which the priests are edu-
Gated They are the only persons in the
tribe who are able to read, and their
literary accomplishments are usually
limited to the reading Of the Koran.
Militia of Turkomen.
The government has organized a militia
of Turkomen. with Russian officers. and
in this way has found employment and
kept under discipline the most dangerous
and turbulent characters among the sew
eral tribes. They are armed with rifles
and cavalry sabers and their uniform IL
the national kahlet or dressing gown. a
shakko Of Sleeps skin. a broad sash Of
brilliant color around the waist and Rus
sian top boots. They are paid $3.50 q
month. out of which they provide their
own horses and rations, the government
supplying them only with ammunition.
Wherever they have been tried the Turk
oman militia has proved worthy OF con-
fidence, and | understand 1t is the in
tention of the government to enlarge
their functions and convert them into
regular cavalry regiments.
All this region is practically rainless:
never more than five or six inches pre-
cipitat.on in year. and often twelve
months will pass without a drop of water
from the sky. Most of the precipitation
is in the winter. and from the 1st OF
December to the list of April the cold Is
intense. Sometimes there is a terrible
tempest, blizzard of wind and snow.
which destroys entire herds of cattle
and sheep, and often many human lives.
In summer the heat is intense. The
atmosphere of the steppes which is the
Russian name for prairie, Is heated seven
times, like the furnace Of Shedracs, Me-
shack and Abednego. The same Their
mometer often registers 10 In the shade
at the railway stations in August and
20 below in January.
The railway company brings water
from the Persian mountains, where ara
many cool. unfailing springs, but 1t 10
expensive business to lay a pipe thirty
miles,
Deserts are all alike. and Kara-Kum
bears a close resemblance to certain
sections of Utah, New Mexico. Arizona
and the southern part of California. but
it is not so bad as Death valley, because
its elevation is between seven and eight
hundred feet above the level OF the sea-
The same mirage appears here. and often
Russian soldiers have been deceived by
delusive lakes of water and islands Of
trees when they were perishing of thirst
during the campaigns WHICH conquered
Turkomania.
An Oasis as It Is.
The popular impression of an oasis.
formed from descriptions in Biographies
We studied in our school days, is very
different from the actual fact The
minds eye recalls cluster OF palms.
with a group of matched huts under
their grateful shade. bubblng fountains
of water. tall waving grass. orange.
lemon and banana trees laden with fruit.
and a herd of camels munching the
fragrant grass.
The reality as We see it in Asia 10 q
wide stretch of wheat. oat and alfalfa
fields. divided by irrigating bitches groves
Of locust trees, laden with blossoms which
emit an odor as sweet as honey; few
fruit trees-apricots, peaches and cher
ries. and perhaps small vineyard. IS
l have said before. an oasis exis 9
wherever water can be brought upon the
SOIL and the extent of the cultivated
area depends entirely upon the abundance
or paucity of the stream. The SOL is
rich in plant food. 1t produces luxurious
crops of grain and forage plants, and in
the spring, when the water is first turned
on, the steppe is carpeted with myrads
of flowers.
1t is one of those inexplica BILE mysteries
of nature, a miracle, il often seems, that
the most barren and repulsive desert Will
suddenly blossom into life and beauty
whenever it is awakened by rain.