El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-02-25

The caravan trade now takes goods to
Damascus, from where they go to the
Mediterranean sea over the road have
just mentioned.
One of the newest schemes is a rail
way from Damascus to Hit. a town on
the Euphrates river. and another is one
which connects with the railroads OF
Smyrna and Constantinople at Adana-
The latter crosses the country above
Aleppo and strikes the Tigris at NosuI.
running down that river to Bagdad.
The road from Damascus TO Hit would
be only about One-third as long. 1t is
backed by the British, who have
great irrigation scheme for the plains
of Mesopotamia. It is headed by Sir
William Willcocks. who has gone over
the ground, and is pushing the matter
in London. Sir William Willcocks is
the engineer who built the great Nile
dam at Assouan.. which has redeemed
about 10000 900 acres in Egypt.
His scheme includes irrigation works
in the plans of Mesopotamia. and also
navigable canal from Bagdad on the
Tigris to point on the Euphrates just
below Hit This would save IS miles
of railroad and would make Hit the
terminus. with the rivers of the Tigris
and Euphrates to draw from as water
trans portaticn routes. It is claimed
the freight traffic and thai it would
have also large pilgrimage business
through the Mohammedans who annu-
ally go from Persia to Mecca It would
get many passengers who now travel
by the Suez canal TO India. When the
present system is completed. they could
go from Paris to Constantinople by rail
and thence by this route to Hit and
Bagdad, from where they could steam
-, -,
India.
1t is claimed that the line will not
cost more than $4,000 per mile. or
about $4,000, coo from Damascus to Hit.
The German Road 70 the TIgris.
The other road which is planned to
go to Bagdad itself is the one backed
by the Germans. A conce Ssion. for it
was granted by the sultan in 1902 and
a part of the lire has already been
built. The headquarters OF the road is
IN Switzerland and bonds for part
of it have already been issued. The
idea row is to begin. the work at sew
eraI different points. The route has
been divided up into sections of 124
miles each. One of these viii be start
ed at Bagdad and move eastward; an
other will begin at BuIguriu. the end OF
the present line in Asia Minor. and viii
go to Adana and then on toward the
east. The climate of the Adana plains
is such that the construction can be
continued this winter. and the same is
true of the Euphrates valley. This
syndicate is managed by the Deutsche
bank of Berlin, the Imperial Ottoman
bank OF Paris. the Wiener bank and
the Societe du Credit Suisse OF Zurich
Loans to the amount of about $4,000
600 will be issued. They will be guar
anteed by the Imperial Ottoman gov
eminent.
'0neninE Up Of the Turkish Empire.
The Importance of these railway
schemes cannot be overestimated. The
new government has planned the de-
velopment of Asiatic- Turkey, a country
which is ten times as big as New Eng
land and as well populated as Mime
sofa. In addition to the projects above
mentioned is the Chester railway con-
cession, which has been granted to ad-
miral Chester. a retired officer Of our
navy. and which now only awaits the
ratification of parliament. This in