The Holbrook news., 1911-12-29

were a chaos from that time to the present. Changes of dynasty were frequent and states sprang into despot- ic independence, only to dissolve again and form new political and geograph- ical divisions. In 1146 Tripon was cap tured by Roger II. of Sicily and was retaken by the Moslems in 11S4. For time it was subject to Tunis. Early in the sixteenth century it was taken by the Spaniards and was later trans ferred to the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, in whose hands 1t remained until 1851, when the Turks took posses sion. Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli, all were finally brought under the govern ment of the sultan of Constantinople. Algeria passed under French dominion in 1880; Tunis shared the same fate in 1882; Morocco, the ancient Maure- tania, has been sultanate for many centuries and probably will soon be absorbed by France. Thus of the old Barbary states only ne-Tripoli-re- mains under the Turkish flag and that flag will soon give way to the standard of modern Italy.
 TrIpoIi and It's People.
 Tripon, with Barca and Fezzan, has an area of 400.0 .000 square miles and a population of million. The country between the Atlas mountains and the Mediterranean is fertile and Is capable of being successfully titled. But the curse of Turkish rule is over 1t and agriculture and industry are stagnant. All the fruits which grow in the trop- ics may be raised and at the period of Roman ascendancy prodigious quani- ties of olives were produced in Barca, then famous for it's fertility; now in large sections a veritable sandy waste The natives, consisting of Berbers. the descendants of the original settlers; Arabs, Turks, Mamelukes, Jews and negro slaves, are engaged in agrtcul- tural and pastoral pursuits. Some of the people carry on manufacture; and Tripoli has reputation for fine woolen goods and fabrics fashioned from goats hair. Considerable quantities of ivory, spices. gold dust and dyes are transported by camel caravans from the sandy interior to the coast, though not to the extent that obtained in the days of Carthaginian rule, when. we are told, it was not unusual to see caravan of 13.000 camels bearing the products of the interior to the marts of the littoral.
 In Tripoli.as throughout the whole of the Barbary states there Is great di- versity of races. Bedouins roam over its arid sands and far in the interior are the hardy Berbers. cat-like in movement, intolerant of restraint, proud of lineage which is lost in the twilight of history. quick to resent an injury, but hospitable to strangers. Some of them still live the lives of the cave men. Some find shelter in tents, or 5h huts made from the branches of trees and daubed with mud. In the towns and settlements they rise to the dignity of dwelling in stone houses. To large extent they are pastoral and when their resources run low they be come robbers.
 In its past history the United States has been at war with Tripoli and others of the Barbary states; and some of the most brilliant achievements of the American navy were performed in the waters that lave the northern coast of Africa.
 What may be the future of Tripol, rests securely among those unsolved problems to which history holds the key Italy, into whose possession 1t is destined to fall, has had little expert ence as a colonizer. Her attempt in Abyssinia was disastrous and ended in the tragedy at Adowa in 1896, when her army suffered defeat by the followers of Menelek. But in Tripoli she will find a better and a clearer field, within a short sail from her own outpost islands in the Mediter- ranean. The country Is capable of great development. The native races, if handled as carefully and as justly as France deals with the peoples of Algeria and Tunis, will prove tract able; and with the fruits of their labors assured to them will become fnduatrfoua and proVident