Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1911-11-22
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New LIE at Old Nlnsvsh American
Machinery and N Enterprise 81 Have
Penetrated % the Remotest City In
Turkish Empire.
BY WILLIAM { 4. ELLIS.
Mosul, Turkey In Asia. - American
reapers running over the ruins Of
Ninevehthat is the striking symp
tom which l have to report from this
city. itself ancient, across the river
from the capital Of world dominion
during the height OF Assyria's power.
These paradoxess Of progress may be
found all along the 9Tigris river, as
prophecy OF the not distant day when
this now somnolent region, once the
centor Of the world, will have been
weakened to the modern civilization
which is the most powerful of all the
conquerors that have swept over the
earth. q 33555ss q II
The very day arrived here Is Chi
cago reapers came also, to augment
the pioneer six already here. The
city seems quite aroused over. agri-
cultural machinery and I was en-
treated TO urge American manufac-
turers to send catalogues, II not
statesmen, as well as goodly supply
OF duplicate parts; for your oriental
Is rather hard on machinery. and he
has no faculty in improvising
makeshifts or repairs after an acct
dent. And he Is a long way from;
base. These Chicago reapers came
from New York to Liverpool, trans
shipped to Port Said; thence up the
Persian gulf and the Tigris river to
Bagdad, and then on the backs Of
]camels for the twelve-day journey to
this place. Soon the hum of Ameri-
can machinery viii be heard over
the palaces and temples and streets
o. old Nineyeh. which is now all farm
land. Even Jonah could not have
prophesied this. II u. IA i8s.s
An Ice Machine and Allah,
The morning after my kelek, or,
raft. tied up above the bridge Of
boats which links Mosul with the rl-.
,ins Of Nineveh and Nebi Yunis
prophet Jonah, Z, the name Of q tomb
y mosque and q village amid the %ru-#
ins) ] was visited sby an American
from Providence, r. l., who saw the,
American flag flying above my tent.
Since the new regime he has re-.
turned to this, his old home, bringing
various Improvements for this UNI
touched section Of the Orient.
The most marvellous, in the ewes -
the natives, is an ice-making machine,
which Is surely needed. since . sum
NOR temperature Of ITO degrees %
common In Mosul. The ignorant and
fanatical Moslems look askance at this
Interference with the ways Of Allah.
According to their reasoning, II Allah
had wanted 1t to be cool he would
have made 1t SO. I'm 'sh Allah IS ~ It
lis Gods will the phrase that
5paralyzes progress and destroys an
Americans temper. IS the natives thus
lay all their laziness. lying and general
fcussedness on the Lord.
.'In'sh Allah, Z" = stood seriously in the
way Of this ice machine, but even 1t
had to stand aside when an American
saw clear profits OF $40 q ton ins plain
sight. % Next an American soda water
I fountain will follow the ice machine.
for Ottomans are very fond Of drinks,
and the Prophet forbids alcohol--al-
though the use Of intoxicants Is on the
Increase among Moslems. In summer;
the weather. classes In Mosul pay
three cents q pound for snow, brought
from the mountains, packed in straw.
vthsre ''Musiln" Gets Its Name.
Aside from being generally consid.
cred the most inaccessible Of all the
cities In the Turkish empire, and
apart from its long and romantic his
tory, Mosul's chief link with popular
interest 10 the fact that from its nams
IL derived the word muslin. that ar
5tiele having originated here Like
most Turkish cities, it, glory lies
chiefly in the past. It has no manu-
features at present. although 1t ex-E
ports largely Of wool. hides and gall
nuts, for tanning. It was interesting
70 learn that much OF the wool OF the
fat-tailed sheep which I have been
watching day after day along the river
\ consigned to Philadelphia hrm.
The hides. also, md their way In large
quantities to America.
The fanaticism Of the city 10 IA
nous, although twas . pleasant sur
prise to md natives speaking CRATE
fully Of the memory Of DR.. Williams
father Of DR.. Talcott Williams Of Phil.
adslphia, who lived here many years
ago, before this mission station Of
the American board was abandoned.
AZ q rule. Moslems hereabouts have
scant courtesy for Christians. They
say, Allah made both heaven and
hell, 30 both must be nlled; and that
Is the reason for Christians" x Al An
other local proverb has 1t, Fire must
have sticks. and hell must have Chris
tians. i a n
Despite this prevailing sentiment. |
the more Intelligent citizens confess
that regardless Of the theological prob
lens which the admission involves.
the Christian nations have been great
~ blessed by Allah, and 1t behooves
Turkey to learn modern ways from
them. There are only from six to Q !
dozen Europeans or Americans pass
this way in . whole year, so It seems
strange to f1nd such general awak-
ening among public men to the adj
vantages OF twentieth century civiltza-f
ton. There are no native-born Amer
leans here, and only the one returned
emigrant, whom I have mentioned. But
there has been an inevitable reflex
influence from the people who have
gone to America to live. Only thus
can account for the extraordinary
vogue Of things American, and the de-
mand for American imports.
A Governors Appeal.
E The last of the wallis Of the old regi-