The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-06-07

famines by which India has been Wis
tied periodically since the dawn Of his
tory. should entitle her to the gratitude
of the teeming native population of
over three hundred millions, and should
lie regarded by mankind as the finest
and most useful OF all memorials of
British sovereignty over Hindustan.
British South Africa, in particular
the Transvaal, the Orange State and
Cape Colony. have had recourse to Sir
William Willcocks's experience and ad-
vice. He has paid several extended
visits to that part OF the world. The
irrigation works there already in oper-
alton have been designed by him. and
there are many more for which he Is
responsible that are either in course Of
construction or still in state of
project. All this means immediate and
prospective addition to the cultlvable
area and consequently to the revenues
Of the State and to the prosperity OF
the people.
or indefatigable energy and Of alto
gether phenomenal activity, Sir Will
lam, not content with his labors in
India, In South Africa, and as the mas
ter and mentor of old Father Nile
formerly so unruly but now entirely
DTOuSHt uHutT
some years ago the post OF chief of the
Irrigation Department of the Ottoman
Empire and set himself to work to
restore the ancient Chaldea to what 1t
was in olden times, namely. the gran
airy OF the then known world. In the
thousands OF years that preceded the
Christian era the valleys Of the great
rivers Tigris and Euphrates, which run
oil lal Will ar hnr
the mountains in mort lern Asia Minor
to the Persian Gulf, were crisscrossed
in every direction by a wonderful net
work Of canals, the ruins of which, even
to this day, are OF nature to excite
admiration for the ingenuity and skill
Of the Babylonian engineers who de-
signed and built them.
Intentional destruction, during the
interminable wars and invaslons which
have succeeded one another almost
without interruption in that part Of the
world for tens of centuries, as well
as that neglect and incompetence which
are SO characteristic Of life in the near
Orient. completely put an end to the
existence OF this system of irrigation,
with the result of Transforming the val
leys Of the Tigris and the Euphrates
and the country extending many hum
lreds OF miles east and west of these
streams into alternate swamp and des-
ert unfit for cultivation or even for
habitation.
Sir William after the downfall of
Sultan Abdul Hamil some five or six
years ago. having been invited by the
new regime at Constantinople to give
his advice about the matter. undertook
to restore the valley of the Euphrates
and OF the Tigris to their former fer
tllity and prosperity. As the result Of
an elaborate survey o the entire dis
trict he submitted to the Sublime Porte
complete designs and estimates for a
vast series Of works. comprising the
reconstruction OF most Of the old Baby
lonian system Of canals and the build
ing OF number OF new ones as we'll
as series of barrages and dams for
the purpose Of regulating the two riv-
ers in question and preventing them
from overlooking their banks and thus
feeding the ever growing swamps
Two great dams across the Euphrates
have already been completed just