Norwich bulletin. [volume] (Norwich, Conn.) 1895-2011, 1915-11-16
SECURES RAW MATERIALS
FOR CENTRAL POWERS.
BY Getting Possession Of Orient Rail-
way Between Belgrade and sofia.
Especial to The Bulletin.9

way Between Belgrade and sofia.
Especial to The Bulletin.s
Washing D.. O., Nov. With
the conquest and opening-up OF the
connecting link in the Orient Railway
between Belgrade and Sofia by the
Teutonic and Bulgarian allies, vast
materials has been made accessible
for the supply of the hard-pressed
Central Powers. Probably, the most
important feature of this accomplish
ment is the bringing of the Austro-
Hungarian and German nations into
communication with lands where are
found minerals and products of agri-
culture in abundance; though the con-
troll Of the Orient Railway, also, en-
ables the remunitioning of Turkey and
the transportation of German troops
to territories threateningly near the
Suez Canal. Al sketch of the stores of
Asia Minor, or Anatolia, upon which
the Germans will now be able to draw,
is contained in bulletin just issued
by the National Geographic Society.
The bulletin reads:
THE mineral and agricultural wealth
of Turkey-in-Asia is very great. This
wealth, however, is largely of the po-
tential kind, for, except in limited
areas, agriculture is carried on &C
cording to primitive methods, while,
for the most part, the mineral stores
have been left untouched. Among the
minerals known to exist in consid-
cradle quantities are iron, copper
nickel, lead, maganese, silver, sui
phur, coal antimony, arsenic, emery,
fulIer's earth. gold, kaolin, zinc, alum,
asbestos, rock-salt, boracide, chrome
and mercury OF these resources, the
copper stores will likely, be the most
priced by the Germans, though little
has been done under Turkish admin
istration toward exploiting the cop
per. The reserves of Anatolian cop
per are said to be large
Wheat, corn and barley are grown
in large quantities in Asia Minor, and,
in normal times, much of the surplus
barley has been exported to Great
Britain, where it has been used for
brewing. There is a considerable
surplus of wheat. which should re-
lieve the reported meal scarcity in
the mills of the Central Powers. The
west coast of Asia Minor is noted for
the fruits that ripen in its Mediter-
ranean climate. Here are grown an
important part of the worlds raisin
crop. Olives and figs, also, thrive
along the Aegean coast. Where hot
summers shelter over the northern
Anatolia coasts some of the finest
Turkish tobacco is raised, which, in
all likelihood, is now a rare luxury
among German smokers. A sort OF
tobacco is grown in Germany, a pale,
insipid, unfragrant leaf, which bears
little resemblance to the rich tobac-
co of America, Turkey and the East
Indies. Great quantities of hazel nuts
are among the exports of this area,
and cotton, another staple which the
Germans are said to be greatly in
need of, is grown in the districts of
Kassaba and Aidin in the west, and
on the Cilician plain in the southeast.
"An through Turkey there
has been but little accomplished to-
ward building up a manufacturing in
dustry. Olive oil soap is extensively
manufactured at Smyrna; carpets are
woven in various places, mostly pro-
ducts of home industry; leather is
produced; and cigarettes are made in
large numbers. In Syria, there are
important weaving, dyeing and tan
ming industries at Aleppo and Aintab
and there is some small manufacture
in Mesopotamia.
1.-The principal exports of Asia Min
or are raisins, tobacco, figs, barley
1iquorice, wool, hides, cotton and
skins. Owing to the backward organ
ization of the country it is difficult to
assign any values to- the annual ex-
ports of these articles, which would
be worth considering. The leading
exports of Syria include lemons, or
anges sesame, soap, silk, barley, and
liquoriee, while Mesopotamia exports
large shipments of dates, wool, bar
ley, wheat and opium. Yemen, in
Arabia, the land which is mostly a
desert. exports the famed Mocha cof-
fee. Coffee is said to be very scarce
in Germany now. Dates are about
the only other export from Arabia of
any importance.
The climate of Syria is of the ex-
IRENE Mediterranean type, and most
of the soil Is fertile. IN great part
however, it remains unworked. Silk
worms are raised in many parts of the
land. and, before the wars outbreak
most of the silk was sent for manu-
facture to Lyon, France. Some silk is
spun in Syria. Cotton is. an import
grain crop is raised. Much of once
fertile Mesopotania is now desert
The old irrigation systems have fall
len to decay, and, where forty CEN
turtles ago the land was fruitful, to-
day is merely wastage. In some areas
wheat, barley and beans are grown
for export. The date palm and the
elements in present day Mesopotamia
agriculture"
Some idea of the Importance of the
most recent sources of cotton sup
ply opened to the Central Powers by
their conquest of the Servian link OF
the Orient Railway is given by a sur
vey of the cotton producing areas OF
the world, which shows how com
pletely AuStro-Hungary and Germany
were shut off from the raw cotton
| market" says war primer given out
by the National Geographic Society
recently.
THE United States, of course, is
the worlds greatest producer of cot