The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1921-08-15
WILD TR|BESMEN
DEFY SPAN|ARDS
AS IN DAYS OF OLD
CASTLE and Aragon Being Hum
bled by the Moors
MOROCCO LITTLE KNOWN
Land of Turmoil again Causing
Trouble for European
Governments

Madrid, Aug l5.--That part OF
Morocco called the Spanish zone
where SPANS troops have just SUI.
fered disastrous reverses at the hands I
of the Moors with the loss of thousands
of square miles Of territory is part |
of the notorious Barbary Coast whose |
pirates preyed on European commerce !
for many years and carried Europeans !
into slavery
In the present generation 1t has |
been made famous by the operations !
OF the chieftain Muai Ahmed er Rails |
uli. who captured and held for rams
ON Ion Perdicaris an American citi- |
zen, in 1905 This was in the admins
trat.on of President Rooseve I and
evoked from Secretary Hay the his
torlc phrase demanding "Perdicaris
alive or Raisuli dead!' 1t resulted in
the almost immediate release Of Per
dlcaris.
The rest OF the world knows com
paratiyely little about Morocco des-
pite the fact that It has been the
ground of intermittent fighting for
centuries. 1t occupies the extreme
northwestern part OF Africa, having
an area estimated at about 100000
square miles and a population Of s.
100000 to l0000.000 It's people con-
| tributed to the armies which once in
vaded Spain and conquered Granada.
| The country is an absolute mon
| archy with su tan or caliph as its
| head. The present occupant of that
| position is Muali el.Mehdi but his con.
| troll over the shereefs. or mobiles. has
| been for many years only nominal.
| Various European governments have
negotiated with the sultans in an at
| tempt to pacify the Moors, but these
| have only resulted in outbreaks by
| numerous leaders such as Raisuli,
who have committed outrages which
| again brought the Moorish question
\ before the European cabinets.
Three races inhabit Morocco the
. original Berbers or mountaineers
who conquered Spain on three differ
tent occass ons: the mixed race of
ARABS and Berbers known as Moors,
/ both of which races are generally
Mohammedans; and the colonies OF
IS Jews which inhabit the coast ana con.
trol the majority of the countrys com
merce
: The Spanish zone where the fight
ing is now in progress. is narrow
d strip of land along the northwestern
Z. coast front ny on the Mediterranean
n Sea II is about 200 miles long. east
and west, with an average breadth.
north and south, of about 90 miles and
extends from Algeria under control
u of the French, 20 the ~ LIANT Ocean
D. on the west. II does not, however
inc ude the extreme northwe tern tip
'. of land on which is located the city Of
a Tangier. The French nominaly con,
troll the territory further south. Span
n. ish troops have fought the Moors for
ID centuries but it was only in 1912 that
the northern littoral of Morocco was
NJ assigned to Spain under the terms
NJ OF the Frances Spanish treaty in that
year. Since then Spain has been en-
gagged at intervals in sporadic attemp
: Is to maintain her authority with
varying success and failure.
Both the French and Spanish govern
W ment decided in January, 1920, to
er make military demonstrate ons IN then
IS respective zones for the purpose oil
of preparing the way to mere orderly
a government The French zone wa.
W soon pacified The Spanish territory
which is administered by Genera
I'd Damaso Berenguer as high commits
k sioner, was not so submissive Span
s. ish troops at first made their base OF
the Atlantic coast of Morocco at Fl
oe Arish. also known as Laraiche From
81 there they penetrated well into the in
II. terror and captured number OF Morr
ish strongho'ds, including the Sc
called secret city OF Sheshawan. Fo
w some time title activity has been re
~ ported in that western district o
ne Morocco.
~ The Spaniards, however, sent an
Id other expedition under the commant
us OF General Sivestre who establishes
es a base at Melilla, midway ON a pre-
al montory which extends from the cas-
tern end of the Spanish zone north