The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1921-08-19
BARBARY COAST
 IS SCENE OF
 NEWEST REVOLT

Madrid, Aug. t9-(The Associated the Spanish zone where Spain's troops have just suffered disastrous reverSes at the hands of the Moors with the sands 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 it has been made famous by the operations of the chieftatn Mulai Ahmed er-Rai- som Ion Perdicaris. an American cit izen, in 1905. This was in the ad- ministrauon of President Roosevelt and evoked from Secretary Hay the historic phrase demanding "Perdicaris alive or Raisuli dead!" It resulted in the almost immediate release of Perdicaris,
 The rest of the world knows com parativeiy little about Morocco despite | the fact that 1t has been the ground | of intermittent fighting for centuries | It occupies the extreme northwestern | part of Africa, having an area esti- | mated at about Soo.000 square miles | and a population of 5.oo0,0oo to 1o.- o00,00. Its people contributed to the l armies which once invaded Spain and | conquered Granada.
 The country Is an absolute mon- | archy with a sultan Or caliph as it's head, The present occupant of that position Is Mu1at ei-Mehdi but his control over the shereefs, or nob1eS, | has been for many years only nom inal. Various European governments have negotiated with the sultans in an attempt to pacify the Moore, but | these have only resulted in outbreaks l who have committed outrages which again brought the Moorish question | before the European cabinets
 Three races inhabit Morocco. the | who conquered Spain on three differ ent occasions. the mixed race of | Arabs and Berbers known as Moors, l both of which races are generally | Moharnmedans, and the colonies of Jews which inhabit the coast cities and control the majority of the coun- try's commerce.
 The Spanish zone. where the fight | ing Is now in progress, Is narrow strip of land along the northwestern | coast fronting on the Mediterranean and west. with an average breadth. north and south, of about 60 miles | and extends from Algeria. under con trol of the French, to the Atlantic | however, include the extreme north western tip of land on which is 1ocat- ed the city of Tangier. The French | ther south. Spanish troops have fought the Moors for centuries but 1t was only in 1912 that the north to Spain under the terms of the | Franco-Spanisch treaty signed in | that year. Since then Spain has been engaged at intervals in sporadic at | tempts to maintain her authority with | varying success and failure.
 Both the French and Spanish gov ernments decided in January, 1920, to make military demonstrations in their respective zones for the purpose of preparing the way to more orderly | government. The French zone was soon pacified. The Spanish territory which Is administered by General Damaso Berenguer, as high comm1s- | sioner, was not so submissive. Span ish troops at first made their base on the Atlantic coast or Morocco at
 E1-Arish, also known as Laraiche. From there they penetrated well in
 to the interior and captured a num- Der of Moorish strongholds. includ- ing the so-caIled secret city of She shawan. For some time little act1v- ity has been reported in that western district of Morocco,
 The Spaniards. however, sent an other expedition under tEe comma nd of General Silvestre, who established a base at Melilla, midway on a pro- montory which extends from tho cas- tern end of the Spanish zone north ward into the Mediterranean. From that point. General Silvestre's troops attempted to penetrate southward in- to the interior. Early successes were reported, but last spring the Span iards encountered strong native troops and hostile tribesmen, estinat- ed to number 10000 and said to be
 
 lery.
 The present reverses of the Spanish forces had their beginning early in June when six companies of auxiliary or native troops mutinied, killed their Spanish officers and then joined the rebels. Since then the Spaniards have suffered several other disasters and have been thrown back upon Mi
 lila Gneral Silvestre was either killed or committed suicide while en- deavoring to maintain one of the out P | posts The Moors in that section are
 headed by Abdel-Krin who is about 35 years old, was educated in France , and Spain and is an accomplish ed . linquist. His aim is said to be to , civilize Morocco in accordance with European ideals but without losing the essentials of Moorish culture. He was once a judge of a native court in Melilla and loyal to Spain. Dur , ing the world war he became actively pro-German and Spain, acting on the
 protest of France, interned him, but l he escaped and was said to have sworn vengeance upon the Spaniards
 and particularly upon General Sil-
 vt,stre.
 RaisuIi has not figured in the re-
 cent fighting. His territory seems to
 lie further westward and he is said
 to have his stronghold in the native
 city of wazan which lies below the
 ,iaI,