The weekly times-record. (Valley City, N.D.) 1912-1922, 1921-11-24

pers. Certain Of these regions are
said to be among the most fertile in
The world, producing in abundance not
only the finest of wheat and barley,
but grapes, apricots, peaches, nectar.
ines, pomegranates, figs and melons
which are unsurpassed among the
fruits Of the temperate zone. Cotton
and tobacco thrive, and roses, as we'll
as other flowers, gloriously deserve
the frequent association Of their
names with that Of Persia.
Now Has Chance to Develop.
The day is at hand as one of the
by-products of the war, when Persia
has the opportunity to begin TO learn
from British experts. not only how
to reclaim more desert land by build
ing better aqueducts and by throwing
barrages across mountain goryes TO
store the surplus Of the spring fresh
cts. but how to establish closer COM
munication with the outside world
and TO develop her great potential re-
sources.
Lacking in the energy, initiative
and cooperative spirit necessary to
develop their country themselves, the
Pcrsians have suffered from the jeal.
GUS rivalry of their neighbOrs, and
from a seclusion forced by nature, but
belied by their central geographical
location, in all the recent hstory-mak.
ing disturbances in the Near and Mid.
die East
In spite of her position as YER
liable Asiatic Belgium, Persia is
strangely cut of from world inter
course by those same natural bar
riers which so affect her climate.
At the opening Of this century not
a single highway suitable for wheeled
conveyances pierced the mountains to
the plateau. A few foreign officials
and tfrequent venturesome travellers
made their toilsome way by caravan
over tOrtuous passes to the Persian
capital or to other Persian cities, and
the Persians themselves for the most
part stayed at home. But about 1900
a government subsidized Russian COM
pany opened a post road as a mill.
ry-commercial venture, which
climbed from the Persian port of
EMAIL, on the Caspian sea, to the
capital city, Teheran.
Five years ago three or four post.
carriage routes and narrow-gauge
railway running five and a half miles
from Teheran to suburban shrine
were the only competitors Of the pic
turesque but slow-moving caravan.
Teheran's Fine Location.
No one knows how long there has
been a city where the present CAPT.
tai of Persia stands. 1t has not al
ways been called Teheran, nor has 1t
always been in the same spot; but a
city has existed in the locality as far
back as Persian history reaches.
Such a suitable site could hardly be
overlooked. 1t is at an altitude of
nearly 1000 feet, at the foot Of tower
ing mountains, at the junction Of three
great Asiatic caravan routes, near
mountain passes, and beside an ample
supply Of water. Favored in these
ways, it has accumulated a population
of more than 100000 since the begin
ming of the Nineteenth century.
The latitude is that of Cape HAT
teras. The three summer months are
exceedingly hot and dry, but if one
wishes the luxury Of summer resort
it is at his door.
Although occupying an ancient site,
Teheran is modern city. It has
been the capital of Persia only a lit
tie more than century, and has been
an important metropolis for a much
shorter time than that.
In journeying to Teheran from the
Caspian sea, so sudden is the tran
sition from desert to city that before
one realizes that the journey is at
an end he finds himself gathering
across the stone causeway over the
moat toward the most surprising of
gateways, great multicolOred facade
overlaid with gay mosaic Of glisten-
ing tiles and topped with numerous
minarets Ornamented IN the same
fashion.
Tche:an is one of those numerous
cities between the Near and the Far
East which calls for modification Of
kipling's oft-quoted line; for here
East and West have met, but have
not mixed. !