The Pioche record. [volume] (Pioche, Nev.) 1908-1925, 1921-09-02
Supposed Site Of Garden OF Eden
Included in Territory Of
Kingdom of lrak.
SLICE TAKEN FROM TURKEY
Under British Mandate and Arabian
! Rule the Section, Better Known as
+; Mssopotamia. Is Expected to
L Regain Former Glory.

washington.-Th impending addi-
ton OF new member to the family OF
nations-the kingdom Of lrak, TO func-
ton under a British mandate-is men-
toned In recent dispatches from Lon
don. How this new" country Is III
reality one OF the oldest and most his
toric patches of the earth's surface Is
told In the following bulletin from the
Washington headquarters Of the Ma
tional Geographic society:
''Irak has existed as a geographical
name for ages" says the bulletin, but
In recent centuries It has had little
more official sanction than Manhattan
for the American metropolis or 'Fris-
Co for thriving Pacific port. Yet II
covers more or less indefinitely re-
giOn known, and often famous, In
every age Of man from the dawn of
tradition to the present--the fertile
plain of the Tigris and Euphrates val
leys. where the Garden of Eden Is sup
posed by many students to have been
situated. Strip Irak of its alias; call
II Babylon = -Mesopotamia,
and 1t Is known to every school child.
A Slice of Turkey.
'The country which 1t is proposed
to erect into the practically independ-
ent kingdom of Irak was placed under
the mandate of Great Britain on the
breaking up of the Turkish empire fol-
lowing the World war, and was gen.
orally spoken Of as the mandate for
Mesopotamia.'
1T Is difficult to exaggerate the ag-
ricultural paradise that might be built
up In the lower valley of the two riv-
ers, supplemented by the mineral
wealth taken from the regions farther
north, II the country were under a
strong government, were peopled by
alert, educated Inhabitants, and If the
necessary capital and modern ma
chinery were available. Even with
the factors as they are, the British,
who will continue to hold the man
date, and the Arabians who will be In
Immediate charge Of the government,
are counting on the rise of state
which may be compared without disad-
vantage with some of the great gov
ernments that have occupied the land
In the past.
ITO gain an idea of what wonderful
development can be brought about in
MesopOtamia one need only look into
the past. At the beginning Of history
the plain Of the Tigris and Euphrates
was garden-spot teeming with we'll
fed and wealthy people. II there was
a grandeur that was Greece and q
glory that was Rome there was al
truly splendor that was Babylon
And the splendor Of Babylon was made
possible 5000 years ago largely by tn,
wealth that sprang from the INTENSIVE
cultivation OF the river plain under
gigantic system Of irrigation whlc
even the most ambitious modern sys
tens probably have failed in man
ways to surpass.
'Babylons agricultural Utopia Wa
not short-lived affair, but continue
for nearly ten times as long as tt
period which has passed since viii
men settled In America. The countl
throve with only minor interruption
under Babylonians, Assyrians, Oh,
deans, Greeks and Romans. But alwa
the settled civilization Of the agricl
turists was threatened by the turb
lent Hill people to the north and ea
Finally the Parthians captured t
country and were followed by the Pt
SLAMS. Under these more barbara
rulers the great irrigation system
even then much less efficient than d,