The Ordway new era., 1921-04-01
BAKU: OIL CITY OF THE
CASPIAN y

The recent outbreak of a revolt In
RUSSIA against the Bolshevik regime
voices among other interesting aues-
tions that of whether Baku. the great
Oil city of Asia, now surrounded by
BOlshevik governments, will be once
more thrown open to world commerce.
This city in the heart of one of the
worlds greatest petroleum fields, has
been practically bottled up since the
rail- of the Russian empire.
The city of Baku, built in the form
of an amphitheater on the south side
of the Apsheron peninsula. which juts
far out into the Caspian sea, is the
Tampico of the Sav domain. Two
vast Oil fields, containing more than
2,IOO wells. make it the chief oil cen
ter of Europe. During the World war,
had the Teutonic powers succeeded in
reaching 1t before the British forces
occupied it, the blow would have been
even more serious to the allied cause
than was the seizure of the Roumani-
an oil fields by the German army of
occupation.
According to a census the year be-
fore the outbreak of the war, Baku
was city about the present size of
Providence, II. l., Columbus, Ohio, or
Louisville, Ky. 1t was the chief city
of the Russian province of the same
name, but in recent years the province
has formed a government of its own
under the name of the Republic of
Azerbaijan. Baku is situated in the
mil tISst nr
plain which stretches along the west
ern shores of the Caspian. The Cas-
plan is 81 feet below sea level, and
Baku rises only 80 feet above the
great inland sea, so that it is more
than SO feet below the ocean level.
Many centuries ago the Persian fire
worshipers discovered that the nat
ural gases issuing from fissures in the
rocks near Baku would burn, and
there may be seen, a few miles from
the city, the remains of one of their
ancient temples. The city itself was
in existence as early as the sixth CEN
tury. 1t did not become a Russian
possession until little more than a
hundred years ago.
The upper part of the city, corre-
spending to the back rows of an
amphitheater, is the picturesque Tatar
quarter, with its many narrow lanes
and oriental bazaars. A fifteenth-cen-
fury palace of the khans is in very
dilapidated condition, and has been
used for many years by the Russians
as military magazine. The most
Characteristic structure In the town
is the massive Kis Kale, or Maidens'
Tower, which rises to a height of 147
feet and which Is now used as light
house. 1t dates from the Byzantine
period.
Four fifths of all the oil produced In
the Russian empire comes from the
Baku fields. The high-water-mark Of
production was reached in 1902 when
the output of the district was nearly
ten million tons of crude petroleum.
In 1905, however, there was dis
astrous fire which considerably cur
tailed production for time. The
latest authentic figures on production
are those for 1915 when a little more
than seven million tons was produced.
Much of the output of the wells which
vary Ill ueptu 1IOIu ooO " <,ooo ACCt,
was transported by pipe line to Batum
on the Black sea. but Baku is also
connected by rail with this seaport
as well as with Rostov-On-the-DOn
The former city lies $50 miles to the
west, across the present republic of
Georgia, by way of Tifiis, and the lat
ter is S1S miles to the northwest, in
old Russia.
In addition to its oil interest, Baku
had drydocks. flour mills, sulphuric
acid works and tobacco factories. 1t
was the chief entrepot for raw cotton,
silk, fruits, dried fish, wines and rice
produced in Persia and the Transcau-
casus territory.
The town derives its name from the
SQUALLS (badkube) which are frequent
ly very violent on this part of the
Caspian coast.