The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1922-07-14

Khiva and the Emlrate of BOkhara,
both of which claimed independence
after the World war, IS three times as
large as Texas, yet it was almost lOSt
in the Tsar'S domains. 1t has as many
people as New York and Massachu-
sets combined and there are as few
Russians as there are ~native-born
Americans on Manhattan isle. It's two
largest rivers empty into Il sea about
the size of Vermont, New Hampshire,
and Massachusetts, and do their best
70 keep it from drying up into a salt
pile; but they are slowly losing the
battle.
The first point Of interest along the
railway is the Akhal oasis, which can
easily be distinguished in spring, but
resembles the desert In late fall and
winter. 1t is he largest oasis In Tur-
kestan, 100 miles long and 10 miles
wide. Here dwell the Tekke TurkO-
mans-huge, t%inelooking men, who
wear sheepskin hats a foot high. The
TurkOmans owe as much of their
charm to their fantastic ~headgear as
does a stage beauty. When they re-
move them and reveal the shaved
heads and gaudy embroidered skull
caps beneath, they seem commonplace;
yet there are many of the older men
whose majesty Of bearing is not a
matter Of costume alone. Their red
cotton khalats give them a princely
stateliness which tie trousered and
booted Russian with his shirt Topping
lacks.
Farther east lies the romantic mud
! flower pot OF Bokhara, which might
be any desert city inclOsed in crum-
bling walls and composed Of mud
houses which have almost no windows
on the streets. A good rim would
wash it away, and if left u the raw
ages Of time this ancient ity would
SON sink to the level Of the dust from
which 1t was constructed. But Box
hara, like many another alcient city,
does not wv its permanent to brick,
marble, or reinforced cOncete, and 1t
will probably survive for slew more
| centuries, patching up hee and re-
building there, never completely old
and never wholly new.
Architecture Of Samrkand.
What costume does fCl BOkhara,
architecture did for Samrkand. The
Registrar. once the shOw-pace OF Gen.
trail Asia, still retains ruch Of its
former beauty, for the ihted tiles
which encase the impOsng facades
Of the mosque schools Shir-Dar,
Tillah Kari, and Ulug Hg have re-
tanned as much Of their DENTAL BRILL
ance as is pleasing to theFestern eye.
| Time has touched the tils Of Samar-
kand with loving fingers leaving all
that was beautiful and bthing that
was garish.
Baku Is more cosmd6litan than
Bokhara, for BOkhara 9 only cos
mOpOlitan in an Asiaticeense. while
Baku contains EurOpe4 influences
and inhabitants as we. From n
end to the other. the 4ucasus is a
vast mine Of copper, un, tin, zinc,
and other metals. In Il lovely Ala
zan Valley of Kakhetit Some Of the
worlds finest wine Is iown, and the
| North Caucasus is a Anary where
American agricultural Mchinery has
reaped rich harvests; n at the east
end of the Caucasus it'll oil that has
made modern history ~ made Baku
a familiar name anon business men
the world owe
=, |
Baku Is we'll built spots and Is
tremendously wealthy but 1t lacks
the distinction OF a ny that has
grown gracefully. Itaavors OF the
%nouveaux riches and Ne boom town
still, at a time whesit Is already
| declining as an Oil-pAuction center,
with GroZny and N4op rising to
wrest its laurels fro the oil port
on the Caspian.