Perth Amboy evening news., 1922-04-17
Geographic News
Bulletins By the
National Geographic Society
ABOUT TRIPoLI

NounB mat the ltallarS nave an
other uprising on their hands in
Tripoli a paragrapher might ask II
there is anything significant in Italy's
title to the country dating from the
Treaty OF Ouchy.
The revolt is one of many since
the treaty was signed in 1912, ac-
cording to a bulletin issued by the
National Geographic Society. which
continues in regard to this North
African country:
the Italians called IL. reapplying the
old Greek name-is flooded with
sunlight as are its neighbors; but to
the world at large 1t Is a hazy coun-
try for all that. Its boundaries start
bravely southwark from definite
points on the Mediterranean coast,
but as to just what happens to them
after they get well into the Sahara
neither statesmen o map-makers
seem to agree. They dip somewhere
south of the Tropic of Cancer and
meet somewhere north of Lake Chad
500 or 500 or 700 miles or So Lack
of exploration of its hinterland as
compared with neighboring coun-
regard to Tripoli. And finally little
is known of its populations; it has
been estimated at from 1000, 900 tc
5000. 000.
Opposite Sole Of Italian Boot
"Tripoli is just acros the Medi-
terranean from the sole of the boot
Of Italy, and economic and strategic
reasons are probably sufficient ex-
PLANTATION of Italian interest in the
country. But in addition the Ital-
ians were Influenced by a similar
force to that which turns the faces
of the Greeks toward Asia Minor
a consciousness that their ancient
culture once embraced this country
After Carthage "a destroyed the
area now constituting Libya became
birthplace of two Roman emperors
Septimius Severus and Alexander
Severus.
"Old Roman writer's described the
two parts of Libya, Tripoli and Cy.
renaica, as extremely fertile. Per.
haps they exaggerated, and perhaps
also the climate and physical condi-
lions have changed markedly. Al
any rate most of the country is now
desert with it's fertile strips and GASES
scattered in the wastes of sand and
stones. There is much evidence thai
the region once knew better days eli.
m~atically. Great of stones
set on end and numerous circles Of
monoliths and trilithons. like the ia
nous Stonehenge of England, testify
in this section of North Africa, per.
haps many thousands of years be-
fore Memphis and Babylon were
thought of.
Phocnicians There 340O Years Ago
THE Phoenicians began the re-
corded history of the country by es.
t~ablishing cities there, perhaps al
early as 1900 B. C. The fact thai
these cities and their surrounding
country throve then. and that later
Greek and Roman culture flourished
there, indicates that the country wal
more favored then than now.
sand dunes have encroached
through the centuries on much LIANT
in the fertile strip along the Medi-
terranean coast. But the relatively
largely due to sociological and gov
ernmental factors. The commercial
Phoenicians and the c~olonizing
Greeks and Romans were able to
make the most of the country. Since
the region was overrun by the Arabs
in GA A. D., and since it passed un-
der Turkish control later, however,
1t has been marked to a considerable
extent by economic and cultural
stagnation. While the other princi-
pal countries of Africa bordering on
the Mediterranean have been under
European control for nearly half a
century and have been becoming
more prosperous under stable forms
of government, Tripoli remained I'M
til 1911 the last stand of the Turk
- Rrsao & xyn a~aanf Tho nnrptna
~suzerainty of the Sultan in Egypt.
I'm places along the 1000-mile
coast of Tripoli the arid sands come
down to the waters edge, but be-
tween are fertile areas on which
palms, olives, figs, oranges. and 9TH
err fruits flourish. Farther inland
among the highlands occur some
rather large patches on which olives
and fruits and grain are grown.
Then come the vast desert stretches
in which are hidden away small,
palm-covered GASES. On consider
able areas in Cyrenaica grain and
grasses grow and stock-raising
promises to become an important In
dustry.
Difficult Terrain for Europeans
'Tripoli has difficult terrain for
Europeans to fight over against des-
ert folk familiar with all its stones
and sand hills. Everywhere. to serve
as hiding places. are the innumer-
able 'wadis,' which Westerners will
understand better when it is ex-
planned that they are the Arabic
equivalent for the arroyos or dry
gullies of our West. The vast desert
hinterland is untouched by steel
rails. So far the Italians have been
able to construct only about a hun
bred miles of railroad along the
coast on each side of the City of
Tripoli and about another 100 miles
extending from the port inland.
1.-The City Of Tripoli has been
called the gateway to the Saraha.
Three historic a routes have
converged there for ages: the trail
from Timbuktu, that from lake
Chad, and a southeastern route from
the region of the Egyptian Soudan.
These routes were of great import
ance for the bringing from. central
Africa of ivory, ostrich feathers, gold
dust, and perhaps most valuable OF
all in a primitive environment
black gold'-negro slaves. This traf'
fc was ostensibly abolished by Tur'