Perth Amboy evening news., 1922-08-02
Geographic News
Bulletins by the
National Geographic Society
ABOUT KARACHI


"karachi,S the Seattle of Hindu
stan. and neck of the bottle through
which India troops pushed into the
Mesopotamia campaign, further JUS
titled Sir Ross Smiths characteriza-
tion, the aerial gateway to India
when Major Blake recently landed
there in his -girdling flight"
says a bulletin from the Washington,
D.. G. headquarters Of the National
Geographic Society.
Because this great port city Of
northwest India is modern, clean,
busy. 1t fame has suffered. Most writ
ers turn elsewhere for local color
and dismiss Karachi with a broad
side of statistics. Yet Karachi Is
the sort of place where a Thoreau
might travel extensively one may
cit there and watch much of India
go by.
Interesting Zoo for the Animals
Consider the Karachi zoo, for ex-
ample. 1t domiciles specimens of
the strange animals of India but, as
n traveller whimsically remarked,
1t must be the most interesting 200
In he world for the animals. They
can watch the passing show of Sind
merchant with his pill-box hat, the
Parsi maid with sari in delicate pas
tel shade and lace curtain under-
waist, and the Baluchi swain with
corkscrew curls.
"One Of the newest and biggest
buildings is wholly devoted to a dis
play of American automobiles and
American monographs. And an
other newer business building is the
Serai-a mammoth ablishment
for caravan camels, and their drlv-
Rra and fhAfr ~ VIC EN.s, ,---
the ungainly camel has been sub
jected to the last indignation, that
Of being hitched to a vehicle. As
his hump p%rotrudes far above the
wagon top the beast seems all out
Of proportion to his burden. His
other principal use is the Sind des-
ert hides his lank form under many
bushels Of scraggy firewood.
Projects Into Punjab
Geographically, Karachi is one
of the most significant cities of In
dia. 1t Is the wrist OF the hand of
modernism which is working its fin
gers into the PunJab-literally the
land of five waters. Railways as
well as rivers are the arteries OF
the ever-growing flow of trade into
the region which ranks with Meso-
potamia and the Lower Nile as an
early cradle of civilized men. Can
ais spread the Indus waters over
a fertile area to increase the pro-
ducts which emerge through Kar-
achi.
"A grass plot In Karachi is an or
child patch. Grass, just plain grass,
is about the most expensive flower
the city affords. 1t is priced by the
resident because it Is a reminder of
the countryside OF. old England and
by the visitor because it is the one
.ouch Of green against the dun-gray
desert.
One typicaliy Indian sight of
Karachi is the crocodile which is
more prevalent in India tradition
than apparent in present-day fact.
Over at the Mugger pier the visitors
from the West watch these slo.hfui,
Shiny creatures. which have gained
a semi-sacred status that means
immunity and food.
Gaining OH Bombay
ITO the casual visitor Karachi
does present broad, clean streets
square. nlonotonous houses, a new
drydock, and O western hustle
around the water front. 1t is fast
gaining on Bombay in volume Of its
shipping because it is the shortest
route from the Punjab and Central
Asia to the outside world. 1t Is
nearly 500 miles by sea north vest Of
Bombay and about twice that far by,
rail.
The average OF the maximum
daily temperatures in Karachi lis "a
degrees, which fact would hardly
lead one to suspect that it is not only
the capital but the summer resort Of
Sind. Yet the sea breezes make it
the coolest spot in this driest and
hottest region of India. At Hydera-
bad, Sind. the average MAXIMUM
temperature is 107 degrees.
For about a hundred years
Karachi had been a mere fort and
its development into a city did NOT
begin until 1912 when the British
took it over from the Talpur afnirs.
Thus free to develop economically
1t began to grow rapidly and it's
strategic economic position today
can be realized by tracing the great
Railway of which It'll is The sea
terminus back 500 miles to Lahore:
and following the mighty Indus and
It's great tributaries as they spread
out like a fan over fertile Purjab."