Evening star., 1923-11-12
Somber Note in Serbian ROYAL
Wedding Due to Queen Sophia

name, and will be known, from hence
forth as Lloyd dam
1t will be the biggest dam in the
world, even much larger than the gil
gantic Assuan dam over the Nile, and
five times the length of London
bridge. 1t will. with the five canals
constructed in connection Herewith,
bring under cultivation a now bar
rem region extending over S.000.000
acres which is at present an arid mere
desert. but which will be rendered,
by means of this irrigation scheme,
available for the cultivation of cot
ton, rice, wheat, etc. Indeed, the
region will be changed into vast
granary to which the great Indian
seaport of Karachi will serve as the
point of export and distribution.
The canals, five in number, will, to-
gether. form length of 1000 miles.
Two of the three canals carrying
off water from the right bank of the
Indus are each wider than the Suez
on the left bank, is nearly three times
the breadth of the Suez canal, with
volume of water equal to the maxi
mum discharge of the River Thames
at it's mouth.
1t may be safely said that the Lloyd
dam and its system of canals is the
greatest constructive work ever, as
yet, undertaken in India with a view
to relieving the frequent famines due
to the overcrowding of the teeming
population of over 200,0o0,000. These
famines have been, for centuries, one
of the most difficult problems with
which various successive govern
ments of India have had to deal
being SO largely the result of the
periodical failure of the monsoon,
that is to say, to climatic conditions.
The Lloyd dam and its canals, in
volying the expenditure, to the Brit
ish government, of s74,OOo,0O viii
go far to obviate and solve the
famine problem and will leave a
lasting mark upon India of the bene-
fits and advantages of its admins
tration by the British crown.
X x x X
Sir George Lloyd has devoted the
greater part of his five-year term to
getting this irrigation scheme under
way, overcoming all sorts of appar-
emily insuperable obstacles, and il is
only right and just that the great
dam, which is the chief feature of
the system, should bear his name, and
that he should have been able to lay
its foundation stone the other day,
with much pomp and ceremony, be-
fore leaving Bombay. He has made
good in India and done justice TO the
wisdom of King Georges appoint
ment, largely at the instance of his
mother. Queen Alexandra, who had
Lady Lloyd with her for many years
as one of her favorite maids of honor.
Previous to his appointment as
governor of Bombay, Sir George
Lloyd saw service in Egypt, on the
peninsula of Gallipoli, in Mesopo-
tamia and under Gen Allenby
in Palestine. At the outset of the
war, the then Capt. George Am
brose Lloyd was appointed by Lord
Kitchener to assist in organizing the
intelligence service of the wan de-
partment in the near east. Owing
to his perfect mastery of Arabic, the
result of twenty years travel and
study in India, he was one of the
three English officers charged with
the organization of the force of the
Grand Shereef of Mecca at the out
break OF the latter's insurrection
against the Sublime Porte.
He was also sent on a special mis-
sion to Russian military headquarers.
via Archangel, in 1916, and was pres
ent with the Russian army In Galicia
at the time of it's invasion of Austrian
Poland and Hungary. Sir George's
wife is the former Hon. Blanche Las
ceIles, a daughter of a younger broth
er of the present Earl of Harewood.