Imperial Valley press., 1924-05-01
Aten Tells OF
Life In Egypt
I'm Air Service
Continued from page /

gasoline and supplies, unless, Of
course, there is trouble which re-
quircs special landing. The mail
schedule calls for one trip each
WAY every two weeks, and with
each trip &bout SEQ or coo pounds
Of mail are carried.
BaEdad has b3I one railway,
That runs from Hashra, port city
400 miles down the TigriS At the
point where ii and the Euphrates
Join. Over this railway come prac-
tieallv ali the shipments from the
outside world The nearest rail
road 5 more than 80 miles away.
While he was stationed at the
Nurdi>tan frontier as part of
his duties in Ghe 10th Squadron,
Lieutenant Aten visited Mosul,
across the liver from the site of
ancient Nineveh. "The ruins here
are far more interesting than those
OF Babylon, although there are not
Sc many of the ruins left intact,
he said. "Thc reason for this IS
that the excavations here were com
ducted bv Germans. who removed
their findings 10 Germany, whereas
the excavations at Babylon were
conducted by Americans and Eng
lish and were left, us far as pos
s;bln. rs thev were uncovered.
About q half mile from Nine
veh is little Arab settlement clus-
tered about a mosque. The visitor
is assured bv these villagers that
it Is on this spot that Jonah, who
was swallowed by the whale, WIS
buried.
AT Mosul there is 4 great mix
ture Of peoples living in their little
quarters. Kurds, Arabs, Svrians,
Turks, Armenians, Jews, a peculiar
peopie called Tel-Keifians and
small settlement OF Christians, who
have probably descended from the
original Christians of Biblical
times.
Tells OF Babylon
Lieutenant Aten said he had spent
about a dav locking over the excl
vations in Babylon. ''From Il dis
ancr, this ancient city looks like q
huge mound Of dirt. But when one
climbs up the banks, there are found
entire streets and temples standing
as they were uncovered by students
and research parties.
.'Thc Temple of lshtar, with mas
sive walls jutting above the other
rains. IS the best preserved and
most impressive of the deserted ci-
X. There are remarkable relief fig
ures on the walls, formed by bricks
that have been carved 20 fit into
the huge scheme. Peculiar animals
with great horns, and oddly shaped
heads are worked into the walls
il this fashion.
."The general climate around
Bsglad is similar to that Of I'M
periaI valley" the icutenan. said.
: s.Irrigation along the banks of the
Tigfis and Euphrates is conducted
much as it was years ago. oxen
and donkeys are used to operate
primitive pumping machines and
drag crooked sticks, that serve as
ploE.s, over the soil. When one is
flving over the desert i'll this reg
ion Il is possible to see the outlines
of. huge canals that at one time
furnished the entire region with
wafer. These canals are barely dis
tinguishahle in places and the banks
are broken down at intervals. They
would measure perhaps 40 Or 30 feet
across.
Lieutenant Aten expects to go to
San Francisco in June for visit
with relatives and friends there,
ana on July s, will set out for
London, where his headquarters for
the next two years will be, having
been transferred to Il bombing
squadron there.
The Woman S Club of Turlock,
Stanisiaus County, will build Il $l0,-
nC0 .1ub