Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1924-08-20


of the town play their chess in the
evening, as they have in quiet homes
for hundreds Of years The Arabs
claim they Invented chess
The Bedouin rides in from the des-
ert, smokes his nargileh, drinks the
cups of bitter coffee, and gallops out
again into the void. AS the seasons
change, he folds his tents and moves
with his herds of goats and camels
So long as the statesmen of Europe
want to pay him for their pleasure
i'll calling this or that portion of the
desert kingdom, it matters little to
him. He knows nothing of maps and
cares less. Should they attempt to
make him pay, it would be different.
Kingdom making would not be so
easy.
Emir Abdullah Ibn Hussein is the
nominal ruler of Transjordania. His
court is the same as that of his fore
fathers-a cluster of tents in the des-
ert, which he moves with the seasons.
By automobile it is only five hours
from Jerusalem to Amman, but it is
change from the West to the East,
and there are not many travellers on
the road. Visitors are not generally
welcomed in Transjordania 1t is the
threshold of Arabia, and once across
its borders the law and authority of
| Europe are of the fiimsiest
An automobile can coast almost the
entire distance from Jerusalem, along
the steep hillsides, down into the val
| ley of the Jordan. There is a glimpse
of the Dead sea on the right, and the
! road turns straight across the plains
toward Jericho.
AS one rides through that simmer
ing breathless valley, 1900 feet be-
| low the level of the sea, the heroism
of Joshua when he commanded the
sun to stand still is impressed with
sitting force. The farther end of the
iron bridge across the Jordan is bar
ricaded and a guard of soldiers stops
the car. Unless word has been tele-
| phOned from the tented capital out
side of Amman that a visitor in Eu-
ropean clothes is to be permitted to
pass, the car goes no farther.
From the river the road climbs out
of the broiling valley to the higher
fertile plain. In winter Abdullah
moves his tents and royal court here,
near the Jordan, though he seldom
crosses into the British mandate. To
hold his people, he must play the
role of the desert Arab.
Caravans of camels, shifting in
alarm at the automobile, which the
visitor of today is likely to use, jog
along the road. Every man carries q
long black-barreled rifle sticking up
back of his ears-camel drivers, peas
ants working In the little fields, and
even the boys watching the herds OF
goats on the hills. Transjordanla is
of the desert, where everybody is his
own policeman.
Recently workmen have been leis-
urely clearing away the rubbish from
the Roman amphitheater. Abdullah
does not hope to restore 1t as in the
days when shouting multitudea
watched the games on the banks OF
the little creek, but the dirt and rub
bish which now cover its battered ar
tfstic beauty will be removed.
Similar excavations will be made In
the even larger ruins Of Meshetta, a
few miles from Amman. Other work
men are widening the streets and
building roads in the country.
Area Only 10000 Square Miles.
Amman is a station on the Hedjaz
railroad, much used between Damas.
Gus and the South. However, the
country has few funds for internal
improvements, and the eternal con.
filct with the desert is hopeless. Its
area is only 10000 square miles, with
population of 100000 exclusive OF
nomads.
The annual budget amounts to 81
100000, against a revenue Of $5O0,OOO
Great Britain makes up the differ
ence, one of the many donations to-
ward maintaining an Arab policy.
Transjordania Is a haven for the
exiles and fugitives from all the near
by territory. Under cover OF night
they slip away from Damascus and
other cities in the French mandate
cross the desert with the assistance
of friendly tribes, until the long camel
journey brings them into Transfer
DANA.
Amman and the larger city of Els
Salt are full of men who have cheat
ed the already-overcrowded French
prisons. Few of them have abundant
funds; all must be provided for
They are part of the brotherhood
poets, merchants, editors, Army Off
GERS, Students, lawyers, and men anc
women from everv walk Of life make
up tbs number