New Britain herald., 1930-04-18
BARREN ISLANDS
 YIELDPEARL CROP
Persia Declares It Owns Home
 of S5,0M,000 Industry

Washington, D. C., April s - The little Bahrein Islands in the sum- drenched Persian Gulf are the sub ject of one of the latest questions to reach the eLague of Nations. The Persian government has protested against the leagues publishing sta tistics of the islands ''as though they were British territory" Per sia insists that the islands arc Per sian possessions.
 Wealth on Land and Sea
 "Why there should be contest from a glance at the map of Asia, says a bulletin from the Washing ton, D. C., headquarters of the Ma tional Geographic society. They lie 20 miles off the sand dune-fringed shore of Arabia in one of the hottest regions of the Near East and might well be just another group of desert islands. But in reality these islands are doubly blessed: with a wealth on their surface and a wealth under the sea that bathes their shores. They possess the priceless asset in Arabia of great fresh- water springs, and they are the base of operations for one of the world s most valuable pearl fisheries.
 "It is because of their Undersea wealth that the Bahrein Islands are best known. Ever since the dawn of history, naked men have gone overheard from boats in the Gulf or Bahrein, clips over their noses and beeswax in their ears, to gather the great oysters that grow on the sea bottom. And from these meaty shells have come some of the ia nous pearls that through thousands of years have bedecked Indian po- tentates, and princesses and queens from Egypt to England.
 Pearl Fishing Democratic Indus
 try
 Pearl fishing off the Bahrein ls- lands is a democratic and coopera- tive affair. Boats are permitted 10 use the waters and to operate from the islands on the payment of small fee to the sheik. From June to November often as many as 5000 small boats, each carrying from s to 15 men, are busy. The divers work in water varying in depth from 30 to 100 feet. Their only equipment consists of a nose clamp. ear plugs a stone to drag them to the bottom, and rope to serve as a signal cord and an elevator.
 'On many of the boats, the oys- ters of the preceding days catch are spread out on the deck and opened each morning before the diving be- gins. All pearls are turned over 10 the captain, and at the end of the season each man gets the share he has earned. The average value of the pearls taken at Bahrein each year is more than five million dollars.
 "Of the five sizable islands of the group, Bahrein Island is of dominant importance. It is approximately 2 miles long and 10 miles wide On it is Manama, the capital and metropo- lis of the archipelago, with a popula- tion of 10000. Muharrah Island, across marrow strait, is the town of Muharrak with 2o.ooo inhabi- tants.
 The total population of the Is land group is about 100000. The springs that gush out on the islands create several luxurant oases that produce valuable crops of dates.
 Island is Trade Gateway
 "Manama, like the city of Vic toria on the island of Hong Kong. seldom goes by it's own name, but usually takes the name of the island. Like Hong Kong, too, it is the is land gateway for a large trade with the mainland. Millions of dollars worth of foodstuffs and merchant disc Is unloaded at the port annual ly to be exported later to interior points of Arabia.
 Little was heard of the Bahrein Islands in relatively modern times until they fell into the hands of. Portuguese adventurers in 1907. The Portuguese were driven out in 1902 by Persian forces. It is on this event and the subsequent 150 years of oc- cupation that Persia bases her claim. In TIPS Arab trihesmen from