Evening star., 1932-01-10
CONTINUED From Third Page,

a 1Of mOntEG across burning SdnOs OF
3 waterless prairies to reach this goal, to
die on this hallowed spot and thus be
insured of life eternal, no great effort
As needed to be escorted-aS one of the
favored via the Zem-Zem route,
through those wide-swung gates Of
nothsr of-pearl and to step into such q
wondrous vista of repoSe and beauty.
Our paper mills In New England are
adding their bit by equipping this
fountain Of bliss" with sanitary drink
dng cups. Western science has further
conspired against the long suffering
hadjis in furnishing the equipment to
replace the open water ducts at Nina
with hydrants and water pipes. For is
Il not at Nina, on the outskirts Of
Mecca spot sacred to the rites of
stoning the devil in atonement for sins
or infractions of religious duties COM
mitted while in the Holy City-that the
black imps that inhabit the pious are
thrown into the open streams and eX
terminated by their posseSSorS who
drink of the polluted water? Here, in
atonement for past sins, an average of
100,0 600 sheep are annually slaughtered
on the burning sands.
Have Telephone Systems.
Jedda and Mecca have their tele-
phone systems. A long-gowned oper-
= ator at Jedda-a Hedjazi in yellow slip
pers, polite and ceremonious-will put
you through in few minutes on long
distance to the Kings Secretary or to
one Of his ministers at Mecca.
And al Hedjaz" has its wireless.
Nine Marconi stations stretching across
the country from Jedda, the Red Sea
port. to the Persian Gulf have recently
been installed by Moslem engineers from
Egypt. Three of these, with powerful
sending and receiving apparatus, are at
Jedda, Mecca and El Riyahd. Now,
when Ibn Saud makes his cross
country desert trips, an outfit mounted
on a truck following just behind the
royal car keeps his majesty IN touch
with what is going on in the four
corners of his dominions.
Powerful new American airplanes, If
bending negotiations are worked out,
will soon be speeding Moslem pilgrims
hfrom Mecca, the birthplace of Ma
snomet, to Medina, the sacred city of
sa1is tomb. Covering this $50 miles, as
the crow flies, they will accomplish in
stwo hours what camel caravans now
take 10 days to do: they will fly over
highland trails where even a pre-war
rTord could not find foothold. Some
day In the not too distant future, over
a bright, straight track of so miles
spanning the wilderness between Jedda,
s'the Portal of the House of Allah" and
Mecca, high-speed American electric
cars will clang, operated by henna-
Bearded, white -turbaned hadjis.
And parallel to these rails will extend
an asphalt pavement like a glistening
black satin ribbon, replacing the age
un1A la Lxro r1yl1a
was the goal Of the idolatrous black
stone and devil worshipers. Along this
national turnpike will glide great green
(the Prophets own color Six-wheeled
buses from Michigan and Ohio.
Twelve miles out on the Mecca road
guardhouse flanked by two white stone
pillars marks the deadline beyond which
Christians are not allowed to proceed.
and those Of them who reach this desert
outpost are only the few and favored.
Somewhere back Of fringe of foot
hills lies the Forbidden City.
Hedjaz Recognized by U. S.
Holy shades of Allah, the merciful,
the compassionate What has happened
to the heart of Islam, to this fount of
the true faith, to this sacred city Of
Mecca? Nothing more than that the
land of the Prophet, where all that the
West stands for has always been anath-
ema, has suddenly discovered that the
fruits Of Occidental-and, especially in
teresting to us, ,Americans-progresS are
indispensable to its comfort and well
fare. Therefore. with a reason-a COR
mercial one-Washington has recently
recognized the Hedjaz. We have no
Political ak TO grind in that country;
We do not want any of its territory;
there are only one or two hundred pill
grin1S who 60 there each year from the
Philippines. But we manufacture and
produce many things that the Hedjazis
n1w use or will buy from us in the
future.
And so the realm Of Ibn Saud has
been found by us to be sovereign and
independent nation and worthy of our
friendship and support. Eight Euro
pean countries, besides Egypt and Per-
sia, have recognized the Hedjaz and
established their legations or consulateS
at Jedda during the last 10 years.
Next to that Of England, the friend
ship Of the United States has meant
more to King Ibn Saud, the powerful
leader Of the WahabiS, than that of any
other nation.
What and where is the Hedjaz and
why should we recognize it?" is the
average Americans reaction.
The Hedjaz in 1925 was but a strip
of desert country along the western
coast Of the peninsula Of Arabia, with
an area Of 10000 square miles-about
the size OF California. But in that year
out Of his desert stronghold at Riyahd,
500 miles east OF the Red Sea and a
fortnight by camel from the Persian
Gulf, swept Ibn Saud the son of Saul"
followed by thousands OF his fanatical
Wahabis from the puritanical province
of the Nejd. In whirlwind rushes they
rode into Mecca, Medina, Taft and
Jedda. They settled themselves in the
coastal lowlands of the Tehama: they
scattered the armies of King HuSSein,
who was forced to abdicate. Having
annexed large portion of the Arabian
Peninsula, Ibn Saud on the field Of bat
tie made himself King and Shereef of
Mecca and then settled down to con-
solidate the new dominions.
Now the western and eastern boun-
daries OF this kingdom of the HedjaZ,
Nejd and dependencies. are the Red
Sea and the Persian Gulf, with some
900 miles of trackleSs wastes lying be-
tween them, dotted here and there by
fertile oaseS, such as Mecca, Taft and
El Riyahd. Along its northern from
tiers are Transj jordania, Syria and the
kingdom OF Irak. The independent
Imamate Of the Yemen is on its south
ern border on the Red Sea side To
the southeast lies the "Ruba -el-Kali."
or Empty Quarter. There is no boun-
Diary between the Empty Quarter and
the HedjaZ because no one has ever
been able to determine Just where it
should be. No country owns as yet
this Ruba- -el-Kal. The Hedjaz
claims it.
Now, with its frontiers extended in
all directions the area of the Hedjaz
has been increased threefold. 1t IS