The Alamance gleaner 1
VOL. LIV. GRAHAM, N, C., THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 27, 1928. NO. 34.
WHAT'S GOING ON 1
NEWS REVIEW OF
,, CURRENTEVENTS
Florida, Porto Rico, Swept
by a Terrific Hurricane?
Newt of the Campaign.
By EDWARD W. PICKARD
ON THE second anniversary of the
great Miami hnrrlcane the trop
ical storm that already had devastated
Porto Rico, the Virgin Islands and
?ome Islands of the Lesser Antilles
e struck the east coast of Florida In the
Palm Beach region and swept through
the center of the state, turning again
to the northeast and continuing Its
destructive course along the Atlantic
coast Reports coming through shat
tered lines of communication showed
this hurricane was one of the worst
disasters of recent years. The total
number of deaths may reach 2,000,
and many thousands are homeless
and without food and clothing. It Is
Impossible now to make a reasonable
estimate of the tremendous property
losses.
In Porto Rico late reports place the
dead at ITS or more; In Ouadeloupe,
a French Island, nearly 700 were
killed; the known dead In Florida
number at least 700 and may be many
more. The city of West Palm Beach
was practically wrecked, and the fa
talities were many and the destruc
tion great In the Lake Okeechobee
area which was Inundated. Palm
Beach, too, suffered severely, many
line residences and business buildings
being destroyed. Florida National
Guardsmen were called out promptly
to prevent looting and to aid the suf
ferers.
The American Red Cross responded
immediately to the calla tor help from
Porto Rico and Florida and supplies
and physicians and nurses were hur
rled to the stricken regions. Gener
ous citizens answered appeals tor
monetary aid with large subscrip
tions, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., head
ing the list In New York with $25,000.
Relief Director Baker of the Red
Cross went at once to Porto Rico to
take charge of the task of restoration
on the devastated Island. ?
As the hurricane moved up the sea
board the winds and tremendous seas
wrought vast damage. Many vessels
were sunk or driven ashore, and sea
side communities were driven from
their homes by the waters.
HERBERT HOOVER and Governor
Smith both started their personal
speaking campaigns. The Republican
candidate spent two days In New Jer
sey, and the apparent results of the
trip were highly encouraging to his
manager. His chief address waa de
livered In Newark and was directed
especially to labor. He declared him
self specifically In favor of high wages,
free collective bargaining, restrictions
on the use of Injunctions In labor dis
putes, tariff schedules protective of
American labor, continuance of Im
migration restriction, further expan
sion of our foreign export trade, and
governmental assistance to the de
, pressed textile and bituminous coal
Industries.
Democratic Chairman Raskob's re
tort was that Hoover's speech was the
beginning of a Republican campaign
to misrepresent the Democratic atti
tude on the tariff and on Immigration.
Hoover's plans at present contem
plate only a speech at Ellzabethtown,
Tenn.. on October 6, and addresses In
New York and Boston, before return
ing to California to vote. However
considerable pressure la being brought
on him to speak also In Chicago and
In Texas on bis trip across the con
tinent
A1 Smith on his invasion of the
Middle West was greeted everywhere
by huge and enthusiastic throngs of
supporters and also by thousands of
agriculturists and their wives who
were eager to know what he proposed
In the way of farm relief legislation.
His first address was In Omaha and
was mainly devoted to a discussion of
the farm problem. He again declared
himself In favor of the essence of the
McNary-Haugen bill but neither up
held (pacifically nor repudiated the
equalization fee. Here are his words
defining his stand;
"As I read the McNary-HaugeD bill,
Its fundamental purpose Is to estab
lish an effective control of the sale
of exportable surplus with the cost
Imposed upon the commodity benefit
ed. For that principle the Demo
cratic platform squarely stands, and
for that principle I stand. Mr. Hoo
ver stands squarely opposed to th|s
principle by which the farmer could
get the benefit of the tariff. What
remains of the McNary-Haugen bill fs
a mere matter of method, and I do
not limit myself to the exact mechan
ics and method embodied In that bill."
Smith's personal popularity among
the workers he met In Omaha, Lin
coln, Oklahoma City and elsewhere tn
the Middle West, pleased him Im
mensely. While In Omaha a bunch of
Indians made him a member of the
Omaha tribe as "Chief Happy War
rior" and gave him a war bonnet.
Senator Borah started a series of
speeches In eight states for the pur
pose of counteracting the effects of
Smith's tour.
T TP IN Wisconsin, where the polit
teal situation has been so poz
xling, the conservative Republican
forces, led by Kohler, nominee for
governor, bested the La Follette crowd
in the state convention by gaining
control of the resolutions committee
and having the convention Indorse
Hoover and Curtis and the national
platform. The radicals, however, won
the chairmanship of the state central
committee, the place going to Herman
L. Ekern, a devoted follower of La
Follette.
Leaders of both parties were satis
fied with the results of the primaries
In Massachusetts. Benjamin Ldrlng
Young, former speaker of the Massa
chusetts house of representatives and
the choice of Herbert Hoover's advis
ers, was returned a victor over Eben
S. Draper, former state senator and
choice of the Republican wet faction,
as the Republican nominee for pnlted
States'senator. He will oppose Sena
tor David L Walsh In November. On
the Democratic side. Gen. Charles H.
Cole, one of the original Smlth-for
Presldent men, won an overwhelming
victory over John J, Cummlngs In the
contest for the gubernatorial nomina
tion.
WHILE various religious hnd pro
hibition organizations were taking
wallops at A1 Smith (or his attitude
on the liquor question, the wet Repub
licans of the East, who are rather
numerous, hailed with delight a let
ter from Otto Kahn, New York bank
er, to Vice President Dawes, In wltleh
the writer said:
"Knowing Mr. Hoover as both able
and coufageous, I hare no doubfthat.
If elected, his experience In the actual
administration of the Volstead act
will lead him to recommend to con
gress suitable changes In its pro
visions. And 1 am convinced that
such changes will be?and to be effec
tive must be?not In the direction of
Increased stringency, but of Increased
liberality."
%
SEVERAL notable events In aero
nautics marked the week. Juan
de la Clervsr, Spanish Inventor, ghve
his novel "autogyro" Its first severe
test by flying across the English chan
nel, and then demonstrated It again In
flights at Paris. The machine rises
and descends slmost vertically by
means of a windmill propeller and tbe
Wings are nearly negligible, being used
only to keep the plane horizontal. It
was said the British air force' had or
dered several of the machines and
that Prance might buy one.
In Detroit the Packard Motor com
pany announced successful completion
of test flights with an airplane pow
ered by an oil-burning motor, the first
Diesel type aircraft engine ever built
The motor Is of a radial air-cooled
type and develops 200 horse power.
With the use of the Diesel principle
of oil for fuel the engine does away
with gasoline, Ignition systems, spark
plugs, and other trouble "bugs." Elim
ination of those parts, officials said,
results from the firing from compres
sion In the cylinders, tbe Diesel action
that has been applied up to this time
In only extremely heavy engine* for
power plant* and In boat*.
Germany'* huge new dirigible, the
Graf Zeppelin, was tested In flight*
from Frledrlchshafen and seemed to
be entirely satisfactory. It Is Intend
ed to send this air vessel on a trip to
the United State* In the near future.
The big Bellanca plane Roma was
waiting at Old Orchard, Mitlne, for
suitable conditions for the Jump-off
on Its flight to Rome, and Indeed did
make one start but had to return be
cause of a broken air Intake on the
carburetor.
ILLINOIS miners ratltted the new
scale and the mines at once re
opened. But so large * minority of
-the men are opposed to the resultiug
reduction In their wages that there
were several' "wildcat" strikes of con
siderable moment. Officials of the
Uine Worker*' union believed the slt
uatlon would adjust Itself In a short
time.
The federal mediation board an
nounced that I?" hod failed to adjust
the wage differences between 5Q
Western railroad* and their 70,1X10
trainmen and conductor* and had
abandoned Its efforts. It I* now up to
the President to create ? fact-finding
commission If he deems It advisable.
The men have voted for a strike but
officials said the unions would take no
definite action until after October 1.'
Charles G. Eagle, New York silk
manufacturer, who committed suicide
recently, provided In his will for a
trust fund of approximately $1,290,
000 to purchase hotels and apartments
In which worthy working girls live
and to aid them In their careers.
HERBERT HOOVER'S name was
brought Into the federal trade
comialaalon'a probe of public utility
propaganda methods, when It wis dis
closed that the National Electric
Light association purchased 40,500
copies of an addresa made by the
then secretary of commerce In 1925
before the annual convention of the
National Association of Railroad and
Utilities Commissions.
Among other vouchers produced be
fore the commission was one Indicat
ing that William Allen White, nation
ally known editor, recently In con
troversy with Governor Smith, the
Democratic Presidential nominee, over
the latter's legislative record, was
paid 1500 for an address he made be
fore the Electric Light association's
convention In 1926.
NEARLY two thousand men wtio
(ought (or the Union In the Civil
war took part In the parade that
marked the opening o( the slxty-sec
ond encampment o( the Grand Army
o( the Republic, In Denver! To the
music o( the drum and life they
marched almost a mile, and (ew were
(orced to drop out ot line. Com
mander Elbrtdge Hawk of Sacramen
to, CalH.. reviewed the parade and
opened the formal sessions of the en
campment.
DR. J. LOUDEN, president of the
disarmament commission of the
League of Nations, created something
of a sensation In Geneva by announc
ing to the league that be Intended to
call what would amount to a confer
ence of the live great maritime pow
ers, the United States, Great Britain,
France, Italy and Japan, for the pur
pose of agreeing on some plan for de
creasing their naval armaments. I?rd
Cushendun, British delegate, Immedla
ately declared be was sure the pro
posal would not please bis govern
ment, and the reaction to It In Wash
ington was decidedly unfavorable.
Japan alone openly favored the
scheme
The powers are still stewing over
that mysterious Franco-British com
promise agreement for limiting aux
iliary naval craft. In Washington es
pecially It Is the subject of serious
consideration by the President and his
advisers, wbo hare not made up their
minds whether to disapprove of It ofa
cially or disregard It for the time be
ing In the bope that It will be
dropped. Neither the British nor the
French foreign office has submitted
more than a summary of the naval
section of the agreement
Trotzky Charges Plot
to Assassinate Him
The London Daily Unit assorted
that dramatic attempts had been made
to kill Leon Trotsky, once powerful as
head of the Red armies. In hia place
'of exile In Turkestan.
The paper, dlsplaylnc the story
prominently, said the plot was hatched
In Moscow, but fare no source for Its
Information.
Moscow was stated to bare admit
ted that Trotsky bad been shot at.
I
but explained It waa the action of In
dividuals. The Soviet authorities
were greatly perturbed by the revela
tion*, and the Moscow newspaper
Ixvestia waa cited as stating the au
thorities had dl*patched a special
commission to investigate.
For" three successive nights Trots
ky's cottage at Atms-Ata, Turkestan,
was esserted to have been besieged
by sharpshooters. They hid behind
trees and fired while Trotsky's son
defended the bone with two sporting
rifles. All of Trotsky's appeals for
b?lp to the local Soviet eatborldes
were disregarded.
After the sbarpebootera failed to
kill the former commissar for war.
peraona described as local enemies
were atated to bare blockaded Trots
ky. For many days he and his family
were not allowed to obtain food. Only
the kindness of Mends saved them
from starvation. Medical assistance,
lights, newspaper* were denied him.
The paper claimed that evidence of
the plot was furnished by Trotsky
himself. .
MARTHA'S
OLD LEGHORN 1
HAT
???????????????o?????????
(16 br D J. Walih. >
THE mirror was exactly oppoalte
the opening door and aa Martha
Lane entered her room abe waa
faced by ber own reflection. She
panaed, and the opinion abe bad been
forming ail tbat afternoon waa In
atantly confirmed.
It had been an agonizing afternoon.
All the other women at Mrs. Sheffield's
had come out in charming new attire.
Cynthia Haven bad been positively ra
diant, although Mrs. Thompson bad
worn the more expensive apparel, Cyn
thia had convinced all comera that a
woman's charm Is coherent with the
shoes she puts on her feet, the dress
she clothes berself In, the bat that
covera her head. That ball Oh!
Martha moved forward to the mir
ror and aat down before it The clos
er view did Just what she knew It
wonid?brought ber hat into greater
prominence. She aat looking at it
with despair in ber eyes.
It was a leghorn hat, one of those
durable, flexible weaves that will last
forever and permit endless shapings.
This bat bad gone through every pos
sible variation of its style. It had be
gun by being floppy with a wreath,
but tbat waa long ago, the year Mar
tha was sixteen. Sbe bad worn It so
for two summers. Then the wreath
bad failed In service and so something
was done with ribbon?blue ribbon;
sbe waa still young enough for floppy
hats with blue sashes. Two summers
more passed. And now she bad bent
the brim and fastened It with knots
of pale roses. Gordon had thought she
had a new hat and she bad laughed.
"Really? Didn't he recognize It?"
"No, only the fact that she looked
very nice." In her tbougbta she had
blessed the old hat, not Gordon's lack
of observation. People were begin
ning to ask when she was going to be
married and what she waa doing with
her hope chest and she shook her head
gayly. All lo Gordon's good time.
Sbe was, of course, ready any time
he spoke, bnt not Impatient. She had
changed the old bat again by covering
the crown with green leaves when
Gordon went away. He had got a
Job out West. And still they were
not engaged. She had half hoped that
be would say something definite be,
fore they parted, but he said nothing,
save the old friendly things. And Mar
tha kept ber pride right on top till
be was gone, then nothing mattered
for a long time. Still she did not
know then as she knew now that he
had simply walked out of her life and
shut the door behind him. And a
woman, however yearning, does not
open ifhe door a man baa shut In this
wav.
Sbe went on weuring the leghorn
hat rammer after summer, but now/
she did not cure. What did the caru
about what the wore or who saw her
now that Gordon was gone? The old
hat did very very well tricked nut
with black velvet with a new twist
to the brim. It was growing limp and
yellow and the last blocking had om
been very successful. But the fact re
mained she must wear It because she
couTd not afford another one.
Timet had gone wrong with them.
Her mother, a gentle ailing woman,
had been caught In the glamor of a
misrepresented Investment and had
lost most of what her father had left
to them. Martha's music pupils left
ber almost In a body to go Into tbe
classes of young Professor Weston
She kept her church position, but that
was not much. It was all she could
do to keep up the expenses of the tiny
bouse and pay her mother's doctor
Mils There was absolutely nothing
for new clothes.
let this afternoon she bad felt with
sudden polgnance the truth of tbat
axiom: "Nothing succeeds like suc
cess." Surely nobody could have looked
more unsuccessful than herself, wear
ing tbat old hat with Its fresh dis
guise of colorlte and ribbon. She had
been III at ease and had played badly
Her lingers bad tripped over tbe fa
miliar passages of tbe Peer Gynt suite,
whlcb she bad given as an accompanl
ment to Mrs. Thompson's Grelg essay
lea, aba bad failed miserably. Tbe
bat bad given ber away. It bad done
more tban tbat. It had revealed to ber
as nothing elsa could the tact tbat she
was too old for floppy brims and blue
ribbon. She was twenty-four and ber
cares bad matured ber. In time would
age ber. The girlish freshness of six:
teen, tbe charm tbat had almost won
Gordon Elbrldge had vanished. She
was thin and tired and close to de
spair.
And tbe bat?sbe would never wear
U again after today. She would go
straight way to Miss Parker, the mil
liner, and buy a wise little black
cloche for S2.88. Sbe could afford that.
And It would be suitable for one who
looked as old as she did.
"Where are yon going dear?" aaked
pals. Ineffectual Mrs. Lane as Martha
paraed through the room.
"Til no back In twenty minutes.
mother?Id time to make the tea If
you will put od the teakettle."
Five tulnute? to Mrs. ParkePa?tan
mlnutea to buy the black cloche?theu
home.
Mlaa Parker waa stout and jolly.
"Well, there, Martha," she said. "1
am glad you've come to me for a bat
at last."
"1 want a black cloche."
"You want no aucb thing. Sit down
before that glass and let me show you
what you do want."
She fairly pushed Uartba Into the
chair before the big glass. Wltb ber
own hands she removed the leghorn.
"Shut your eyes," she said, and she
might have added: "Open your
mouth," for that was exactly what
Uartha did a moment later.
Waa this she?this delicately lovely
young person whose dark eyes spark
led from under an alluring henna brim
over which softly fell the flues of ao
uncurled ostrich plume I Color rushed
to Martha's face and made her still
more unbelievably attractive to the
sight.
"Take It oflT," she gasped "and bring
me that black cloche."
Miss Parker laughed.
"No I The hat la yours, Uartha.
I've traded even for your leghorn?
now don't say a word I I won't listen.
There comes Mrs. Lacey and I'm In
for a bad half-hour. Take your hat
and run. Shoo I"
"Miss Parker?" Martha tried to
protest But Miss Parker had her
by the shoulders and was shoving ber
toward the door. "Go?go, I say, and
Martha, If you ehould meet?" She
stopped as If she had said something
she did not want to, and turned her
attention to the entering customer.
Dazedly Martha left the shop. At
another time she would have It out
with Miss Parker and pay ber proper
ly even though It took her last cent.
Theu suddenly she lifted ber eyes
and saw coming toward ber a man
whose first look was Inquiring, whose
next encompassed glnd recognition.
"Martha I" he exclaimed.
But for the new hat aDd the con
sclousnesa of what It did to ber Mar
tha could Dever have passed through
the ordeal of meeting Gordon Elbrldge
like this. As she looked at him she
saw that he had chnnged from the
careless boy to a subdued serious man
?a man who showed prosperity and
the press of many affaire
"I'm salesmanuger for the K. M.
people and In town overnight," he ex
plained. "I'm going to dine wltb Miss
Parker, my cousin, you know. But
can I see you afterward?at your home
this evening?"
"Yes." Martha said merely.
Many things were Illuminated foi
her as she went on home?why Mlsr
Parker had made her take that tint.
Of course! She had known she must
meet Gordon. Bless Mlaa Parker foi
a thoughtful, middle-aged ongell
Gordon had come bock Into ber lift
to stay although Martha did not knos
this. Her thoughts, concerned will
the glorifying present, contained on<
dark thread. Suppose she had beer
wearing the old leghorn I
Cafe in Rome Where
Goethe Met Friendi
Among the excavations being car
rled out at Home now la the wnrl
riyund the Koinan theaier of Marcel
Ilia, which Involvea the pulling dowi
of many old dwelling* an that the mall
entrance to the Itoinan theater mat
be freed Among these wan a tall me
dleval house where. In a corner 01
the ground floor, wna the llttle-knowi
"Oeterla della Catena" frequented bj
the workmen who dally passed thrnngt
the atreei In this busy part of Home
On the wall of the coffee house Klnj
l.udwlg of Bnraria had a marble tab
let raised to commemorate (In plgeoi
l.atln) the fact that Goethe, on a vial
to Koine, used to meet Faustina. i
young Human girl, here among a smal
circle of literary friends who fre
quented the cafe during the aecooi
half of the Eighteenth century.
_____ V
Nature'* Law* Saved
Fiah From Extinctior
The productivity of the dwellers It
sea and river la one of tbe marvels ol
the ages, and from the moat prlmltlvi
days, flsh baa been one of tbe staph
food articles of man.
But for this tremendous power o
productivity, and the providential pro
vision of sufficient living room for tht
ever propagating population, tbe flnnj
tribe as a wbole would long since havi
suffered extinction, owing to man's In
cessant warfare against It. Ever]
conceivable weapon, from the simples
to tbe moat Ingenious, has been In
vented and leveled against the swim
mere of the sea; birds and even ant
mala not only prey upon them, bu
are Included In this formidable armor;
for tbe destruction and capture of Sal
for the ure and benefit of man.
Never Too Old to Marry
Marriage atatlatlca leaned by tin
Onion of 8outh Africa record tbc ?ed
ding of one centenarian and foor otbe
man each more than ninety-Are year
age. Three hundred bridegroom
of elghiy-flre or over are a Ian men
Honed, and three centenarian brldea.
Uneasy Arafria
WWIH ? W yvmwwwy
An OaaJt in Kingdom of Htdjaz.
lITt'pared Dy ine niiioimi ueoarapaio
Society. Washington. D. C.)
ARABIA bag become (be scene
of one of the world's latest
threats of war. In the past
few years the desert Bedouins,
under the leadership of the saltan of
Nejd, hare gained control of all cen
tral Arabia, as well as Mecca with Its
stnte of Hedjaz, Asir, and large areas
of eastern and southern Arabia. Now
they are threatening to push their op
erations northward Into Iraq and
northwestward Into Trans-Jordan. The
seriousness of the latter threats Ilea
In the fact that Iraq and Trans-Jor
dan are both mandates of Great Brit
ain. Between them lies Syria, a man
date of France.
Arabia has been figuring In world
affairs since the curtain rose on tbe
first act in history, and yet It has
large areas about which we know
practically nothing. Because of the
nuge bulk of Asia, Its numerous pen
insulas are somewhat dwarfed, and
one may fall Into the error of classing
Arnbla with peninsulas nearer home,
such as Florida. But 00 Flortdas would
be lost In this great Asian projection;
It Is, In fact, a third as large as the
entire United States.
Tremendous desert wastes are not
alone responsible for the fact that the
outside world Is Ignorant of tbe Nejd
In the heart of Arabia. That country
?if the area over which the Nejdlan
nomads roain may be called a country
?has one of the most effective exclu
sion laws known: the exclusion law of
the sword. These people do not care
to go Into the outside world, and they
, want no visits from Western traders.
, diplomats, military experts, or mis
, slonarles ? especially missionaries.
. "they are blood-thirsty fanatics on tbe
, subject of religious simplicity. As
Wahabls they are perhaps better
known to the world than as Nejdlsns,
for the former name they owe to their
religions associations. .
I Their Capital a Forbidden City.
The capital of the Nejd, Rlad, where
was born the movement that threat
" ens to embrace all Arabia, has been
' more truly a forbidden city than
l.hasa. The only Westerner known to
' have visited It In recent years was en
American physician, smnggled In that
' he might save the life of a chieftain,
and It Is believed that even this er
' rand of mercy would not have saved
him from summary execution save for
a little group of defenders who for a
' brief time stretched their standards
After the World war Great Britain
paid the ruler of the Nejd a huge sub
sidy?$400,000 a year, an "honorarium"
four times an great as the salary and
allowance of the President of the
United States. The young sultan took
the cash and let his followers go about
their forays pretty much as tbey
wished, with tbe result that Great
Britain had to spend much more than
, the subsidy defending the kings of
Hedjaz, Trans-Jordan and Iraq against
' Incursions.
Ibn Snod. the saltan of Nejd and
; king of Hedjaz, haa combined his pollti
csl and military drive for a unified
Arabia with a revival of Wahablsra
The Wahabl sect was founded early
' In the Eighteenth century by Abd el
Wshsb. who might be termed the Cart
' wrlght of Mohammedanism, for he
was essentially a Moslem Puritan
seeking to turn his faith back to what
| he considered Its simple fundamen
lain. Feeling that Mohammedanism
should be uncompromisingly mono
thelstlc. he was particularly disturbed
by the tendency to worship Moham
med, who claimed to be only a mortal
' as well as Allah. He also found hit
' co-rellglonlsts Invoking Moslem salntt
and preached against this practice
After Wabab died his fanatical con
verta wrecked tbe elaborate tomb o
t Moslem teachers and even went eo fai
as to try unsuccessfully to destroy tht
r dome over tbe tomb of Mohammed a
s Medina.
e Before his death Wabab converted
f to bis simplified faith a powerful shell
sf central Arabia. Mohammed Ibi
4
saoua. tie oecame notn me religious
and political bead of Waliablam; and
be, too, took a leaf om the funda
mental teachings of Mohammed and
began spreading hit faith by the
sword.
Iraq, one of the areas threatened. Is
the modern name for the traditional
Garden of Eden historically known as
Mesopotamia. The cradle of civiliza
tion, In the belief of many arcbeolo
glsts and historians. It this very val
ley of the Tigris and Euphrates riven.
Iraq and Its King.
Iraq lies between the Arabian des
ert on one side and the Persian up
lands on the oth^r. West Ues tbs
French Mandate of Syria; north the
Kurdish highlands of Turkey. Tbs
Persian gulf forms a corridor 1.000 ?
miles giving Iraq a waterway to tbs
open Indian ocean. Dates from "the
Garden" come to New York by way of
this corridor. Within Iraq lire fcOOO.
000 people, a slim population for anil
which once supported more people per
acre than does densely populated BcF
glum. j
Great Britain has made ber Meao
potamlan mandate the Arab Kingdom
of Iraq ruled by a Mohammedan
prince, the son of the former king of
Hedjaz. King Felsal reigns when
Babylonians, Assyrians, Chaldeans,
Persians. Greeks, Romans and Sara
cens ruled successively for six cen
turies.
Of the three principal dtles, Mosul,
the oil town, seems safely beyond
reach of the Bedonlns. Bagdad. In the
center or the valley, comes by Its po
sition of capital honestly. Basra, In
the Far South, is the end of what was
to have been the Berlin-Bagdad run
way.
Much agricultural land baa been re
claimed bj Irrigation in an effort to
revive the luxuriant Garden of Eden.
Dates from the date palm are the
chief product. Wheat, barley and rice
are also grown. Experiments looking
toward cotton growing have been pro
moted. Vegetables and flowers thrive
In the protecting shade of palm fronds.
Trans-Jordan Full of Nomad*
Trans-Jordan, the other threatened
region. Ilea In tbe northwestern corner
of Arabia adjoining Palestine. Per
haps It will bring the newly Independ
ent but very old country closer to
reallxe that Its capital, now Amman,
was once Philadelphia?the great
great-great-grandfather of tbe half
dozen or more Philadelphia, great
ami small, that are to be fonnd In onr
postal guides. Bnt It was only a mere
matter of twenty-odd centuries ago
that tbe city took tbe name Philadel
phia from Its new lord. Ptolemy Phll
ndetphus. It bad existed as Rabbath
Amman, chief city of tbe Ammonites,
almost from the days of Lot. from
whom the Ammonites are said to bare
sprung. It was after a victorious bat
tle with these same people of Amman
that Jephthah, according to the Bibli
cal story, returned to the fatal meet
ing wltb bis daughter.
When Trans-Jordan Is described as
stretching from the Jordan and the
Dead sea toward the Interior of Arabia
ohe Is likely to call np the picture of
a hopeless desert. But much of the
region la steppe land, a high plain
supporting some flocks and even calla
ble of tillage. Nomadism has long
held the region In Its grip, however,
and It Is as a sort of "chief of no
mads" that Abdullah Ibn Busseln finds
i It necessary to rule. Be holds his
"court'" not In a palace but In a
I group of tents which be moves with
tbe seasons.
Amman Is not Inaccessible. Five
> hours by automobile over reasonably
i good roads through the sizzling valley
of the Jordan suffice for the trip tram
Jerusalem to the capital. The Joe
I dan forms the boundary line and
r across It is an Iron bridge Amman
! la only about thirty miles from the
I river, and as the crow flies is hardly
more than than sixty miles from Jera
I aaletn. Tbe Bedjaa railway, coanact
? tng Damascua and Medina, fans
i through tbe town.
>? ? -Cv.Vv'^