MIOIDIEIRN II IPAQ Fire Wood Is Scarce in Iraq. Preyn'-'i hv National . U. ? WNU S- rvlre. IliAQ. where American explorers re- i centl.v discovered a complete his toric township, dating from the j early fourth millennium, is the modern name for the traditional Car- ) den of Kilen, historically known as j Mesopotamia. Many historians hold that somewhere in Iraq? In the valley of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers ? is to ho found the cradle of civilization. Upon the break ins up of the Turkish empire following the World war Mesopotamia became a l.rit Ish mandate which was erected into the Arab kingdom of Iraq with a Mohammedan prince from Mecea upon the throne. Such is the latest form as sumed bv the Phoenix among nations. In the last six thousand years I la by - Ionian. Assyrian. Chaldean. Persian. (Jreek. Kotnan and Saracen civilian tions have flourished in Mesopo tamia. earh rising from the ashes of its predecessor. The great irrigation works which, throughout the centuries, had kept the Tigris-Kuphrates valley green, rich and flourishing were destroyed by Invading Mongols and allowed to decay by heed less Turks. The Harden of Kden be I came a treeless desert, except for a fw date palms along the river hanks. Cities like Baghdad nnd Basra fell into decay and seemed fast approach Ing the fate which had overtaken Ur ' and Ha by Ion. where Jackals howl above a lonely waste. Then followed a rebirth during 'be throes of the great war. Once more boats crowded the swift and treacher ous reaches of the Tigris. Once more the bazaars of Baghdad and Basra nnd Mosul hummed with world traffic. Marauding desert robber tribes were kept In perpetual peace by airplanes humming over their remote villages. Sanitary regulations and electric light lng made town nnd country both more safe nnd more healthful. Ice fac tories and soda water establishments helped alleviate summer days of 120 degrees in the shade. Levees were built to keep the flooding rivers within their banks nnd slowly bit by bit work was begun or? repairing Irrigation works nnd building railroads. Thus was modern Iraq bom. The new kingdom under Br!tish man date embraces the valley of the Tigris Euphrates between the Arabian desert on one side and the Persian uplands on the other. To the northwest lies the French mandate of Syria and to the north the Kurdish highlands of Turkey. Southward stretches the Per sian gulf, the country's salt water outlet to the wide world. Within this strip of territory are barely 3.000.000 people where once flourished a popla tlon denser than that of modern Bel gium. What Baghdad It Like. 4 There are three principal cities: Mosul, of oil fame. Is In the north : Baghdad, the capital In the central part ; and the Important port of Basra In the south. Of the three Baghdad perhaps Is most famous. From the deck of a Tigris steamer Baghdad looms up boldly. Its splendid skyline of domes and minarets remind Ing one of some "Midway" of World's fair memory. An odd pontoon bridge connects the two parts of the c!ty. separated by the yellow Tigris. On the west hank Is the old town. Inclosed by date snd orange groves. From here the Baghdad-Mosul railway starts on Its long ran across the trackless desert. Bast of the river, on the Per slan side. Is "new" Baghdad with Its government offices, barracks, con sulates, prisons, etc. Beyond, as far as the eye can reach In every direction, stretches the vast, flat, treeless empty plain of Mesopo tamia ? a region once more populous than Belgium. I he traveler is paddled ashore from the steamer In a "goofah,*' a queer, coradelike craft in use here since Jonah's day. A goofah is woven from willows ahout six fet In diameter. Is circular and basket -shaped, ami is coated outsire with hitumen. Some say Moses was cut adrift in one of these goofahs. Old City Mostly in Ruins. Another strange craft at Baghdad Is the "kelek," a Kurdish invention. The kelek is a r:ift made of inflated goat ski us, held together by poles and cov ered with a platform of straw mats. These keleks come down to Baghdad in hundreds from Mosul, bringing wool, pottery, grain and skins. The present custom house nt Bagh dad is a wing of the old palace of I lurum-al-Bashid ; yards of scrawling Arabic characters, cut in marble pan els. still adorn its historic walls. i'aghdad arteries of traffic are mere alleys, often so narrow that two don keys cannot pass, once Turkish sol diers tried to move artillery through Baghdad. The streets were so narrow the horses had to be unhitched, and men moved the guns ahout by ham). A great wall encircles Baghdad, with guarded gateways, as in medieval days. Flat-roofed, huddled Moorish houses, many almost wimlowless and each surrounding its own open court, are a distinct feature of the older parts of Baghdad. On these flat roofs Arabs spend the summer nights with tom-toms. Mutes, water-pipes, and dancing women, racing the river, re moved from the Arab town, are built the imposing foreign consulates, mer cantile offices, and the sumptuous homes of rich Jews. Armenians. Creeks nnd Syrians ? the men who make New Baghdad. But the Baghdad of Ali Baba's day. with the splendor of Aladdin's en chanted age. Is gone forever. The pal aces. the mosques, and minarets are mostly in ruins. Even the tomb of lovely Lady Zoheida, favorite wife of Harun-al-ltashid, is tumbled down and decayed. It Is into modern monuments to New Baghdad ? Into roads, bridges, public buildings, irrigation works, army organization, dredging the Tigris, etc. ? that the Young Turks put their money. Modern Baghdad is in safer hands; no dissipated royalty guards Its gates. Sober, clear-headed men. drilled in the best schools of modern Europe, able to hold their own anywhere, administer Its affairs. As late as 1830 the Tigris overflowed its banks, swept through Baghdad, and drowned 15,000 people in one night. Till lately Baghdad, more than any other city in the Near East, has been slow to yield to Europe's influence. For centuries Baghdad kept close to the Bedouin life, under the sway of nomad customs. Even now Baghdad's famous bazaars, despite her evolution in other ways, are conducted as they were a thousands years ago. These Arab trading places have changed not one whit since Abraham's time. Here is barter and sale as Marco Polo found It. as It was In the days of the Three Wise Men who bought gifts for Bethlehem. Basra is situated on the Shatt-el Arab. a river formed by the union of the Tigris and Euphrates. Smaller cen ters of Importance, such as Kut and Amarn, follow each other at Intervals the entire length of the valley. Most of the Inhabitants are Mohammedan Arabs, th??ugh In the cities are many Jews, while In the mountainous north are settlements of NestorJan Chris tians dating from very early times. City Arabs have taken readily to the ways of civilization and seem glad for the chance to work In Ice and cotton cloth factories, and upon engineering and public work* "Shower" m Philippines Holds World's Record The heaviest 24-hour rainfall ever measure*! occurred :it Ilairuio. the I "summer capital** of the Philippines, j in Julv, 1011. Only brief account* of it have ? l?een published until this year, when J a detailed story of the shower ami ; its effects was Issue*] l?v Ilev. Miguel I SelgJi. director of i Ii?? Philippine j weather bureau, says Charles Fit as- j liugh Talman in his Science Service feature, "Why the Weather?'* "This torrential ilown|n?ur attener li??tir. This is claimed as a world mark for sjh_hh1 on a start to stop j computation. Lending for Protection Hollywood thought a certain mo tion picture star had gone crazy when 1h? began to lend money to certain of his friends. To he sure. The amounts wore small, hut the fart that he lent any at all was cause for consternation among the people who knew him real well. "I>on't you worry.** grinned the star, when it was pointedly suggested that lie needed a vacation and men tal relaxation. "1 haven't loaned a dollar more than I'm willing to pay to feel certain that I'll he loft strirt ly alone. No one comes noar you when they owe you money.** The African G:ote Nothing doHnlte is known of the origin of geese, according to the leading writers on poultry. It is j said that they were held sacred in Kgypt. 4.0sm? years ago. They were i domestical od many centuries before 1 the Christian era. Italy Is said to l?e the home of domestic geese. Scientists claim that the ?'graying** Is the ancestor of all domestic geose. This prol?ah1\ arises from the fact that all of tin* oarlier geese were gray or gray and white. ili.Mt' ri!\ POPULAR BRANDS, car ton f 1 ; ? i :.?rs. ' ix ?>f in. j i . ? o Kavoritf DIM. Co.. Box 71X2. W. Tampa. Florida. I SOimiKRN LAU m . Athna, CJa.. two jrcai # cour 1. 1.. B diploma tdniul CcorKla ??nr. 0|h>ii S?-|?t. 21. ? 'atat<>g. MercolizedWax Keeps Skin Young Oat an ouae* and dm aa