Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 128, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 May 1915 — WORLD'S NEW CRANARY [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

WORLD'S NEW CRANARY

OF all the problems of territorial distribution that will follow the war, perhaps none is of greater importance than the future of Mesopotamia, for it seems certain that most fertile tract of the earth’s surface is destined to regain its ancient position as the granary of the world. This legendary cradle of the race — it contains the supposed site of the Garden of Eden—bears a name strictly descriptive of the country, set as it is “in the midst of rivers,” the four streams of Eden—Pison (now a flooded swamp west of Babylon), Gihon (now the Hindis branch of the Euphrates), Euphrates proper and Tigris. For thousands of years one majestic civilization after another flowered in this region, but for many centuries past the beauty of life has been fading, until now not only Eden but almost the whole of Mesopotamia has become an arid waste crying aloud for the renewal of youth. If Mesopotamia comes under British control it is probable that its regeneration wil] be brought about by some such scheme as the magnificent plan Es irrigation and flood control proposed y Sir William Willcocks, who declared he could re-create the Garden of Eden and make the hanging gardens of Babylon blossom again like the rose. Hopes for Its Future. Writing in the Missionary Review of the World, Dr. Arthur K. Bennett of Busrah, Arabia, says: Mesopotamia Is a country north of Arabia proper, which though peopled by Arabs today dates back to the civilization which was in its glory three thousand years before Christ. Here is the seat of ancient Babylon, the Queen City of the Earth, the metropolis of literature and art for all the nations of the then known world. Today excavations have revealed a system of canals which told of its wonderful fertility and researches in its ruins during the last half-century have brought forth the prose and poetry of that marvelous civilization. Inhabited by such glorious peoples, it stands today a desolate place in comparison, surrounded by wide wilderness and waste, and only peopled along the river by a few straggling Arab cities here and there. There are many reasons which lead me to hope that Mesopotamia has a

future of marvelous development before It when they shall adopt western methods and progress. Indeed, it is fascinating employment as Hermith Freeman says, to watch the immemorial culture ?f the East, slow moving with the weight of years, dreamy with centuries of deep meditation, accept and assimilate as in a moment of time, the science, the machinery, the restless energy and practical activity of the West. Geographically there is no doubt but that within the last five thousand years the great delta caused by the confluence of the three great rivers, the Euphrates, Tigris and Karoon, has gradually pushed its way into the Persian gulf, until over two hundred miles of the sea has been replaced by land. Frazer, in his recent book, “The Short Cut to India,” says that these rivers at the present time advance the land from the silt they deposit to not less than eighty feet per annum. Sir William Willcocks says that undoubtedly many of the ancient cities of Babylon were very close to if not directly- on the Persian gulf, while the ruins of these cities are at the present time from two to three hundred miles back from the coast Busrah Once a Seaport. Busrah, the city where our Arabian mission is established, must have been at one time a port on the sea, but is now 60 miles from the mouth of the

river and is the terminal port for all lines of steamers plying in the Pen* sian gulf, and commerce with it is bound to increase. I have counted over twenty large ocean steamships in the Busrah river at one time, waiting for the shipment of dates. Here the English and Turkish river steamers ply to and from Bagdad on the Tigris, and to and from Mohammerah and Ahwaz in Persia on the Karoos river. If you will look up Busrah on the map you will see that it is in a direct line with Kurachee and Bombay from Constantinople and is on the track of the shortest possible mall route to India, and the railroad which the future is bound to bring. Seventyfive miles of date gardens extend from above Busrah down to the sea on either side of this wonderfully beautiful river, and twice daily the gardens are watered by the tidal wave. Sailboats coming down the river for hundreds of miles are laden with grain, licorice and provisions for sale or exchange at Busrah. In order that the situation may be more real, consider the political aspects which confront us on every hand. Busrah is at present in the maelstrom of political strife; many statesmen believe that the future battle of diplomacy will not take place in the far East but fn the. Persian gulf. Naturally the favored valley of the Euphrates will be the chief bone of contention.

Prominent engineers say that there are here sixteen million acres of the finest' land in the world, capable of yielding cotton and wheat, or the luxurious date palm. This land only needs proper care, and does not suffer from a dearth of water, but from the abundance of it. Floods are of yearly occurrence, ruinink crops and discouraging canals inland. Sir William Willcock^would bridle this immense power in tw mountains of Mosul, and by great dams high upon the two rivers. He would then irrigate the country from the Euphrates to the Tigris, and as this former river Is about eighteen feet higher than the latter, the situation is ideal to use all the Euphrates water for Irrigation and the Tigris for navigation.

Ezra’s Tomb oh The Bank of the Tigris

CORACLE WITH GRAIN CARGO