TEL-AVIV

Evening Post, Issue 47, 23 August 1935, Page 11

TEL-AVIV

PIW. JIFISH CAPITAL

IMPRESSIONS OF CITY

Seeing, that-he is on his fourteenth business trip around the world, it may he assumed that it takes the unusual in cities to induce Mr: W. Lyall Willis, of London/to speak, so enthusiastically as he did today about Tel-Aviv. This is a new city, whose population has grown considerably in a few years. Mr. Willis is chairman and managing director of Lyall Willis and Co., Ltd., London, an old-established British exporting firm which has sent a representative around the world for 30 years consecutively.

Tel-Aviv, said Mr. Willis in an interview today, is about three hours distant by car from Jerusalem and it is the new Jewish capital. Balfour and Allenby, appropriately enough—because those names mean much to Jews — are the two main streets. About seven years ago the site of the present city was a desert with a few camels on it and a population of about 200 people. "Today," said Mr. Willis, "there is no desert and there are 142,000 people, all Jewish, of course, and they are coming in at the rate of 1000 a week. Everyone, barring Germans, has to bring in £1000 capital. The Germans are allowed to bring in kind; because they cannot bring in their money. REVENUE FROM ORANGES. "The main source of revenue is the Jaffa orange, which is t definitely the finest orange in the world. The sales of this orange in England last year increased 400"per cent. I read that in one of the English papers. A surplus was shown this year of two millions on the first Budget, and they hope to increase their business. They have an idea that.they are going to be the manufacturers for the Near East. Personally, I don't think it is possible, because the competition from Europe is so great." The people of Tel-Aviv,: said Mr. Willis, spoke five or six languages. A maid at a hotel told him that she spoke six to eight languages. German, French, Russian, and other languages were no trouble to her. The language of Tel-Aviv is Hebrew,; and, Mr. Willis remarked, unless one had a guide he could not understand the hieroglyphics. All the children were very keen on Hebrew and were teaching their parents. The Germans and other foreigners had to go.to school two or three times a week to learn the language. TIME STANDS STIIX,. 'An extraordinary thing was the mixture of East: and West and the old with the new. At certain times a visitor saw all cars' and other traffic held up suddenly while a huge caravan of camels with Arab attendants passed through the city. According to the arrangement 'existing the Jews were only allowed one side of the Jordan and the Arabs the other side, said Mr. Willis. What upset the Jewish fraternity a little was that the Arabs sold land to the Jews at a very high rate and then went to the other.side, of the Jordan, where they were able to buy land at onefifth of the purchase price paid by the Jews, and far better land' at that.