GATEWAYS TO THE EAST

Evening Star, Issue 23718, 28 October 1940, Page 7

GATEWAYS TO THE EAST

PIPE LINE DELIVERS LIQUID " BLACK GOLD " The importance of Haifa and Acre along the Palestine coast in connection with*disturbed conditions in Europe has been shown by the reported emergency measures ot Great Britain to protect these ports. Haifa is one of the funnels through which oil flows from the gushing Iraq fields to waiting tankers in the Mediterranean. 'lhe pipeline out of the Iraq fields, 600 miles inland, branches 435 miles east of the Mediterranean, and also delivers liquid black rrold to Tripoi, once French-controlled Syrian port 130 miles north of Haifa, Completed four years ago with the aid of oil workers from the oilfields pt western United States, this jugular vein of commerce lubricates the wheels ot business and lights the lamp of Hana prosperity. . .... Oil however, is not all things to industrial Haifa. The construction of modern highways in the surrounding region demanded the erection of cement plants; a building programme has been promoted. Meanwhile the harbour has been improved, so that Haifa has ono of the best in the Eastern Mediterranean, and the population has leaped to 80.000, three times what it was. two decades ago. Acre has not done as well as Haifa. In fact. Haifa’s gain partiallv has been Acre’s loss This city of about 0.500 inhabitants, spreading along the shore

of the Bay of Acre, once wtis an important port, where from 2,000 to 3,000 camels daily brought produce froin .tha interior for distribution and export. The first blow to Acre commerce cams in 1896. when the Daraascus-Beyronth railroad was built. The city was again hard bit when, in 1906, the HaifaDainascus line was completed Tlcso roads penetrated the source o( Acre’s trade, and Haifa and Beyrouth became new outlets for produce of the city's hinterland.