WATER FOR GARDEN OF EDEN.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 3573, 24 February 1914, Page 2

WATER FOR GARDEN OF EDEN.

The first step is being taken in the work of restoring prosperity to Mesopotamia, once the granary of the world, by means o [irrigation Sir William Willcocks, who designed the works Tor the Turkish Government, has often asserted that the Garden of Eden once flourished' in the district between Babylon and Bagdad. The opening of the Euphrates dam, which is at Hindia (about forty-seven miles north of Bagdad), is Mic first completed part of the extensive irrigation works undertaken by . the Young Turk Government for the improvement of Mesopotamia. Their construction was entrusted in February, 1911, »to Sir John Jack-son Limited. The dam consists of masonry piers with 36 openings fitted with sluices to hold the water to the desired level. There is. also a navigation lock for barge traffic. Below the main barrage is a subsidiary one constructed with a lock of the same size. The water level can we raised 16J feei, enabling an extensive area of rich land to he irrigated. * •* Up stream the ancient Hilla channel loading to Hilla and Babylon lias been cleared for a distance of 50 miles This al’ows the utilisation of the water of this area also.