PATER'S CHATS WITH THE BOYS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2528, 27 August 1902, Page 69

PATER'S CHATS WITH THE BOYS.

PERSIA, THE COVETED. The Shah of Persia, "the' King of Kings," is now on a visit to Europe. What his aims are I do not know, but I do not suppose that he is travelling for pleasure. The Russian Bear is tightening his hug on the country ; the German Eagle, in the shape of a railway, is about to claw at it v ith its talons, and Britannia, who covets no territory, but wishes to have a free hand in trade, is resisting the order to pack up and march. iTie mercurial Frenchman is casting envious eyes on the country, but somehow cannot get a footing. With the lot of them I daresay that the poor Shah is at his wits' ends almost as much as tbe Sultan of Turkey and the poor Em-

peror of China. The other day I read a, volume entitled " Ten Thousand Miles in Persia ; or. Eight Years in Iran," by one of H.M. Consuls, who in addition co his work as a Consul explored Persia from end to end. Major Sykes, for that is the author's name, speaks very highly of the people, and also of the country, though large tracts of it are prac- , tically deserts. But what is barren waste ' could in many cases be made fertile if the ' Persians were only to inaugurate a compiehensive scheme of re-afforestation and of water conservation and irrigation. He .speaks in the highest terms of the brilliant cr.rpets, beautiful silks, artistic brasswork, and fine laess manufactured and exported ; and thinks that there is a possibility of a vuy large trade,, being opened up with the world in these goods. From the Persian Gulf hundreds of tons of dates are exported, and upwards of 5000 boats are engaged in the pearl fisheries. Over half a million pounds' worth of pearls are sent away annually; and great a demand is there for Persian peai!s that imitation pearls are n.ade in Paris and sent to the Persian Gulf t) be exported as the genuine article. In the North of Persia, almo&t all the trade is in the hands of Russia, though cotton goods from Manchester find their way iiito the bazaars of T»heran ("Tehran" Major Sykes gives as the spelling, and he gives Isfahan for Ispahan, and Basra for Bussorah) ; but on the Persian Gulf the trade, some four or five millions in all, is lvainly British, as is also the .shipping. The Caspian Sea is a Russian lake — so much so that the Persian flag is prohibited on its waters. The Persian coast of the Caspian is infested by pirates, but Russian gunboats patrolling keep them somewhat in check. There is a Russian naval station at Ashurada. But just as the Caspian Sea is a Russian lake, the historic Persian Gulf is really British w aters in trade, shipping, pud control. Some tiui3 ago ihe Russians lent Persia joins money, getting as security the customs duties, but the British Am1 bassador at Tehran saw that the customs 1 duties from Persian Gulf ports were not to 1 bo touched. 1 At one time the Persian Gulf was one of the busiest sheets of water in existence, and the island of Hormuz, or Ormuz, was one of the chief emnoria o r the - orLd. John Clinaman had his ships s-ailing over it It years ago. AlexaaJ-r the Great navigated it with his fleets, and Marco Polo, the marvellous traveller, was acquainted with it. When Major Sykes went to Persia first h? entered it from the Caspian Sea. Leaving Odessa, and forcing his way out of the harbour in a ship specially fitted for breaking through the ice which closes up the port in winter, lie arrived at Sevasto-' pool, which, he says, has not yet recovered from the effects of the bombardment and si>taequ°nt destruction of its docks. From there he crossed to the closed port of Ba,toum, and then by rail to Baku, where it is a favourite amusement to set the sea on ! fire, so saturated is this region with kero- ' stn-e. Indeed, I don't know whether kerosene from Baku and Sumatra is not now competing with the American oil in Australasia. The major says that the crude oil gives 30 per cent, of kero&ene, 26 per tent, machine oil, and 5 per rent, of benzine, the rest being the refuse used as fuel by steamers and locomotives. I see by Hazell's Annual that there h being laid . between Baku and Bato'im a line of eightinch pipes 560 miles long. At stated '■ intervals there are pumping stations. As : some of my young readers are perhaps going in for engineering, I'll quote what ' the annual says about these pumps. "Each ' station is equipped with two compound ■ high-duty engines, with 21in and 42in j stroke. Thesa pumps work against a pressure of 6501b to the square inch, with a 1 steam pressure of 1501b ; and *he duty of ' • each pump is fixed at 416,272, 000 gal a year, j The pipe line is fitted with safety valves, ' which automatically isolate short sections ] in case of need." Very vivid descriptions are given by ] Major Sykes of the invasions Per- f »i» liaa been, subjected to* ql tko (

incursions of the man - and - womanstealing Turkomans of the Northeast, and of the summary methods of I punishment adopted. The irruption of the j Mongol tribes lias, he says, produced a j more baneful effect on the world than any other conquest. It is probable that, though it occurred, say, 600 years ago, Central Asia, Persia, and Russia are still suffering from the Tartar cataclysm, which in many cases meant the annihilation of the inhabitants. Herat was stormed, and all caught massacred. Two years after it was revisited to wipe out escapees, but only 40 had escaped the previous slaughter. At one time Rei was the capital, but the Mongol hordes captured it and put 700,000 to the sword. Tehran, a few miles distant, then increased and became the capital, while Rei remains an immense ruin to this day. In another raid some 150 years ago 20,000 Afghans killed or murdered over a million Persians, and Isfahan is still suffering from the effects of that raiding invasion. After these figures, the gouging out of 70,000 eyes, lamming hot ashes down poor wretches' throats, boiling them alive, and stealing and selling human beings until they became a drug in the market, are tame statements. Perhaps the days of big slaughters and raids are over ; but it isn't many years apro when the Russians overthrew the Turkomans and massacred them wholesale ; cruel punishments, however, are stiU not uncommon, as men with a hand or foot cut off can testify. The present Shah is like all Eastern rulers, a despot. It is quite possible that his position on the throne is made sure by the influence of the British and Russian Governments. In 1895 (I think it was) his father was assassinated by a fanatic. As you know from my Chats on Afghanistan, might and influence, rather than birth, are the essentials in the East. The assassinated Shah had previously notified that the present Shah, his second son. was to succeed him, the eldest son be ; ng for some reason out of favour. The two amha«sa~ dors saw the late Shah's wishes carried into effect, and, to prevent disorder, guaranteed the payment of the Persian troops. As I said at the beginning, the Shah is in London, in all probability, on some political mission. Perhaps Russia is bringing pressure to bear on him to jrrant railway concessions from the Ca^nian Sea to the Persian Gulf; or ne^haps Germany, who has a permit to build a railway from Asia, Minor to the Shel-el-Arab. is becoming truculent, and wants concessions that Great Britain is unwiPine for the Shah to grant. Whatever it may be, the politics of Persia are worth studying and watching, for in the opinion of many who ou<*ht to know, Persia in the near future is destined to play an important part in the solution of some of the Asian problems. J ' i