Show JV WHERE ERE RUSSIA HALTED FOR HALF A CENTURY I I Ox Ocus River L Long ng Ru Russian Russian- sian Afghan Bound Boundary ry Washington orld world The Is taking a n in 13 river rh which figured n mcd in the war news back in the days s 's of or Alexander antI and his conquering generals Recent dispatches report the seizure b by Soviet So soldiers of or an Afghan post on the thc liver her The The- region Is s described de scribed in the following bulletin from the Washington headquarters of or the National Geographic society The river has bus the distinction of standing llin longer as a II Russian boundary boundary bound bound- nr ary In southwest st Asia than any other natural feature says the bulletin One of the thc outstanding bits hits of empire building during the Nineteenth cen tury was us the but hut sure ad advance advance advance vance of Russia toward India Indin an nn ad advance advance vance that profoundly affected BritIsh British British Brit Brit- ish diplomacy and kept British military military mili mili- tar tary men constantly on a 1 nervous ons ten ten- sion filon was gobbled up In ia In 1565 and anel Khiva In 1873 Some people had visions of a a. great nus Russian tan army array some day lay swarmIng swarming swarm- swarm In Ing through the Khyber pass on to the the- plains of ot India Indin in an effort to make that peninsula a part of or the Muscovite Muscoe Musco vile vite dominions Fixed by Commission To combat this possibility Great Britain sought to 10 encourage a strong Afghan state as ns ll By 1885 she induced Russia to join her in the formation formation formation for for- mation of a Afghan Russo-Afghan boundary commission which settled n the as n the boundary between the two coun conr countries conk conk- tries for some some- some SO miles of its length Since then there have been battles of British and Russian commercial agents each trying to gain the ascend ascend- Enc ency In Afghanistan but the has remained the physical boundary Russian between and anti Afghan territory The or Amu Daria Dania as ns it Is called locally rIses in the lofty near the common corner of Russian Afghan an and Chinese territory For nearly GOO miles lanes It runs through a narrow deep gorge Then Ihen the mountainous mountainous mountainous moun moun- banks fall full back and it becomes becomes becomes be be- comes suddenly a river of the pla plains ns a character which It keeps leeps for Its re- re OO miles mites as the Russo-Afghan Russo border as well as for the lie final miles during which it strikes across the and plains to the the- Sea of ot Aral AraJ On the he side the valley after the river leaves Its gorge or e Is more fertile ferUle than on the Afghan side Reed need swamps border tho the stream en cn the hitter latter side Then lien comes a strip of willow and tamarisk Jungle which extends to the edge o of the flood plain where the elevated desert begins There Is much r game In this jungle and even own tigers tiger At t places however however er the I Afghans have cleared 1 the im immediate river valley alley have constructed irrigation irrigation irrigation tion works and carefully cultivate tc the land u u E ytM r te I Tile The world h has s learned but few details details de de- de- de tails of t happenings s in the thc valley i lii In r years pears Afghanistan Is a n self- self elected hermit n a buffer for news vs as aswell aswell well as s for f for r p politics anti and I little information information mation elation has leaked out through Soviet Russia Before the World war Russia had lead built the long Trans Caspian railway railway ralIa rail ralI- way a through her south southern em Asiatic dominions dominions do do- minions and had run one branch line to the thc non border of Afghanistan Afghanis Afghanis- tan near the e northeastern astern corner of Per Persia la l F Frowns o ons ns on Railroad nailoa J. J A sc second 9 Hl branch was under construction con con- from ra to the thc an and for the past few years ears this road has been heen shown hown on maps as completed through h on the along niong the therIel river rI to about midway of the northern Afghan border Recent British British Brit Brit- BritIsh ish Information however was to the effect that the tIle road would be completed completed com com- early this year ear The rhe report of ofa a Russian Afghan clash about coin coln coincided elded with the supposed time lime of completion completion com com- of the road rond The statement that the Afghan post seized was on an Island t too to g th the Kalif region where tho the rivers river's bige biggest t Island Is situated It Is even eYen asserted that the capture of the he is Island and is preliminary n nii nary to the bridging of ot the and the extension of ot the railway Into present present pres pres- ent Af Afghan han territory So far tal the Amir of Af Afghanistan has stood adamantly against nil all suggestions that his territory territory terri terrI- tory tor b be defiled with rails At At lt I alf l l IS the most used Ox s ferry ferry horsepower po er Is is in this ferry In n unique e way war From front of a large lare flat flatboat two poles extend out over oyer the thc water A rope Is suspended suspended sus sus- 1 from the thc end of each ench pole and tied to a n belly baud passed around a 1 hors horse o Thus the ferry supports the animals and they swimming at It ease tow the loaded boat from bank bonk to tp bAnk At t KnUf the has hard lIard hanks banks bankson on nn l both th sides aldee the stream maintains main main- alas i a a permanent 11 rma width of or about i yards I Elsewhere the river varies arIC greatly e tI with the seasons in In flood It I Is from 1 OO yards yards- to n a untie mile Vl e. e Its Us winter n I width I th Is much less leRs I j River her n ascend the to the Merr railway bridge e shout bout lad miles downstream from the Q and anti have he boon been n factor t tran iM sy cm tern H to t Ml Asia o. o |