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Show BAKU: OIL CITY OF THE H CASPIAN K Tlio recent outbreak of a revolt In l Ilussla ugulmt tlio Uolshevlk regime voices umong other Interesting ques- H tlons that of whether Ilaku, the great BJ oil city of Asia, now surrounded hy Bj Uolshevlk governments, will ho onco Bj more thrown open to world commerce. i 'nils city In the heart of ono of the B world's greatest petroleum fields, has Be been practically bottled up since the B fait of the Russian empire. The city of Uaku, built In the form BJ of nn amphitheater on the south Bide B of the Apsheron peninsula, which Juts B fnr out Into thq CaHplan sen, fa the Bf Tampleo of tho Ulav domain. Two Bf. VHBt oil fields, containing mora than BJi i-'JOO wells, mako It the chief oil con BJ tcr of Europe. During tho World war, BJ lnd tho Teutonic powora succeeded In Bjt reaching It before tho Ilrltlsli forces Bj occupied It, tho blow would hayo been BJ oven more serious to the allied cnuso Bfj than was tho solzuro of the Itoumnnl Bf an oil Holds by the Gennan army of Bj." occupntlou. BV; According to a ccusun tho year be BJ foro the outbreak of tho war, Ilaku Bjf wus a city about tho present size of Bat Providence, It. I., Columbus, Ohio, or BVJ Louisville, Ky. It wns tho chief city. BJ of the Ilusstnn provlnco of tho wuno Bj name, but In recent years the provlnco HK .has fanned a government of its own Bs under the name of the Itepubllc of Bj Azerbaijan. Ilaku Is situated In tho Bj. midst cf an, unnttractlve, treeless H8 plain which stretches along tho west BJ trn nhores of the Caspian. Tlio Cos- BJ ' plan Is 81 feet' below wn level, and BW ,,nk" rises only 80 foot above tho BJlj ' Rrent Inland sea, so that It Is more B " feet below tho ocean level. BK' Many centuries ugo the Persian tiro b if wortthlpers discovered that the nnt BBK ,V tirhl guscs Issuing from llssures In tho BV rock near llnkti would burn, and BH there mny bo seen, a few miles from BV tho city, the remains of ono of their BV , emclent temples. B' The upper part of tho city, corro H . upondliiK to tho tiack rows of nu BK ampbltbeiiter, Ik tho picturesque Tatar BV nunrtor, with Its many narrow lanes BH and oriental bazaars. A flftccnth-cen BS v tnti' puluco of tho khans Is In a very BH dilapidated condition, and bus been H used for many yearn by the Hussions BJR, ah u military magazine. Tho mowt Bu characteristic structure In tho town Bf, Is tho mnsslvo KIs ICale, or Maidens' BH Tvwer, which rises to a height of 147 BV foot and which Is now used as a light- Bjl house, It datoB from tho Hyzuntina WMt, period. HIJ Tour fifths of all tho oil produced In BUj tho IliiHslan cmplro comos from tho BV lluku Holds. Tho hlgli-watcr-mark of Bt production was reached In 1002 when Hi tho output of tho district was nearly BBS ten million tons of crude potrolcum. BH In 1000, however, there was a ills- BV , nstrous lire which considerably cur BB, tolled production for a time. Tho BB latest authentic figures on production BB ore those fgr 1015 when a llttlo mora BB than seven million tons was produced. BB Much of tho output of tho wells, which BB vary In depth from 000 to 2,000 feet, BB wiih transportedby plpo lino to Iiatum BB on the Hluck sen, but Ilaku Is nlso H connected by rail with this seaport. BV bs well ns with Ilostov-on-tho-Don. BB In 'addition to Its oil interest, Ilaku BB had dry docks, (flour mills, milphurlc HJI acid works and tobacco factories. It HI was tho chief entrepot for raw cotton, HI silk, fruits, dried fish, wines and rlco HB produced In Persia and tho Trunscau BH casus territory. BH Tho town derives Its namo from tho BH uqualls (badkubo) which aro frequent- BS ly very violent on this part of tho BB Caspian coast. H A ROMANCE OF BANANAS B AND COFFEE " BH When tho American small boy cats BH Ids dully quota of bananas, and when BbI his father and mother sip thulr break BR fast, luncheon, or dinner coffee, they BJfw are making Important contributions to BBft tho prosperity of fellow Americans BBt of whom they know very llttlo tho BHy residents of tho live Centrul American BBt rcpubllcu which huvo lately reacbod a preliminary dccUlon for tho fortnn- BBfl tlou of a" sort of "United States of BKi Out nil America." BK '. Centrul America Illustrates striking BBm 'y t'10 'ffcts of geographic factors on BBk a reglou'H development. All the flvo BaK republics Uo on tho relatively narrow BK Isthmus between tho narrow ribbon BK of Panama on tho south and Mexico Bbi on tho north. Tho Spanish sottle- Hf uienta mndo noon after tho discovery B of America Avero all on tho Pnclllc BP' sldo of tho Isthmus, for tho most part an tho plateaus, and mountain slopes BK and In tlio mountain volleys of that Bg region, which temper an otherwise If tropical climate. Practically the, on MM tire Atlantic sldo of the Uthmus was WK a low ulaln, cove.ed with a denso Bjl Junglo K.K At tho time of tho throwing- off of HI tlio Spuulrti joke In 1821, tho Central Pin American settlements woro as offec- Kij tunlly cut off from tho Unltcfl Ktntes Wt' "' it tuoy liat ;oct niany thousands IBv of miles away Instead of being only mM terosi tho Caribbean sea. With tho HHffrAlfl fltlrniini ntnitiriLf i ' Hettlement of tho Pacific coast of tho United Slates, the building of the-Panama the-Panama railroad, and later the con Htructlon of n trans-Mexican railway, tho Panninn canal, and railways across Guatemala and Costa Itlca, Central America has become enslly accessible. Shortly before the construction of tho Panama railroad, coffee was Introduced In-troduced into Central America from the West Indies, and wns found to grow to perfection In the lava soil on the slope of the volcanic mountains along the Pnclllc coast of most of tho region. Coffee soon becaino nn export of prime Importance and hns brought much money Into Central America. The remainder of Central America's horticultural romance hns as Its motif, mo-tif, the banana. In order that the great American hunger for Unit slender slen-der golden fruit might bo appeased, large fruit growing and distributing corporations from tho United Stntcs acquired extensive trnctH qf land In tho Atlantic plain, reclaimed It from tho Jungle, and planted great banann groves which produce millions of bunches of bananas yearly. Tho by-products of this development havo been ns vnluablo to Central America u tho money that has flowed, directly to laborers and to tho government. gov-ernment. Important cities have spmng up nlong tho Atlantic const, rallroadt havo been built, nnd what Is probnbly most Important of nil, lines of fast, well-equipped steamers, carrying carry-ing both passengers and freight havo been established between tho Atlantic ports nnd those or the United .State In effect tho banana has shifted Central Cen-tral America thousands of miles closer clos-er to the outside world. BATTLEGROUND AND PLAYGROUND Tho Crimen wns tho sccno of ono of tho latest antl-Uolshevlk military efforts from outsldo Ilussla to win bnck n part of that old empire. This expedition, under General Wrangcl met (HsaKter us had similar forces launched agnlnst the sovlots farther north, and tho Crimen was overrun by tlio llolHhcvlkl. Tho Crimean peninsula In which this encounter took plnco Is a land which has aspects known to ovcry school child. It Is tho land of tho Cimmerians Cim-merians about whom Homer sang In tho "Odyssey" nnd from whom tho peninsula penin-sula takes Its name; tho land of the Crimean war, tho slego of Sevastopol, und the "Churgo of tho Light Ilrl gado"; tho land In which Florence Nlghtlngnlo first cnuned efficient, ordered or-dered mercy to havo a part In war. Tho Crimen Is known as "Tho Llttlo Paradlso" to tho Tatars, last of the many races to overrun tho peninsula before tho lnnd fell undcrtho sway of tho Muscovite. A traveler Jour-noylug Jour-noylug from the North is likely tn accept this appellation, If at all, with u strong mental reservation ns ho cros8es tho almotrt dcscrt-llko plains of northern Crimea , but onco over tho mountains that rim tho southern shore ho will upprovo tho description with cnthuslnsm. There, nuturo has mado a 'wonderful gnrdcp spot, tho Illvtcrh of Ilussla, n combination of sea, mountains moun-tains and riotous vcrduro that really vied with lt famed Italian counterpart counter-part In tho days when Czarhood was In flower. Though a part of what has come to bo looked upon ns "cold Ilussln," tho southern shore of tho Crimea brought to tho old emplro a touch of the tropics. On tho mountain slopes and In the sheltered valleys grow grapes, figs, olives, and all tho tender fruits; magnolias, bay, and myrtles; nnd a profusion of wild flowers nnd grasses. That the delights of Its mljd climate were discovered early is testllled by tho ruins of Greek, Byzantine, and Italian architecture which aro to bo found among'tho mosques of tho later Tatars, the palaces of tla Itusslnn Imperial Im-perial family and nobility, nnd tho magnificent modern hotels of tho pleasure towns to which tho prosperous prosper-ous classes of Itussln flocked before tho World war. Yalta, In thoso carefree care-free days, was Ilussla's IS'lce, Now port, and Miami rolled Into ono; Its cafe nnd casino Ufa was as hoctlc, gay, nnd expenslvo ns that to bo found In any of tho world's pre-war ploy-grounds ploy-grounds Tho Crimen Is a peninsula that barely escaped being an Island. It hangs from tho mainland or Sou m Itussln down into tho lilack sea, Ilka n gigantic watch fob shaped llku n flounder. It is attached by tho narrow nar-row ribbon of the Isthmus of Pere kop, a atrip of land only three-quarters at a mile wldo and only a few feet nbovo sen lavel. On ono side is tho Black sea und on tho other tho atngnnnt, shallow, malodorous wnters of tho Slvatch, or Putrid sea, a lagoon la-goon of tho Son of Azov. This Is tho only unbroken natural land connection connec-tion between tho mainland nnd tho Crimen, but n few mtlea to the east a narrow part of tho Putrid sea has been bridged by the railroad which enters tho peninsula. Tho greatest width of tho Crimea north and south Is 115 miles, and Its greatest length from "hend" to "tall" Is 225 mlloi, It contains about 0.700 square miles, and Is thus approximate, ly tho size of tho state of Vermont or the Island of Sicily. Iloforo tHo World war Ita population was 2,000,000. Tho Crimea was conquered by Catharine Cath-arine tho Great of Ilussla In 1771, and remained a part of tho Itusslnn cmplro cm-plro until that polltlcul entity's col-lapso col-lapso In 1017. Tho bulk of tho population popu-lation remains Tatar, though there is an admixture of both Greek and Italian Ital-ian blood in the nominally Tatar people. IN TURKEY REFORM SPRINGS ETERNAL I Turkey bids fulr to "conio back," I In a limited sense ut least, us u iu- I suit of the propojed revision of the Sevres trcuty that dlwneiiibereil the Ottoman empire ufter the Werld wr. It will be a chuhged Turkey, U be sure, but chunge Is not new in tho country that Inherited Mohammed's reUglous empire. Paradoxically, Turkey, Tur-key, though It has a tradition of national na-tional lucrtlu, also is u land of kaleidoscopic kalei-doscopic reform, und may be.Bald to reuct to reforms more dlscrliuinnt lugly than uny other country In or out of Christendom. The Turks huve adopted some reforms bodily and some partially, and have rejected others flatly uven when the prestlgo of tho Cullph and Allah's ministers wus behind be-hind them. Turkey begun ita existence on a foundation of reform, tho cmplro inheriting in-heriting tho comprehensive reshaping of the religious und social world instituted in-stituted by Mohammed. It "went dry" Just 020 jcurs before the United States, for its "eighteenth amendment" amend-ment" was not an nmendment at all. but a part, so to speak, of the organic act when tljo empire came Into existence exist-ence in 1200. Kvcn in the matter of polygamy, looked at askance by tlio western world, Mohammed und tho government which took up Ills mantel were reformers. re-formers. The legal maximum number of wives was placed. at four. Even the Jokes of coffee nnd tobacco tobac-co prohibition that havo gone the rounds of the American vaudeville stage camo near being n reality In Turkey. Mohammedan scholars fulminated ful-minated against the steaming cup; und one sultan went do far as to prohibit pro-hibit the use of tobacco, fearing thnt It was taking too Arm a hold on lib people. Hut tho populnco refused to have the prophet's convennnt chuuged and' the ban was raised. Though tho reported pusslng of the fez is looked upon ns a reform which to western eyes would remove something some-thing as distinctively Turkish ns (tie star and crescent, tho Introduction of tho guudy Bkull cap was Itself u reform re-form effected less than a hundred years ago; and staunch old Moslems of thnt time wagged their heads 'in warning ns tlio reckless reformers cast aside their dignified turbans for the now bauble. To tho Turkish Tories of thoso dayB the fez traveled In company com-pany mifuclcntly dlsreputnblo to damn It utterly. It was Introduced forcibly Into the nrmy by tho Sultan Mahmoud II In tho early part of tho nineteenth century nlong with tight European trousers and frock coats. The fez and turban types of head coverings havo u definite reason for exlstenco In Turkey, and It Is to be doubted that they will bo discarded entirely, especially for 'tho brimmed lints and vlsored caps( of Europeans. Mohammedan rules and customs cull for covered heads at prayer; and they also "rcqulro that nt ono stugo of prayer pray-er the votary shall touch his noso and forehead to tho ground, a feat that Is Impossible If he wears a hat with a protruding ,brlm. PACIFIC ISLAND GARDEN SPOT With the shifting of ownership that has taken plnco among tho Islands of tho Pnclllc and the growing Importance Impor-tance of that great body of water In International u (Talcs, tho holdings of the various nations in tho Pnclllc are taking on new vnluo. Ono of tho most Important of the French Pacific possessions pos-sessions Is Tahiti, or tho Society Is-Innds, Is-Innds, with steamship connection to San Francisco nnd Now Zealand. They aro described In tho following communication to tho Notional Geographic Geo-graphic society from II. W. Smith: "Llku the Snmoans, the Society Islands Is-lands are of' volcanic origin, rising from the low bed of the occiu, which has depths near tho islands of 1,500 to 12,000 feet, while tho highest peak, In tho center of tho Island of Tahiti, reaches an altitude of 7.H0O feet I "Near Papeoto tho beautiful Fa tauua valley may bo visited In an afternoon. For a good part of the way a carriage road leads up the valley, val-ley, offering changing vistas. "Why, Indeed, should tho Tnhltlan toll? There aro great leaves of tho wild 'taro' growing by tho roadsldo; tho young leaves are delicious boiled, and tho curious stranger wilt find ninny' other now delicacies ol the table tho alligator pear, tho baked papyn, tho Mantis crab, tho raw fish, as good as the best oyster. "In Tahiti, ns well as In most of tho South Sea Islands, great numbers of coconuts aro grown. Tho meat, after af-ter being dried Into copra, Is shipped In largo quantities to Europe. Wo wero much Interested In tho different methods of gathering tho nuts In various va-rious Islands. In Tahiti the natives climb tho trees with the help of a strip of green, fibrous bark torn off the stem of a hibiscus tree. After knotting tho two ends together, the climber slips his feot half through the circle, and standing with his legs npnrt, so as to stretch the thong tight, ascends tho tree In a series of leaps, with a foot on each sldo of tho trunk. "In lta,.froah, green stato the coconut coco-nut provides u most rtfroshlng drink, but ns It grows older the 'milk' hard ens nnd forms tho white Inner rind with which wo nro all familiar. When dried this Is, the celebrated copra and is commercially put to many different uses. In Tnhltl t Is used for winces nnd for coconut oil. Ono sauco, which wns served with -., nt a vory enjoyable enjoy-able picnic, nlthough compounded of scraped nut and sea-water, was palatable." |