Syria: An Economic Survey 



via Rhodes to Beirut and via Piraeus to Beirut. The regu- 

 larity of the traffic is sometimes interrupted by storms and 

 the quarantines made necessary by cholera epidemics in 

 Egypt. Besides the above mentioned steamship lines there are 

 a Roumanian, a Bulgarian, and German lines which run less 

 frequently and two English lines which have only freight 

 steamers. 



It is interesting to note that in 1910, the last year in which 

 shipping was normal, Beirut was entered by 1,143 steamships, 

 Jaffa by 707 steamships, Tripoli by 620, Haifa by 555, Alexan- 

 dretta by 472, Latakia by 137 and Sidon by 109. Of these steam- 

 ships 22.3 per cent were English, 20 per cent were Russian, 12.4 

 per cent were Austrian, 10.5 per cent were Turkish, 10.2 per cent 

 were French, etc. The number of sailboats touching at the seven 

 large harbors in 1910 was 8,545. 



B. Railways. 



The Hejaz Railway. The passenger traffic is far greater in 

 proportion than the freight traffic. In 1912-1913 there were 130,- 

 563 travelers from Damascus to Medina. The Damascus-Dera'a- 

 Haifa line has greater traffic, but no figures are available. In 1913 

 the Hejaz Railway owned 96 locomotives, 103 passenger cars, 30 

 baggage cars, 1,028 freight cars, and 7 special cars. The passenger 

 trains from Haifa to Damascus run daily (12 hours' trip), those 

 from Dera'a to Medina 3 times a week. 



The Jaffa- Jerusalem Railway. The number of passengers 

 (pilgrims and tourists) is greatest in March and April. The 

 freight traffic is considerable from Jaffa to Jerusalem, but slight 

 in the opposite direction. In 1913 182,700 passengers (I and II 

 class) travelled on the line, and 47,500 tons of freight were 

 transported. 



C. Animal Transportation. 



Camels are used in preference to other animals. Donkeys and 

 mules are used for short distances, wagons only for military pur- 

 poses, in the Lebanon and in the Jewish, German and Circassian 

 colonies of Palestine. The rest of the population does not possess 

 any wagons because of the miserable condition of the roads that 

 prevailed up to recent years. In the cities there are carriages and 

 omnibuses. Palestine has several "Diligences" (stages) running 

 between Jaffa and Ramleh, Jerusalem and Bethlehem, etc. Among 



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