Photo by Frederick Simpich 



office;rs of the young Turks' navy, stationi;d at bagdad, Tigris rive;r 



"Modern Bagdad is in safer hands ; no dissipated royalty guards its gates. Sober, clear- 

 headed men, drilled in the best schools of modern Europe, able to hold their own anywhere, 

 administer the affairs of this important Turkish province of Bagdad" (see text, page 552). 



with mats of camel's-thorn darkening its 

 few small windows. Onto these mats 

 water is constantly thrown during mid- 

 day to cool the air. Water to drink is 

 cooled in earthen jugs called "tongua." 

 Meat must be eaten a few hours after 

 killing. 



The climate is like that of Egypt or 

 Lower California — hot, dry summers and 

 beautiful winters. 



In May sand-storms from the Arab 

 ■desert strike Bagdad, choking the people 

 with fine, hot dust, obscuring the whole 

 city in a thick, stifling gray cloud. You 

 can see this dust cloud approach from the 

 southwest — a wide, long, lead-covered 

 wave of awful aspect. A fierce wind, 

 its breath like an oven blast, threshes the 

 tall palms and roars through the narrow, 

 mud-walled streets. The thermometer 

 climbs to a sizzling height. A native 

 told me of one such storm that struck 

 Bagdad twenty years ago, when the air 



grew so hot that even after the storm 

 was passed the suffering folk were forced 

 to pour water on their straw mats to 

 cool them off enough to lie on. Scor- 

 pions frisk freely about many of these 

 Bagdad serdabs, but their sting is not 

 fatal. 



the; date boh. 



An uncanny, pernicious pest called the 

 "date boil" scars the face of every hu- 

 man born in Bagdad. Children invaria- 

 bly have this dreadful sore on their faces. 

 Throughout the Middle East this mys- 

 terious scourge is known by various 

 names — "Buton d'Alep," "Nile sore," 

 "Delhi button," etc. Its cause and its 

 cure are unknown. First a faint red 

 spot appears, growing larger and run- 

 ning a course often 18 months long. 



White men from foreign lands have 

 lived years in Arabia, only to have this 

 boil appear upon their return to civiliza- 



562 



