Page 450 - PERSIAN 5 1905_1911_Neat

40 administration report of the fersiak gulf
between Braim and Bawardch with a frontage of 2,000 yards on the Shatt-
cl-Arab was leased to the Company for £650 per annum payable ten y ears
in advance. They further acquired a strip of land for a right of way across
the island, and the right to acquire more land free of date trees elsewhere,
should the above site prove unsuitable, and another 100 jaribs adjacent to
the above site, at the same rate if asked for within two years, and at the
of the pipe line and for pumping stations, etc., was also granted, as we R
local fair current rate if asked for after that time. Land for the la
an area of ten jaribs at Ahwaz above the rapids, for the purposes of the
Company. The period of the lease was for the period of the concession or
for any extension or renewal thereof, but in the latter case a rent of £1,500
per annum was to be paid. The lease was to be binding on the Shaikh and
nis heirs, successors and tribesmen, and was subsequently signed by tribal
heads.
It- was also found necessary to give the Shaikh a separate confidential
assurance to the effect that if, when the concession expired, the Persian
Government claimed the buildings, machinery, etc., on the land leased from
the Shaikh, he would be assisted to arrive at a favourable settlement with
that Government by His Majesty’s Government.
By the end Of December some 6.000 tons of material for the Oil Company
had arrived and of which 4.000 tons were landed on Abadan Island at
Braim. whence it was to he slowly removed up country by the R. S. “ Malamir,”
S. L. “ Ishlar,” and the R. S. “ filosse Lynch,” Messrs. Lynch Brothers having
contracted to carry 8,000 tons within three months.
It is early tc say much as to the prospects of the Company. All that
can be said is that they appear to have plenty of oil and that their difficulties
will commence when they attempt to sell large quantities of oil in competition
with American and Russian Companies. The cost of production of their oil
seems likely to le high, and Mohammerah is not near to any large market for
oil.
Mr. C. Ritchie, of J. L. Weir. Limited, Glasgow, spent three months
during the summer surveying and examining the country between Masjid-i-
Sulaiman and Mchammerab, and Mamatain and Ahwaz, with a view to find­
ing the best route for the pipe lines, for which his firm has the contract.
A proposal from the Company, in 1309, to join with the Indo-European
Telegraph Department in erecting a telegraph line to run down their pipe
line, from Ahwaz to Mohamraeran, bifurcating off a few lines above Moharn-
raerah, one line crossing the Karun and entering the town, the other con-
tinuing to Abadan, was rejected by the Indo-European Telegraph Depart­
ment.
It was intended in November to sink the “ Dwina,” an old lighter be­
longing to Messrs. F. C. Striek & Co- of Basrah, on the mud at low
water mark on the bank of the Shatt-el-Arab near Braim to act as a pier for
ocean steamers when discharging pipe line material. Unfortunately, how­
ever, the mud proved too soft to sustain the weight of the “ Dwina ” when
she was filled with mud in order to sink her, and breaking her chains she
slipped down the bank into S fathoms of water. 200 feet from the bank, a
total loss. Fortunately, the wreck does not lie in the fairway channel and
is Dot a source of danger to navigation.
The year has been a bad one for internal trade, owing to the failure of the
wheat crop, following on a failure m
Commerce.
1908, and owing to the continued in­
security in Central Persia. The effects, however, have been largely neutral­
ized, as far as Mohammerah and Nasiri are concerned, by the increase in
transit trade due to the disturbances on the Busbire-Shiraz-Ispahan Roju*
(vide M Customs ” and “ Navigation ” supra)- This circumstance, and the
advent of the Oil Company, has led several British firms now established in
Basrah to consider the advisability of commencing branches here, and in
particular Messrs. Gray, Mackenzie & Co., under instructions from
home, have been enquiring into the possibilities of trade here.