Page 514 - PERSIAN 8 1931_1940_Neat

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His Highness the Ruler of Kuwait has very kindly agreed to send some
of the newspapers subscribed to by him, to the Library.
(c) Education.—Education continues to be suited to the requirements.
For an Arabian town the standard is high, and the girl schools are particularly
good and well attended. The number of “ Khatim ” or graduates during the
year was:—
Boys . 35
Girls . 20
(/) Boy Scouts.—The Roy Scouts movement, was inaugurated in Kuwait
by the Palestinian teachers during the period under review. More than
hundred ijpys have been enrolled.
{g) Bank for Kuwait.—After long negotiation the Eastern Bank, having
had its competitor, the Ottoman Bank, eliminated, decided to resort to it!
original policy of not committing itself to open a branch.
(h) Post office.—The Ruler continued during the year under report to
press the Political Agent for a Post Office under either his or the Political
Agent’s influence, unlike the Iraqi Post Office now here, which acknowledges
no control of anyone in the State. This has been the subject of correspon­
dence and progress towards a better arrangement has been made.
(i) Telephone system for Kuwait.—The Ruler has continued to hope for a
telephone system, and progress towards obtaining one has been made.
(j) Imperial Airways.—The two weekly land services were cut down to
one from October and information was received that the remaining service
would be terminated early in 1938 owing to shortage of landcraft.
The percentage of non-landings to the whole number of passages across
the territory was roughly 20 per cent., i.e. a proportion of 4 : 1 between land­
ings and non-landings.
(k) Boat building and Pearl diving—Boats.—A note on the number,
tonnage, etc. of boats built during the year will be found in the Trade Re­
port for 1936. The boat building industry has greatly improved and the
yards were kept busy throughout the year; many boats being ordered from
elsewhere on the Arabian Coasts, where the leading Kuwaiti builders are
gaining a very high reputation for sound building.
Pearls.—The pearl season showed a slight improvement in prices and in
finds over lost year.
The number of boats out this year was 300.
(l) The Pilgrimage to Mecca {Haj) from Kuwait.—The number of pilgrims
who left Kuwait in the year was :—
Kuwaitis by camel 454
Kuwaitis by sea 2
Kuwaitis by car 134
Iraqis by car through Kuwait . 141
The Quarantine Building and Isolation Hospital were extensively re­
paired and are now in very good order. [But see Para. (o) below].
{in) The Radio.—There arc now about 100 radios in Kuwait territory.
The effect of the Rome (Bari) Arabic broadcast is well known, and has,
as was long hoped, since the year terminated, been countered by a London
broadcast in Arabic of “ straight news ”.
The richer people of Kuwait are now definitely wireless “ fans ”, and
follow all the Arabic and some of the English broadcasts closely. The news,
thus received, in the usual topic at the morning “ Mejlis ” of His Highness
the Sheikh, to which daily all the notables go, before beginning their day’s
•business.
Hunting parties habitually take out Battery sets to their camp, although
some hawkers do complain that next day their falcons arc the worse for such
noise at night.