Page 129 - PERSIAN 8 1912_1920

POE THE YEAE 1912. 119
investiture, the reasons for his absence being accordingly explained
•fgfSfth.
Tli0 Shaikh was informed that negotiations between the Porte and Hia
Majesty’s Government were proceeding
Bagbtdad Etui way.
with a view to the final settlement of afl
(T rcnccs between them concurrently with a solution of the Baghdad Railway
inus question. Interested as he naturally must be in such a matter the
^^kh appears content to leave his own part of the case in our hands, confident
it we will obtain for him such terms as may bo compatible with his interest*.
a?the same time he does not admit that the lapse of time has given the Turkish
r vcrnincnt any better right to the points on Jiis boundaries still occupied by
their petty detachments.
The cordial and intimate relations existing between Shaikh Mubarak and
Shaikh Khazal continue to be cemented by
With the Shaikh of Hobammcrah.
the exchange of frequent visits. 8haikh
■Mubarak visited Failiyah four times during the year in his yacht remaining on
^ach occasion fr°m three to five weeks.
Shaikh Khazal with his Secretary, Haji Eais, arrived in Shaikh Mubarak’s
cht on the 22nd August escorted by his own launch. He was received by
ibc Shaikh with his usual warmth and hospitality, and after spending about a
week in Kuwait the party returned to Mohainmcrah on the 29th August.
Shaikhs Salim bin Mubarak, Ahmed bin Jabir, Ali bin Kkalifah and others
of Shaikh Mubarak’s family have also visited Failiyah.
Friendly relations which were revived last year still subsist between the
Bin Subah and A1 Khalifah families,
With the Shaikh of Baknut.
though no visits were exchanged.
In January the Mission established a Minister in Kuwait and rented
another house from the Shaikh for his U6e.
With the American Miidon.
The staff now consists of a doctor, a lady
doctor, and a Minister assisted by a colporteur and a dispenser. Plans have
been prepared and the material ordered for the proposed Mission hospital and
work will shortly be commenced on the site which, as already stated in the
report for 1910, has been acquired on the west side of the town.
Various members of the Mission from other stations have visited Kuwait
during the year, among them Dr. Llylrea and Mr. Shaw. Dr. P. W. Harrison,
in the course of his work, visited the pearl-banks by native boat during the
diving season, but found himself unable to do much beyond dispensing a few
medicines.
The Shaikh’s relations with the Mission have been uniformly friendly and
he took pains to provide them with a house when the one already occupied by
them had to be vacated suddenly.
Messrs. TFonckhaus & Co., who through their native agents have end­
eavoured since last year to acquire a foot
With Orman*.
hold in Kuwait by the purchase of small
quantities of wheat and barley imported from Hindian and other minor
ports, continued their efforts and one of their European staff also approached
the Shaikh on one of the latter’s visits to Mohammerah for permission,
to open a branch in Kuwait under European supervision. The Shaikh
gave an evasive reply and suggested their addressing themselves first to the
Political Resident or the Political Agent. In April, apparently finding that
they were wasting time and money in Kuwait, their native agents, Abdulla
“ Uermani ” and Alexander Forage, a Baghdad Christian, who had spent some
months in Kuwait in an expensively furnished office, returned to Basrah bag
and baggage. Towards the end of the year Abdulla again visited Kuwait,
presumably in the firm’s interests but he left for Basrah on the 26th Decem-

There has been no epidemio in Kuwait or in its environs during the year,
„ Vl. _ u. and the health of the port has been very-
FbMU Hilltk good throughout