Page 732 - Belgrave Diaries(N)_Neat

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1932

say of Isa was "well, he's just Isa", in fact quite unique. Though the dates look very good he said there is some illness among
them which has just begun to make numbers of them fall off the trees.

Tuesday [7 June]

Manama Biladya meeting. Ali bin Hussein was absent as he has got fever which was a pity as it was an important meeting.
However we got some big work done, one thing was settling that the owners of property should pay the municipal tax, not the
tenants, it will make the paying more certain, as most of the members are property owners they were not too keen on this but
with the President's vote the decision was carried. Then we discussed the filling in of the piece of ground between Mespers
and Kozaibis which belongs to Zayani and Fakroo, they claim compensation for stones removed from there 22 years ago for
building the Import shed, but we decided that this claim was invalid, Zayani was very annoyed about this, they are to fill it in
within one month from the end of the pearling season so it will be unfilled in all the summer and will smell as badly as ever.
Very hot day, south wind and very dry. Didnt go out in afternoon, did a little work in the garden but there are no flowers in it
now so it is rather dull. Dinner at the Agency, an Arab dinner to celebrate Zayani having got his K.B., he was formerly only
K.S. The party were Zayani and the nather and Bin Maana from Kattar and the Agency K.B. Abdul Haiy, it was quite a good
party though conversation did not exactly flow. After dinner we sat on the roof, Prior said the temperature on his veranda was
99 last night, on my roof it is much cooler, in fact I still use a blanket most nights, but in the house and on the veranda it is very
hot indeed.

Wednesday 8th May 1932 [June]

I have finished the Annual Report, it is very late this year but I have been so busy and being away in the summer made it more
difficult. Next year I must start it much earlier. Went up to the Fort as usual and then after breakfast to a meeting of the Wakf
Department before which I had a look at the Shia school. The attendance is very bad just now owing to the diving, all the
bigger boys have gone out in the boats. The Wakf meeting included the new members some of whom seem to be a trifle
troublesome. In the afternoon The Shaikh came and stayed for two hours, he signed the Budget among other things and did a
certain amount of business, he seems to have got quite a craze for improving the morals of Muharraq, he gave orders that
several young Khalifah Shaikhs are to be told to leave off living there and to go to other places and also he ordered another
"dar" to be destroyed. It was quite late when he went so I didnt go out, Skinner came in to see me and then D.G and Steele.
They are going to bore another well at once not far off the present one, I said I would go out on Saturday afternoon also to
Zellag to see a place where they want to make a water well as their supply is now not enough. Skinner complained about the
heat out there, it has been up to 117 in the shade of their verandas which is pretty hot. The men seem to feel the heat a great
deal. Skinner seemed quite cheerful but he says the amount of oil they have got now is still not enough to start on
commercially but if they get several wells about the same amount it will be a real proposition. I thought Skinner looked very
seedy.

Thursday [9 June]

Very busy morning indeed and just when I needed it most the phone got out of order so I had to send notes up and down. One
of Mespers clerks was found to be swindling them by altering amounts on the receipts sent to the customs, de Grenier spotted