'Administration Report of the Persian Gulf Political Residency for the Years 1911-1914' [‎42r] (88/488)

POLITICAL RESIDENCY An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. FOR 1911.
70
Messrs. Lynch Brothers, who keep their head offices at Ahwaz for grain
purchase, in January again appointed an European Agent to Mohammerah
in place of the Indian clerk who had held charge.
In December the " Julnar," their new boat which, so it was found, did
not suit the Tigris was given a trial run on the Karun and still continues
on the river as a temporary measure.
Messrs. Andrew Weir & Co. of London are represented at Mohammerah
by Messrs. Asfar & Co. of Basrah who during the year acquired the lease
of a wharf on the river for the conduct of the grain export.
At the end of the year Messrs. Gray Mackenzie & Co. took a wharf and
appointed a European to Mohammerah. A large part of the Mohammerah
business is in American oil from the Standard Oil Company, but they also
propose exporting grain and doing other general trade.
The work of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company progressed steadily through
out the year though handicapped, more especially at the Abadan Eefinery,
by the cholera epidemic and the month of Ramzan which followed it with its
fasts and the consequent inability of the employes to perform their accus
tomed task.
The pipe line was completed on the 22nd June and stood its test most
successfully. Oil reached Abadan on the 25th October and had cholera not
come the refinery would no doubt have been in working order by the New
Year.
A growing village of some 1,200 souls has sprung up on what was
formerly but a bare plain and solidly constructed buildings for the European
staff occupy the river front.
At Mohammerah the new quarters and offices should be finished by the
spring.
The telephone line connecting Ahwaz, Abadan and Mohammerah was
terminated with the pipe line.
The Company, in December, was employing in all 45 Europeans, 485
British Indians, 30 Chinese and 1,900 Persians and Turks.
The Imperial Bank of Persia completed their new offices on the banks
of the river Karun in the town of Mohammerah in December 1910. The
Manager's house, an imposing edifice higher up the stream, was occupied in
May 1911 and the Accountant's house will shortly be completed.
The bank business has steadily increased since its inauguration, in Janu
ary 1910, and the work at its busiest is almost too much for the staff of a
Manager and one Accountant.
The date season has been unsatisfactory owing to the absence of the
^ ^ A 0 moisture-laden south winds the want of
The Dcite S bsisoii. i*i iji -i . • n ii
which caused the dates, especially the
better qualities, to be dried up. In consequence of the north wind the sum
mer, though more bearable, was hot, the thermometer registering over 110°
in the shade, a high temperature for a climate which, though drier than the
true Gulf, is still moist. In September, H. M. S. " Odin " arrived to prevent
piracy during the date season. She patrolled the river until the end of
December when she was recalled to Bushire for the landing of the troops in
consequence of the disturbances at Shiraz.
The grain season has been one of the most satisfactory on record. In all
^ . o 22,000 tons of grain were exported at a
The rain Season. value of about £96,000. The figures
have been taken from the Customs statistics. Probably 50 per cent, would
more accurately represent the actual exports.
There is little to note under this head
T . , AJ A . as far as the Shaikh's territories are
Internal Administration.
concerned.
Sir Khaz'al maintained his usual firm rule with the assistance of Haji
Rais-ut-Tujjar. In general it may be said that, in internal matters, the