Coll 6/9 'Jeddah Reports Jany 1931–' [‎16r] (32/802)

411. The North African pilgrimage will probably be adversely affected by
the fall in the exchange value of the franc; pilgrim dues have to be paid in gold
or the equivalent.
412. A large Nigerian pilgrimage is expected.
413. The Hejaz Bureau of Pilgrimage Propaganda has been very busy
during the month. Its notices in the papers have emphasised the peacefulness
of the country, the prodigious numbers of new cars (the number is given as 360)
which have recently been imported for the comfort of pilgrims, and the obligatory
nature of the prophet’s directions to perform the pilgrimage; 4,788 pilgrims were
stated to have arrived already at Jedda up to the 8th October, and 9,578 up to
the 22nd October.
414. Ismail Ghuznavi's agents in India have also been busy. The Lahore
paper Zamindar puts the number of pilgrims expected at Mecca at 100,000.
415. The Indian pilgrimage proper began by the arrival of the steamship
Jehangir on the 25th October. She brought 616 pilgrims, 523 of whom were
Indians. A nephew of the ruler of Bahrein, named Sheikh Hamid-el-Khalifa,
was on board; he was escorting the wife of the eldest son of the ruler.
416. News reached Jedda during the month that Sir Firoze Khan Noon,
High Commissioner for India, performed the naming and launching ceremonies
of a new pilgrim ship at Glasgow on the 22nd September. She is called
El-Medina, of 4.000 tons, with accommodation for 850 passengers, and she was
built for the Scindia Steam Navigation Company.
417. A new overland route for Syrian pilgrims is announced in the
Saut-ul-Hijaz of the 19th October. Transport companies in Syria, we are told,
are discussing the development of a pilgrim route from Damascus via Amman,
Tebuk and Medina.
418. The same paper says that the Mecca-Jedda and the Mecca-Arafat
roads will be paved soon, the work being commenced in the month of Ramazan
(i.e., in November).
419. A recent number of the Saut-ul-Hijaz publishes a lengthy article on
the amenities of Jizan. No reference is made to the vexed question of postal
communications between that port and Kamaran, but various improvements in
the port and in educational and economic matters are described, in the form of
a “ question and answer ” debate between the editor and one Seyyid
Muhammad-el-Hadi, a school teacher of Jizan, who spent some time recently at
Mecca.
420. A school for teaching English is being opened at Mecca on the
1st October, according to the local press.
421. The Egyptian Government, according to the Umm-ul-Qura of the
8th October, recently invited the Saudi Arabian Government to appoint a repre
sentative to attend an international conference on trachoma, to be held in
Egypt early in December. The Saudi Arabian Government have appointed
Dr. Muhammad Ali-al-Shawwaf to represent them.
422. The Minister of Finance is spending a good deal of money on the
“ fort ” petrol and oil store at Muwaih, on the road from Mecca to Riyadh The
original building is being enclosed by a masonry wall some 18 inches thick
by 9 feet high. The area now enclosed is approximately 50,000 square feet.
423. A new garage and service station is to be built at Jedda by the local
Dodge agents; construction began during October.
424. Two German mechanics have been at Jedda for some time, engaged in
erecting and testing the newly received Mercedes-Benz and Krupp Diesel lorries
for the Saudi Arabian Government. One of them left for Germany during the
month.
425. The Minister of Finance gave a banquet at Mecca early in October in
honour of Abdul Aziz-al-Nooti, the Egyptian date-packing expert, who was due
to leave for Egypt soon after.
426. The opening of a new telephone line between Mecca and Taif is
recorded with pride in the Umm-ul-Qura of the 15th October. It is said to work
perfectly, which is incredible.
427. The Ministry of Public Works at Cairo on the 15th October called for
tenders for the macadamising of the two roads from Mecca to Jedda and Mecca
to Arafat. As the adjudication was not to take place till the 13th December,
there will not be a great margin of time left if the roads are to be ready for the
pilgrimage early in February.