"تقرير الإدارة عن المقيمية السياسية في الخليج الفارسي للأعوام ١٩١٥-١٩١٩" [و‎‎٩‎٣] (٣٩٦/١٩٢)

POR THE YEAR ]917. 13
f; On 11th August oil of a very good quality, containing a large percentage
J of petrol, was struck at a depth of 1,611 feet. It was decided to bore deeper
till tiie main oil-bearing strata was reached aiid the prospects of success at the
end of the year were most hopeful.
J A consignment of 3.000 bags of American sugar and 26 packages of
Foreign Interests. miscellaneous goods made in America
^ ^ were imported into Bandar Abbas by
f t35 ' the American Firm of Taushanjian,
Assistant Surgeon H. C. Berlie, I. S.M. D , held charge of the Charitable
.n. Quarantine and Medical. Dispensary and Quarantine duties
^ throughout the year.
J/ The total number of new cases treated at the Charitable Dispensary w r as
^ 3,388 as asrainst 3,12 2 during the previous year.
Dysentery and measles, in epidemic form, occurred during the last quarter
;W tC of the year under report.
if, | One case of imported plague w^as reported by the military medical
itV authorities. The patient was a Tangistani recruit of the South Persia Rifles
el®; who had contracted the disease on board S. S. " Dwarka " on the voyage from
ict^i Bushire. The case pro red fatal.
The telegraph line to Kerman was completed on the 30th April. The
Bandar AbbaB-Kelman Telegraph Line. natural obstacles to construction Were
ffifi considerable especially over the Tang-i-
rilii Zindan where the holes for the posts had to be dug in the solid rock. The
Jisii scarcity of transport and of supplies tended to retard progress. Weather
fii conditions too were very severe during the winter months and the Construction
1®; Party suffered much in consequence. The late Mr. E. J. Blackman of the
Indo-European Telegraph Department who was in charge of the construction
| deserves great credit for the rapid and successful completion of the line.
life! It was definitely decided to construct a road via the Tang-i-Zagh and
" Bandar Abbas-Kerman Road. Saidabad to Kerman. A slight diversion
fflfe was discovered whereby the actual Tang
(defile) could be avoided A party of Engineers under the command of
ifSjli Lieutenant-Colonel L. E. Hopkins, R.E., D.S.O., arrived in the latter part
of November and work was commenced almost immediately.
teii Twenty-six slaves took refuge in the Vice-Consulate dunng the year.
g]aves Thirteen of them were manumitted, tw o
absconded and seven were returned to their
masters.
The force in the Bandar Abbas area consists of but one regiment (the 1st
South Persia Rifle.. Abmad Shahi) of Infantry numbering
about 600. The men have been recruited
for the most part from among the inhabitants of the low-lying districts
extending from Minab in the east to Tangistan on the w r est. A detachment of
the regiment is posted at Gahkum (Tahrum) situated about half-way between
Bandar Abbas and Saidabad. The regiment has not had a proper chance of
developing into a well-trained unit owing to the heavy escort and garrison
duties it has had to perform and the frequent changes of officers. During the
year under report the regiment w T as commanded by no less than five different
officers. The reasons for such frequent changes w r ere due, firstly, to a shortage
of officers in the whole force of South Persia Rifles in South Persia and the
consequent necessity of posting suitable officers to more important posts in the
interior; and, secondly, to the unhealthy climate of Bandar Abbas.
On the 21st September 31 riflemen, forming part of the detachment
proceeding to Gahkum, mutinied at Chah Ali and'made off with their service
rifles and pouch ammunition. Captain Wall, who w r as commanding the detach
ment, rode after them unarmed with the intention of trying to persuade them
to return. He succeeded in getting six of the mutineers to return but the
remainder declined to; and after deliberately firing at Captain Wall, fortuna
tely without hitting him, continued on their way. His Majesty's Consul
promptly communicated with the Deputy Governor of Lar and Bastak, through
whose districts the mutineers would have to pass to reach their homes, and