مجموعة ٦/ ٩ "تقارير جدة يناير ١٩٣١ -" [ظ‎‎١‎٢‎٣] (٨٠٢/٢٤٧)

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7. Mr. Twitchell, of the Saudi Arabian Mining Syndicate, set in motion
early in January the four prospecting parties mentioned in paragraph 388 of the
report for December. One of them was reported later to have got into trouble, but
whether with a car or with Bedouin or with the sticky Amir of Medina is not
clear. At the end of the month it was learnt that an English expert, who had
been working at the Cot of Gold Mine, was to proceed to Taif, a move which
suggests that Mr. Twitchell still has hopes of that area, which was investigated
long before he got his concession (see paragraph 167 of the report for May and
June 1932), but seemed to have been abandoned.
8 The California Arabian Standard Oil Company (paragraph 389 of the
last report) hope soon to start another well not far from the first at Jebel
Dhahran. Although the first well has given promising results, the working of it
is hampered by difficulty resulting from the relative positions of layers of gas
and petroleum.
9. Talaat Pasha Harb (paragraph 390 of the last report) arrived by air on
the 9th January, preceded by nine experts who had come by sea and accompanied
(at least as far as Wejh, where one of his two aeroplanes broke down) by more.
While he was in Mecca, from the 10 th to the 15th January, his aeroplane flew to
Medina and back with the Egyptian consul as a passenger. It left Jedda on the
12th and returned on the 14th. An aerodrome had been prepared just outside
the town. This first civil flight to one of the Holy Cities of the Hejaz marks
an epoch in the history of aviation in Arabia. On the 17th Talaat Pasha himself
flew to Medina, accompanied by the Saudi Minister of Finance. He returned to
Egypt on the 20 th, leaving behind Sheikh Abdullah Suleiman, who went off
presently to the Saudi Arabian Mining Syndicate’s gold mine.
10. When Talaat Pasha called at the British Legation on the 16th January,
he was not very communicative about his plans generally; but gave
Sir Andrew Ryan one or two interesting bits of information. He considered
road-making too costly to be undertaken on any great scale in the near future,
although the worst parts of the road to Medina might be repaired. He was
considering, therefore, the use of vehicles with outsize tyres on the existing roads.
He stated categorically that an order for new Saudi riyals (see paragraph 392 of
the report for December) had been placed in Birmingham through the inter
mediary of his bank and the National Bank of Egypt.
11 . It seems probable that Talaat Pasha’s larger negotiations have
advanced considerably. It is doubtful whether agreement has actually been
reached on all the subjects enumerated in the Cairo Ahram of the 21st January,
although that paper represented them as having been definitely settled, and some
of the projects as being already in process of execution. The list is sufficiently
interesting, however, if only as a programme, to make the heads worth repro
ducing briefly as follows: ( 1 ) Water supply for houses in Mecca; (2) electric
lighting of Mecca; (3) workshop in Mecca for various industries; (4) repairs to
the sacred precincts at Mecca, with the participation of the Moslem world;
(5) asphalt roads between Jedda, Mecca and Medina; ( 6 ) cars with specially
adapted wheels; (7) hotels at Mecca and Medina; ( 8 ) air service between Egypt
and the Hejaz; (9) air service between Jedda and Medina; (10) orphanage at
Medina; (11) hospital for surgical work at Medina; (12) date packing factory at
Medina; (13) electrical plant for Medina; (14) supply of silver coinage of fixed
value under the joint auspices of the Saudi Government and the Banque Misr. It
was stated that work had already been started on (1), (2), (3) and (5); and that
( 10 ) to (13) inclusive would be financed by charitable funds collected in Egypt for
the poor of Medina.
12. The Amir Feisal is said to have called for a report on the operation
of the legislation against the holding of real property by foreigners in the Hejaz.
Little has been heard of this since paragraph 305 of the report for September was
written. The Amir would do better to let this sleeping dog lie if it cannot
be buried.
13. Urban development is in the air in Jedda. We are promised two new
boulevards, and Fuad Bey Hamza, our premier advocate of modernity, is said
to have even larger schemes. Meanwhile, January witnessed one achievement,
the creation of miniature Champs Elysees, without the trees, outside the Medina
gate. Two parallel roads, 200 or 300 yards long, marked out with oil drums
and neatly bordered with drains, were made to carry traffic, one-way of course,