Egypt Weathers
Cotton Crisis
Despite Many Big Failures, Busi
ness Men Hope the
Worst Is Past.
GAINS FOR AMERICAN TRADE
Low-Priced Automobiles Have Effected
a Conquest—So Has American
Chewing Gum—Patent Food
Products Also Popular.
thing to do. They rarely invest their
money In cotton before the selling sea
son opens, when the goods come from
the field.
As the drop In cotton prices began
almost at the beginning of this sea
son, the big brokers were thus not
caught with a greut umount of stock
on hand. The merchandise dealers,
on the eontrury, continued their buy
ing right up to November and are
even now being loaded up with stock,
If paid for before shipment, or with
obligations If shipped uguinst docu
ments. This Is spelling ruin for some
of the largest houses. Many serious
failures have occurred, and In Cairo
alone three department stores have
gone Into bankruptcy. It Is the gen
eral opinion thnt the worst period has
passed. Those who have gone through
the crisis, either honorably or dishon
orably, will. It Is believed, live to see
another
period of fuir business
Weather.
It Is common talk here that in busi
ness morality Egypt does not compare
very fuvorably with any other big
colonial market.
Apologists for the
country point to the large number of
races engaged In commerce. Syrians
and Armenians, Jews from Spain, Rus
sia, Germany, Greece, Smyrna and
Palestine; Arabs, Greeks, British,
Americans, French and Italians all go
to make up the commercial life of
the place. It Is a five-language coun
try In business. First and most Im
portant, of course, Is Arabic; then
come French, Italian, Greek and Eng
lish.
Growth of American Trade.
American trade with Egypt has
made wonderful progress, considering
the fact that before the war tills mar
ket rarely knew Amerlcnn goods. The
bulk of the shipments arriving from
home, however. In 1920 consisted of
coal from Newport News and flour
from the North. American automo
biles have captured the market, but
Cairo.—Business men In Egypt, es
pecially foreigners, pay very little at
tention to the political situutlon. They
admit, of course, that the unsettled
conditions of a year ago, as well as
the general lack cf knowledge of what
the future holds for Egypt, Is a deter
rent to free commercial Intercourse.
The chief cause for business worry
at this writing Is the decline In cot
ton prices plus the general Interna
tional slump In trade. The two events
coming at the same time work more
than ordlnury hardship to the business
life of Egypt.
One business man remarked thnt
people In Egypt realized that the
trade of the world was In u bod state;
that prices were falling the whole
world over, and thnt there was a gen
eral stagnation In buying. But, he
continued, “other countries have
usually more than one Industry upon
which to exist. Here In Egypt we
must live or die nt the whim of King
Cotton. This whim Is not left In our
power to coutrol. We grow the cot
ton, and Lancashire and Manchester,
as well as your big tire fabric centers
at home, manipulate the buying price.
Of course, every one in Egypt with
a grain of common sense, realizes
that the law of supply and demand
rules; but, depending ns It does upon
one Industry, the business life of the
community Is more or less left opeji
to unusual perils when that one In
dustry falls.”
Bulk of Business Life.
This business mnn was engnged In
the wholesale supply of sundries and
novelties. His point of view may be
accepted ns thnt of such traders In
general—those who buy In Europe,
America or Japan and Import the
goods to Egypt for local consumption.
This work constitutes the bulk of the Lloyd's Register Reports Total
business life of the community. It is
of 7,086,766 Ship Tons
not tlie greatest In point of wealth,
how'ever, when one figures the Im
in Yards of World.
mense amounts Involved In the col
lecting, ginning and exportation of
raw cotton. Egypt's normal cotton
crop Is handled by about n dozen
large British and Levantine firms,
with headqi/irters In Alexandria.
These latter have been the biggest Total Building Here, 1,102,000 Tons,
sufferers, but only from luck of some-
is Only About 40 Per Cent of
Record Year Ago— Japan
Shows Small Gain.
Meteor Shower to Mark
Earth’s Race With Comet
New Type Big Gun for the American Army
Berkeley, Cal.—For a mouth
this summer the earth will en
gage in a race with the periodic
comet Pone-WInnecke, and be
cause It will have no chance to
win It will endeavor, through
astral Influences, to “trip up” Its
gaseous rival, according to a re
port made public by the observa
tory of the University of Califor
nia.
On June 27 the comet will flip
Its tall so hard against Its ter
restrial rival that the Impact
will send out sparks. These will
go down Into the records as a
meteoric shower.
At tlie greatest brilliancy ob
servable from the earth the
comet will be of the eighth or
ninth magnitude. Nothing great
er than the sixth magnitude can
be observed by the naked eye,
so the world at large will see
nothing of the visitor except at
the tall-flipping episode on
June 27.
-f
This Is the new 16-Inch gun, the first of Its type, now b elng built at the Watertown, Mass., arsenal for the United
no high-priced American cars are In
evidence. It Is explained that the States army. This gun will shoot at an elevation of 65 degrees and at all angles. The rifle ls'68 feet, 9 luches long
cheaper to middle-priced American car and weighs 189 tons. It Is of the non-disappearing type.
Is a more attractive purchase to the
Egyptian and Levantine than similar
ly priced cars made in England or on
American Flyers Given
the continent. Prompt deliveries, of
course, were largely responsible for
40-Acre Polish Farms
the American conquest of this field.
When vessels from New York or Bos
Warsaw. — Nine
American
ton were arriving weekly with con
members of the Koscluszko air
signments of automobiles, only one or
squudrbn, all soldiers of fortune,
two cars a month were coming In from
recently were awarded 40 acres
Europe.
of land each near the Polish-
American sundries and patent food Number of Immigrants Will Be house to be careful of their pocket
Russian frontier, as outlined by
books
and
passports,
as
the
Neapolitan
products have made marked progress.
the Riga peace treaty.
Limited by the Capacity
purse snatchers are famous In police
On every hnnd one sees America’s
AH officers and soldiers of the
circles
all
over
Europe
for
the
dex
favorite breakfast dishes advertised
of Liners.
Polish
forces are being provided
terity of their fingers. The police
and displayed.
American chewing
with tracts along Poland’s east
were
notified
of
the
loss
of
the
pass
gum lias become the craze of the na
ern boundary, under a system
ports belonging to the two Americans,
tives.
worked out by the government,
but they were not recovered.
provided they take up cultiva
All Intending Immigrants seeking
tion of the land upon leaving the
There are about 40,000 square
American risks have to produce their
military service. By this plan
miles of virgin forest and about 20,-
permits to leave the country, military
Thieves
at
Naples
Get
High
Prices
Poland hopes to have trained
000 square miles of second-growth
papers
(If
they
are
males),
vaccina
for American Passports— Keen
men settled permanently where
timber In the Philippines.
tion certificate and the dossier from
Competition for Foreign Ships
they would be handy for service
the
chief
of
police
of
their
district
to
— Maintain Clots Inspection.
In case the country is ever at
show whether any criminal charges
tacked again from the east.
have ever been preferred against
Naples.—The number of Immigrants them. The Amerlcnn authorities hnve
0--0” 0“ 0 " 0 -
o -e --«
to the United States this year will not Interfered with the Inspection at
only be limited by the capacity of the the dock before embarkation, ns they
steamships, according to United States left that to the officials of the steam spaghetti, yellow beans and onions,
Consul Homer W. Boylngton, who has ship companies. The Navigation Gen- with a slice of meat on Sundays.
Suburbs of Nuples like Porticl and
been here for 15 years and has a good erale, the White Star and other lines
knowledge of the situation. The Ital sailing from Italian ports have organ Resina—which Is built over ruins of
Herculaneum, 50 feet below under
ian companies lost a good many
Interfered with the fitting out of a steamships during the war and have ized their own sanitary plants where lava and ashes—swarm with children
the Immigrants are put through a
number of large liners and other ves
not yet been able to replace them, thorough examination before they are who, for number, can only be com
sels,” the report continues. “Taking
while the foreign vessels calling at permitted to go on board the ships. pared to those of Delhi, Agra and oth
this total of 847,OX) tons Into consid
Naples and Genoa for Immigrants The Inspection Is done by the Italian er cities In the East Indies. The aver
eration, therefore, the total of new
have dwindled since the war to an al doctors from the steamships and the age family consists of ten to twelve
ships on which work Is proceeding In
children, and persons who have fewer
most negligible number.
doctor of the port.
British shipyards Is 2,951,593 tons, or
than eight little ones are regarded
The consul said thnt the Italian gov
First, a Bath.
about 20 per cent less than the total
ernment had consented to permit sur
The first thing tlie immigrant has with suspicion as being Jacking In pa
at the beginning of the year.
geons In the United States public to do Is to take a bath and if neces triotism. The sanitary conditions are
“Additional Indications of the condi
health service to be present at the In sary to have a shave and a haircut. so bad In the side streets of these an
tions in the British shipbuilding are
spection of the Immigrants before em Whiskers and beards are barred un cient towns thnt the masses are germ
furnished by the returns of launch barkation. so that they will be able
der this ruling and only a mustache Is proof and epidemics pass them by as
ings and new work begun during the
hopeless, unless the disease becomes
to sign the bills of health and stop allowed.
first quarter of this year. New keels the detention of the steamships on
While they are undergoing the exceptionally uggresslve and tries for
represented only 391,OX) gross tons, In
their arrival at the quarantine station cleansing process the clothing of the a record.
comparison
with 503,OX) for the Inst In New York. There have only been
The workingman earned 3 lire a
New
York.—More
than
7,000,000
Sweet Tooth? Hear What
immigrants Is Inspected and thorough
quarter of 1920, and 701,000 for the two cases of typhus In this port nnd
day before the war and was able to
gross
tons
of
merchant
vessels
are
re
ly
disinfected.
They
are
vaccinated
Yanks Ate in France
ported ns being In the shipyards of the quarter ended April 1, 1920. Launch they were Greeks from Piraeus. In ngaln, to make sure that the opera support his family comfortably upon
world, says a statement by Lloyd's ings during the quarter Just ended consequence of this the government tion hns been properly done, and are that sum. Today he earns from 25 to
Coblenz. — American soldiers,
Register. Compared with the total on represented 431,000 tons, as against has put a tight ring around Italy and then permitted to embark for the 30 lire a day, but cannot keep his fam
whose predilection for sweets
January
1, the 7,086,706 tons, to be 570,000 tons for the last three months no alien immigrants are permitted to United States. It Is not the fault of ily as well as he could before, because
has often caused Frenchmen to
exnct,
represents
u decline of less than of 1920. Even with the delays due to pass the frontier. The steamships the .tallan officials or the steamship rent has Increased 600 per cent, and
gasp with amazement, are still
strikes and other causes, therefore, leaving Italian ports for the United
100,000
tons,
nearly
1*4 per cent.
companies If the Immigrants are not food and clothing from 500 to 800 per
world champions In tills respect,
work Is being completed more rapidly States now only carry Italians, and
cent. Building Is going on all over
The
nctual
decline
In
shipbuilding
clean when they leave Naples.
It Is shown by figures compiled
than new work Is coming on.”
Naples, especially by the banks, which,
activity
lias
been
much
sharper
In
the
Poles,
Czechs,
Croats,
Greeks,
Ukran-
If
the
surplus
population
of
Italy
nt the Cafeteria, the largest res*
during the war, made huge fortunes
Decline
In
America.
past
three
months
than
appears
on
the
lans,
Roumanians
nnd
other
nationali
does
not
go
to
the
United
States
It
tnurnnt In Coblenz, under the
In exchange nnd are now erecting
surface,
says
the
statement.
The
total
ties
will
have
to
sail
from
some
oth
will
ge
to
Brazil
or
Argentina
or
Returns
from
American
shipyards
management of tlie Y. M. C. A.
reported for Great Brltnln, 3,798,503 show that the decline which has been er ports like Danzig, Bremen or Ham some other country In South America, handsome offices. The municipality Is
During the last year American
gross tons, Is a gain of 89,000 tons In effect more than a year continues, burg.
because the people must emigrate, as also having the entire city repaved.
doughboys ate at that restaurant
The
staff
at
the
consulate
consists
over
the
January
1
record,
but
there
there are too many to earn a living In The work employs hundreds of men
Lloyd's
says.
The
total
construction
alone 233,138 puddings, 475,843
of
25
clerks,
stenographers
nnd
Inter
has
been
marked
reduction
In
the
vol
their own country. There are so many who sit down and smoke their pipes
reported
under
way
on
April
1
is
tarts and cakes, 310,874 cookies
ume of tonnage on which work is 1,102,000 tons, only sllghty more than preters, etc., who are chiefly employed young men walking about Naples now comfortably while they chip the cor
and doughnuts, 63,151 cream
actually proceeding, Lloyd’s Register 40 per cent of the American total a In handling the hundreds of Immi that It Is difficult to believe that Italy ners off the big flat stones, and look
puffs and eclairs. 624.906 dishes
finds.
year ago. The aggregate for all other grants who throng the bureau on the has Just emerged from a long war. ns If they would be on the Job for
of lee cream, 366,351 chocolate
countries
except the United States, Via Santa Lucia all day long. Wom The reason for this, according to the years.
Work Suspended.
sundaes, 61,378 pies, 223,787 ap
The air Is full of dust and the small
Great
Brltnln
and Germany (for the en with babies In their arms have government officials. Is that- the birth
ples and other fruit, 282,741
"Included in the total In the hnnds
precedence over all other applicants rate increases by leaps and bounds one-horse cabs bump the riders about
last-named
no
official
returns
are
avail
glasses of lemonade and 43,792
of British shipyards are 497,000 gross
by orders of the consul. Under nor each year and the children grow ipore from side to side ns they struggle
oranges.
tons of vessels on which work has able) shows a gain of about 25,(XX) tons mal conditions the immigrants get
rapidly Into manhood than they do In through the streets. The horses are
over
the
January
total,
Lloyd's
esti
Eggs were also "played across
been suspended, and an additional 350,-
away within three months of the date colder climes. With the new countries still upon war rations.
mates.
the board," the total number con
000 tons, the completion of which has
“The apparent world decrease In of their vises on the passports, but recently taken by Italy after the war
sumed being 211,195,
been postponed, chiefly owing to the
on account of the holding up of the the population Is reckoned nt 40,000,-
Jail for Life Saving.
strike of the sblpjolners, which has shipbuilding activity during the last liners In New York through the typhus
Omaha, Neb.—Saving a man from
000.
quarter, therefore, has been not fur
Swarm With Children.
death In a water-filled hole beneath a
from a million tons, a decline of about senre, they ore now fully six months
behind, according to the officials.
The stranger walking through a city burning Shanty at the Dietz club here
12% per cent," the statement says.
Passports Closely Scrutinized.
like Naples can enslly realize the the other day may result In a prison
“In some directions, however, gains
The greatest care Is exercised at problem the government has to do term for C. M. Wallace, who was ar
are shown In the volume of construc
tion under way. These are most the consulate to see that no more get with. The side streets, which have rested by the police, charged with au
marked In the case of France, which by with false passports or counter frightful flights of steep steps lending tomobile theft after they had read of
now stands next to the United King feit vises. The Immigration authori to six-story houses built of stone more his heroic deed in the papers. Wal
dom and the United States as a ship ties are also notified at New York to than a century ago, are literally lace escaped the police recently and
building nation, having distanced Hol look out for the private marks on the swarming with children, who sprawl had been in hiding. When summoned
land during the last quarter. A year passports, which will be changed from In the paved roadw'ay and on the side by the screams of a woman culling
ago France, with only 240,000 tons un time to time In case they get known walks. They look dirty and happy. for help froih a manhole he ran to the
der way, was led by Japan, Italy and to the Italian crooks who are making It must be the sunny climate, ns the rescue. Two hours later he was in
Holland, and was constructing only a fat living by fabricating passports food Is chiefly an inferior grade of Jail.
9,(XX) tons more than the British do and vises for Immigrants who may
minions. Today, with 427,000 tons have some charges against their char
building, she has nearly two and a half acter which would prevent their ob
times the total for the British domin taining a vise on their passports at
ions, and leads Japan and Italy by the American consulate.
Two Americans who arrived from I
133,000 tons and 75,000 tons, respect
New York by the Canopic had their
ively.
“Japan shows a small gain In the passports stolen nnd hnd to proceed
total under construction, as ccmpnred to Rome to obtain emergency pnpers
with the previous quarter, and Italy, nt the United States legation after
Holland and the British dominions getting Identification certificates at
the consulate here. These stolen pass
slight decreases."
ports, the officials say, are sent to An
cona or to Cosenza, which Is near
Andes Crossed by Autoiats.
Naples, and the seals and vises are
Santiago. Chi'.!.—Severn! Argentine taken off and used for other passports.
nutomohlllsts have arrived here from A well-executed false passport Is
Bahia Blanca, after having crossed worth 1,400 lire, about $56 to $60
j the Andes by the southern pass, the United States currency, according to
distance covered by the party being the rate of exchange, which fluctuates
The big Japanese freighter Erie Maru was raided by federal prohibition about 1,100 miles. The Journey was dally. At the consulate It was said
enforcement agents at Jacksonville, Fla., and libel papers have been served taken for the purpose of encouraging that these two stolen passports would
on It. It la charged thnt the vessel brought 26 cases of Intoxtcatlng liquor motor communication between the At net the pickpockets who took them
The United States Shipping Board’s new $8,000,000 passenger carrier
from Cardiff. Wales, which were not reported In the manifest. The photograph lantic and Pacific coasts of South about 1,000 lire. Passengers are Wenatchee leaving Brooklyn on her maiden trip. She has been allocated t<J
shows the Erie Maru at dock In Jacksonville.
America.
warned on landing In the custom the Pacific Steamship ccmpany and will run between Seattle and the Orient.
Italians Flock
Here in Droves
1
STRICT CONTROL IN ITALY
Shows Decline
in Shipbuilding
«
r
Japanese Freighter Is Libeled
Shipping Board’s New Wenatchee
-t
f