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OIL WEUSOF BAKU Big Industry That Standard Successfully Competes With. SHRINE OF FIRE WORSHIP v Four Bright Flames Around Whicl Temple Was Built. REFINERY NOW IS ON SITI Nobel Brothers of Sweden Developed Businese?-Many Independent Owners. BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS. ? Special Orre.rondenr* of The Star and the Chicago Record-Herald. BAKU, Russia, June 12, 1910. In ancient times for thousands of years, no one knows how long, the Persians used to come up to the shores of the Caspian sea where the city of Baku now stands and scrape off the ground the seepage from the springs ? of oil that were found near-the water. They used these scrapings for lubricating'purposes, for fuel, for "light, for Healing' wounds and tor various other Useful purposes, and exercised much ingenuity in cleansing and applying them. At some remote date?it may have been fea far back as the time of Daniel the prophet?the lire worshipers, the followers of Zoroaster, found here several oil ftprings on fire. The naphtha must have caught "fire by accident. They considered It a miracle, and through many centuries made pilgrimages to worship and adore the flames. Ultimately they built a temple, a square Structure of brick with a dome and four chimnejs, through which in some ingenious manner they conducted the natural gas which exhales from the naphtha springs, and thus were able to maintain four bright flames. The temple was in the center of a large courtyard Inclosed i by a high wall, in which were rooms for the accommodation of pilgrims. The gateway was monumental. Above it rose a square tower about fifty feet in height. At the four corners were chimneys, through which the gas was conducted in the same manner as at the temple within the inclosure. The light could be seen for many miles in every direction. They called it "The Shrine of Grace." Refinery Replaces Temple. This temple stood at the village of Sourakhany, about ten miles from Baku. The site is now occupied by the refinery of the Kokovev Oil Company. It was torn down about 1880. For a century or two before that date pilgrims came all the way from India and the Parsee merchants of Bombay, famous for their PI ohoc unH nntnmricn fitenloViA/l lha iv anu v n it > I lev. t i ui iii^ii^u Hlv money to maintain the fire and entertain the pilgrims. The Parsees are the descendants of fire worshipers who were driven from Persia in the middle ages by Mohammedan * persecution. They retain some of the customs and forms of worship of their Persian ancestors. Why the temple was abandoned and the lights were allowed to go out I have not beer, able to ascertain. The only reasonable explanation Is that after this part of the world w^s wrested from Persia by the Russians something must have happened or some regulation mayhave been introduced which made it difficult or impossible to continue the ceremonials and maintain the pilgrimages. However that may have been, the forms of worship and the nationality of the worshipers were gradually changed, until now Russians and Armenians adore the oil for the money it brings instead of for its symbolical significance. Development of Industry. The development of the petroleum industry was slow and began late. The inhabitants of the old Persian city of Baku utilized the oil for light and fuel and gas undisturbed until 1856. Then a Russian named Kokreff and an Armenian named Mirsoeff obtained a concession from the Russian government to operate wells and refine the product. They had a monopoly for twenty years, but did a small business, producing an insignificant quantity and a poor quality of burning fluid compared with the product ot * the present day. In 1876 the concession was revoked and there w as a rush of prospectors and specu'ators to this territory. Everybody who could raise enough money to drive a well did so. until today, within a radius of ten miles from the city of Baku, are seven hundred and thirty-six wells producing more or less oil and belonging to almost as many people. The largest nutnber are on a peninsula extending into the Caspian sea, called Apocheron, between six and eight miles north of the city, with about one-third as .many at a place called Bibi-Eybat, about three miles south. Thgra uro nt'Or Ana hnn/lfa?l . ..V. V. ??. V v< VIV 1IUIIUIVU MiUCITCUUCIIl companies. Only twenty-live are doing: a refining business. Of these only eight have sufficient capital to conduct their operations upon a paying basis. The large distribution of the interests is. however, demoralizing. It has been a bad th:ng for the town and the industry and for e\er>body concerned, because whenever any large enterprise was undertaken cut-throat competition has been used to interrupt and embarrass it. As one gentleman expressed it. it would have been to the advantage of everybody concerned if half the oil that has been produced at Haku had been allowed to run into the sea. Three Big Concerns. There are turee large companies, the largest belonging to the family of the late Alfred Nobel, the Swedish philanthropist, who founded the Nobel Institute at Stockholm and endowed It with funds from which the prizes for the promotion of , peace, science and literature are annually paid. Col. Roosevelt, you will remember, went to Christian! the other day to receive the Nobel prize for peace which was awarded him two years ago because of his success In conciliating Russia and Japan and putting an end to the recent war. Albert Nobel himself was largely Interested in the development of the Baku oil Industry at the beginning, but about the fear 1877 he withdrew and his brothers .udwlg and Robert Nobel continued the worn. The>? turned their holdings over to a stock company many years ago. Emmanuel Nobel, a son of Ludwig. now holds the controlling interest In the company. He is the Rockefeller of Russian petroleum and is estimated to be worth Sen.OOO.OWV Although a Swede by birth and ancestry he Is a Russian subject, maintains a splendid palace in St. Petersburg and * villa with a large park In the Crimea, where he goes for the summer. Bich Armenian Mantashoff. The next richest man Is an Armenian named Mantashoff. who still lives In Baku and looks after his interests. There Is also a Tartar gentleman wrho has made millions in the oil fields and is spending a part of his income in the erection of a splendid building for a college In the city of Baku. The institution will be provided with an endowment sufficient to maintain a competent faculty and pay for the free education of a certain number of young men of Tartar families forever. It will be altogether the most imposing building In Baku when it is finished and it stands upon the principal street. The second largest company is controlled by a Frenc h s> ndicate organized by the Rothschilds twenty-two years ago. The third in importance Is owned by local Armenians. These three companies practically control the :^lining industry, which is large, coisideting the area of the oil flelde, 4 I Store Closes P.Pai CL IINVi The respons< smart dressers e full well that P.= of immediate cle product?the "fi The original in mend that we Men's All produc< three piece $112 2 and ^ $15 2 amid t I $18 2 and $20 2 aod g: III $25 2 and ^ : II S^O 2 and ^ ; $35 2 amid ^ Cleara i i i Suits in all styles, siz< blue and fancy effects; cheviots. : | $5.00 Suits Reduced to., i $6.00 Suits Reduced to. $7.50 Suits Reduced to. $8.50 Suits Reduced to.. A i Boys' Un Regular 25c Balbriggan Und "Porosknit" and Nainsook 1 i I I BOYS' SOCKS; 25c qualiti ' lj | Odd I |j j $1.25 and I Head I Gent! much larger than In any part of the r? ' United State*. - L< Greatest Oil Field. re Baku produces more oil than any other e( single field. Last year Its total product 20 vaa 55.863,504 barrels. Grosnyl, the n< ! neighboring district, produced 6,219,627 I.1 ibarrela. making the total from the Cas- . : pian 62.18d.44T barrels, as comparsd with R I 179,562.478 barrels produced In the United b< States. b; Oklahoma Is the largest producer of tl ' any held In the United Mates, and the to- ? tal for 1806. which ar* the latest figures gi I can get here, produces 45,786.765 bar- tr rels. California came second with 44,- tr 864,737 barrels; Illinois, 83,689,106 barrels; m Texas, 11209464 barrels; Ohio, 10,95s,797 barrel#; Pennsylvania, 9,424,825 bar- hi m f aily at 5 P.M. * *kei 1 ,EA CO] Hill ^7HKT/Tn 1C O'JL* V ii 1 \ 1L e today to yesterd iwait this Annua *B. styles of this i larance, we are ji nal clean=up" pn tags remain on s i refuse to allow 2 and Vou id for the current season, styles for men and young I Piece Suit I Piece Suli I Piece_Sm1 I Piece Soil! $ Piece Suit I Piece SmS1 I Piece Suit! mce Sale < and Fur ;s and fabrics, including o also Double-breasted Kn $3.33 $4.00 $5.00 $5.66 II Children's Str derwear. lerwear; small sizes only 19c Underwear. Special.... 25c es. To clear at... 19c Knickerbocker P< $1.50 values 98C to-Foot Outfitters fo emen and Their Sons sis; West Virginia, 9.521,178 barrels; julslana, 4,131,173 barrels; Indtana, 383,629 barrels; Kansas. 1.891,781 barIs, and New York. 1.180,128 barrels. Austria Is the second producer of the tuntrles In Europe, and reports 12,812,15 barrels for 1908. Roumanla comes ?xt, with 8,252,157 barrels, and Germany 009,278 barrels. Prom these figures you will see that the idustry at Baku Is Important. The usslan government derives a revenue of itween $80,000,000 and $75,000,000 a year t taxing It. There Is a direct tax upon te producers, an additional tax of 90 >nts upon every pood, which la eight illons. produced, besides the income om the sale of stamps required on eonacts, bills of lading and all other com* erelal paper. The little city of Baku, with 117.000 lnibltanis, mostly Persians, Armenians 1 111 PI. V Bi jrMJA) lK/3 I ME! VERY SU (Excepting lay's annouinicerm i Midsummer Ev? sp?ii e<r>m v^/nllil 1k^ mjir\i j vv u u u u>v^ vv vri jst as happy to gr sparatory to the u ivery garment. P amy suit to leave t ng Men's Fancy and plain fabric ; men of all sizes and ages t? Redmced :s Red meed ' ts Red meed :? Reduced k If /V ifH ?* ? ^41 LS UWU1 lUlMSlUl ts Reduced :s Reduced of Boys' C nishings. ur entire line of Russian i ickerbocker Suits in fancy i [ $110.0? Suits Reduced to. $12.50 Smuts Reduced to. $15.00 Suits Reduced to. 50c Blouses to clear at.. aw Hats at l/z Oi Boys' Fui Khaki Knickers. 75c valu Youths' Xeglige Shirts, in \ soft collars attached), 75c and $ ants in Fancy Ef $1.75 and $2.00 values... >. and Tartars, la the fourth source of revenue for the Russian treasury, "The Dark City." Most of the refineries, especially those of the Nobel and French companies, are located at what Is called in Russian Tchorny Gorod, or ''the Park City," which Is connected with Baku by street ear lines, The Nobel company has provided homes for its officers and employes at the "White City," a mile or two away ?Blely Gorod, as It la called In Russian, The Dark City consists of a large number of refineries surrounded by high walls, the streets being occupied by railway tracks mostly covered with tank cars, and the gutters on both sides are filled wkh a network of pipes tapping a myriad of lacks and conducting the oil ridg L Hire lNC IT OF CD g Full Dress and ;nt is nothing mc ;nt to Bay in an ad rn next season. ^ eet and to serve t ishering in of a ne Nothing held in re he store that is nc Suits. s?two and i and tastes. to $9.00 to $10.75 to $1.11 a to $14.25 to $ 18.75 to $21.75 to $25.25 Infltpc IV/ tuvo ? ind Sailor Blouse Suits in worsteds, cassimeres and $6.66 $8.34 $10.00 t. .39c ff. rnisihiinigs. es at SOC vhite and colors (also shirts with I. oo. iects. $1.48 between the wells and the refineries and the reservoirs where It Is stored for ship* tnent, The Dark City Is located upon the shore of the Caspian sea, where extensive docks have been built and pumps pro* vlded for filling tank boats which carry oil up the Volga river into the Interior of Russia as far as Moscow, via Astra* khan, where It flows Into the Caspian, Tha Nobel Refinery, Mr, Norman, an English engineer, who formerly lived in Chicago and spent eev* era! years in the employ of the Standard Oil Company, showed me around the Nobel refineries and told me an interesting etory of the development of the Industry here, "Naphtha Springs, as they were called, have been known here for ages," said Mr, J 1 et i mwwK :e OTHES- IN Tuxedos). >re than we expe vance supply of cl While the profits f hose who care to jw season with ne serve. No suits s t perfect in every Haberdash $1.00 amid $ In plaited and plain bosoms bought for special sale purposes the season's most desirable pal Oemnuimie In Fancy: $2.00 aod ! Sizes ia to 16. in white, cha ? T -7 / in the very best manner for hi By far the most popular summe Any Be Values from $1.00 to $2.50: 75c Collarl Plain white, soft and light, Night Shirt we have ever carrie AM And this means all the new Clearae Straw E $5.00 Straws . . , a a a $4.uo straws . . , $3.00 Straws . . , Clearanc AM $5.00 Oxford In gun m Bi $5.00, $4.00 ant All leathers, Norman, "The Are worshipers came a thousand miles for thousands of years to worship them until the Russians conquered the territory, "In the Ads a Steamship company en the Caspian sea undertook to eollect oil by scraping the surface of the ground, and It carried It to other ports, It was also shipped Into the Interior by camel caravans, "Then two gentlemen, a Russian and an Armenian, obtained a concession to work the deposit, and had a monopoly until 1876, when the Nobel brothers of Sweden-* Alfred, Laidwig and Robert?came down, put their brains at work, built refineries and have been here ever slnoe, They now practically control the industry, employing about ten thousand people, and have refineries and machine shops covering an ar*a of one and a half square mi!e0, ''Arthur Lessner, also a Swede, 1? sen" Sat k C SA] 4Y. nr5 tljt ir^ tljt r uiniic nui cted. 'Hundreds < lothing and furnis hiave been clipped profit by the sea w merchandise, ent on approval, detail. t ery at Clearai 11.50 Neglige ? >: coat style; cuffs attached : sizes i , but are our regular $1.00 and S tterns. Clearance price Soisette (Soft Self Striped and Figure $2.50 VaiByes impagne and cream, with silk-finisl igh-class trade. They have the soft :r Shirt of the season. Tomorrow. ;lt in the Hoys ; all sizes and leathers ess Night Shii , with neat, fancy trimming: cut fu: d. While thev last, tomorrow Q)c Wash Ties, est effects of the season. Your ch< ce of Entire ? [ate, Panan Bankoks. . . $3.33 $2.00 Sti ..$2.67 $10.00 B . . $2.00 | $6.00 oi All Panamas % Off. e of "Teck' s Now . , letal, tan and patent colt. roken Lots and Sizes < I $3.50 4'Teck" O tomorrow 'Ninth and the A vent erat manager. The company Is a stock ooneern organised under the Russian laws and its shares are dealt In regularly on all the stock exchangee of Europe. "There are eighteen pipe lines between the wells and the works," said Mr. Norman, "which wero built by the Nobsls about thirty years ago. Until then the oil was earrled on the backs of camels and In carts, "The common labor Is performed by Persians, who are paid from thirty-five to fifty cents a day, American money, and the skilled labor Is Armenian, which is paid from sixty to seventy-fire cents a day. The Nobel Company has provided neat and comfortable tenement nouees for the employee at the White city, with clubhouses, hospitals and other humane provisions." Mr. Korrr.ait says the industry Is not i ei uii?. thai the Standard Oil Com i I ! ? 1 r'.. 1* i ft,', f i urdays 6 P.M. | 9 O. S ! I I uii v LE j USE >f Washington's Ijl things, knowing |i' off for the sake |' son's inevitable l: ? ?i II m it j< But please hear nee Prices. \ hirtg at 85c I 4 to 17. These are XOT Shirts 1.50 stock and represent ) Shirts, id Effects, for $1.50 1 self stripes and figures; made I Byron double cuffs. ^ jj ;e, 5<0)c. 50e tg at 50c 1 and long?the best 75c 25c oice, tomorrow 25c >tock off ias and !i I raws .... $1.33 j| ankoks . . $6.67 jjl amkoks . . $4.00- J " Shoes. $3.95 . 3f I x,oras' $2.95 I | | * I -i : I? pany la driving tha Baku product out of Europe, and that Russia la now practically tha only market the Baku manufacturers are able to control." A. new oil Held has been found within the last year or ao near tha town c: c Maikop. In the northern foot hills of the \* Caucasus range of mountains, and there ; has been a good deal of excitement la consequence. Very little Is known about conditions there, however, and the condition of the market, because of the as gresslve policy of the Standard Oil Company, le not enoouraglng for It* development. The Standard company, everybody here admits, can produce a better quality of reflned petroleum aa well as lubricating ell, and other by-product*, and sells them at a lees price In every market in the world, except the Russian empire, which Is protected by a prohibitory tariff. than the Baku refiner*.