Petroleum Concessions were Cheap, Women Plentiful………
“Although His Majesty has had some 150 wives, he belongs to a most ascetic Moslem sect, the Wahabis,and his courtiers explain: "Our King has never had more than four wives at any one time." Bert Fish last week voiced hopes "for the personal happiness of Your Majesty and the prosperity of your people," presented Ibn Saud with a silver-framed photograph of President Roosevelt. Before returning to Cairo, the U. S. Minister will travel narrowly in Saudi Arabia, widely in the Sudan and Upper Egypt…….. Gossiping with Saudi Arabians, members of the U. S. delegation learned that Ibn Saud was having electric light installed in Holy Mecca and in Medina, where Mohammed is buried, that His Majesty now owns some 30 expensive pleasure cars. Ford agent in Jidda is the eminent British Orientalist St. John Philby, B. A., C. I. E., F. R. G. S. About 150,000 Moslem pilgrims yearly visit Mecca (pop. 80,000), and nearly all now go by motor bus, so that the once-famed camel pasturage outside the Holy City has been turned into a vast bus park. ……… Standard paid Ibn Saud $1,156,400 when he granted the concession and agreed to pay $165,000 yearly rental until commercial discovery in the new areas or until surrender of rights. Last year His Majesty inaugurated Standard's newly constructed Persian Gulf oil port Ras Taruna, turned a valve opening the new 43-mile pipe line from Dammam. Average oil production leaped from 243 barrels daily for all Saudi Arabia in 1938 to 10,210 barrels daily last year, is steadily spurting higher………”
They have speeded up in terms of production and prices of crude, but slowed down, I would say, in terms of women.
Cheers
mhg
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