1889

The month of May always brings to mind my trip to the Near East in 1925.

While in Damascus I visited the Mosque in which lies the grave of Fatima, favorite daughter of Mohammed. That same afternoon I motored alone on the Nairn Transportation Company Convoy from Damascus across the Syrian Desert, where there was no laid-out road, on my way to Baghdad. The next afternoon we crossed the Euphrates river and, late that evening, arrived in Baghdad, where I put up at the Hotel Zia on the River Tigris. The Arab owner of the hotel delegated his best man to be my guide while in Baghdad.

He took me to see the principal Mosque and other places of importance. At the Armenian School and at various other places I took motion pictures. One afternoon I went rowing on the Tigris river although the weather was extremely hot during my entire stay — about 120 degrees Fahrenheit.

I returned by the same convoy to Damascus via Palmyra. From there, I proceeded to Beirut where I took a Lloyd Triestino steamer to Constantinople, now Istanbul.

Secretary, Treasurer and BequestChairman, 108 Mt. Vernon St., Boston 8, Mass.