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File 4949/1912 Pt 1 ‘Persian Gulf: Abu Musa oxide’ [‎216v] (441/566)

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The record is made up of 1 volume (277 folios). It was created in 26 Oct 1912-15 May 1923. It was written in English and French. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .

Transcription

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2
(2) As regards the further pro
posal that we should he reinstated in
our contract rights for a period equal
to that during which the contract
was interrupted, i.e., for about two
years and eight months, it must he
observed that such a proposal does
not take sufficient account of the
present state of the oxide industry.
The preparations extending over
several years for carrying on this
industry must be regarded as entirely
lost and the work will for the most
part have to he undertaken entirely
anew.
Two or three years will elapse
before we reach approximately the
point at which we were at the time
of our forcible ejection from the
island of Abu Musa. The further
period allowed us would expire before
we could bring large shipments on
to the market.
It should further he borne in mind
that if we accept the present com
promise we should not be in a posi
tion to guarantee the regular delivery
of the oxide to our customers.
I submit that His Majesty’s Foreign
Office are mistaken in thinking that
there is any justice in this second objec
tion.
The paragraph is entirely misleading
and inaccurate.
Messrs. Wonckhaus’ contract with
the concessionaires was on an f. o. b.
basis and they had nothing whatever
to do with any “ preparations extend
ing over several years”.
The work had been going on and
mined oxide slowly accumulated for
seven years before Messrs. Wonckhaus
came on the scene, and it is to be noted
that no oxide has ever been mined for
Wonckhaus. W^hat he has shipped
has been what was already mined
before his contract.
Hassan Samaiyeh says he would be
able to start mining oxide for ship
ment in two months, and we could, if
necessary, do it considerably quicker.
There is no question of the work
having to be undertaken entirely
anew, unless it be desired to break
fresh ground and start a new mine alto
gether.
As regards the existing mine: at
the time the last digging went on some
non-oxide debris broke away from above
the spot where the men were digging,
and after personal inspection of the
mine with expert companions, I can
say that 50 coolies A term used to describe labourers from a number of Asian countries, now considered derogatory. for one week at the
outside would be required to clear the
debris and put the mine in the state
it was in before.
There is nothing to prevent the new
concessionaires from undertaking to
supply so many tons per annum sup
posing that geological examination
indicates that the stuff is there.
Hitherto the mine has been worked on
a very small scale, and has never turned
out or needed to turn out anything like
5,000 tons per annum.
In the present cutting there is only
room for about 70 men to work, and if
a greater output were required the
cutting would have to be enlarged in
order to accommodate more workers.
This appears to be altogether too
fanciful to require comment.
Hassan Samaiyeh states that he took
Es. 2,000 (£ 133) as an advance from
We, therefore, beg leave to submit
the following counter-proposal:—
Shaikh Seker to grant us, &c.
The direct losses which we have
sustained through the interruption of
the work on Abu Musa are as fol
lows •
(1) Our advances to the mining
company, and value of the deposits

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Content

Copies of correspondence and other papers relating to the mining of red oxide on the island of Abū Mūsá in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , before and after the First World War. The volume’s principal correspondents are: the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. (Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Percy Zachariah Cox); Foreign Office officials (chiefly Eyre Alexander Barby Wichart Crowe); representatives of the British firm Frank C Strick & Company Limited (including Frank Clarke Strick); representatives of the German firm Robert Wönckhaus & Company.

Correspondence dated 1912 to 1913 refers to informal negotiations between Foreign and India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. representatives, the German Ambassador to London, and Robert Wönckhaus & Company, over the payment of compensation to Robert Wönckhaus & Company for loss of income and the relinquishment of concession rights for the mining of red oxide at Abū Mūsá, in the wake of the withdrawal of the concession by the Ruler of Sharjah, Shaikh Seker [Shaikh Ṣaqr bin Khālid Āl Qāsimī One of the ruling families of the United Arab Emirates; also used to refer to a confederation of seafaring Arabs led by the Qāsimī tribe from Ras al Khaima. ] in 1907.

Correspondence dated 1914 concerns assessments, submitted by representatives of Frank C Strick & Company Limited, and analysed by the British Government’s Board of Trade, on the value and deterioration in quality of the red oxide left by Robert Wönckhaus & Co at Abū Mūsá.

Correspondence dated 1921 to 1923 relates to: Frank C Strick & Company’s concession negotiations with the Shaikh of Sharjah, over red oxide extraction at Abū Mūsá, mediated through the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ; reports of concession negotiations undertaken by Persian commercial interests for red oxide mining on the island of Hormuz [Jazīreh-ye Hormoz, also referred to in the volume as Ormuz]; diplomatic exchanges between representatives of the British and Persian Government (some in French) over historic Persian claims to the islands in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , including Abū Mūsá and Tamb [Tunb].

Extent and format
1 volume (277 folios)
Arrangement

The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume.

The subject 4949 (Abu Musa oxide) consists of six volumes, IOR/L/PS/10/318-323. The volumes are divided into six parts, with each part comprising one volume. Part 6 (IOR/L/PS/10/323) is missing.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the inside front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 279; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio.

Written in
English and French in Latin script
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File 4949/1912 Pt 1 ‘Persian Gulf: Abu Musa oxide’ [‎216v] (441/566), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/318, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100035476040.0x00002a> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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