Friday is the Moslem day of assembly and Arabs are accustomed to repair for their noon prayers to a mosque, if one is available, or otherwise to some other place of their choosing. To meet this religious routine Tapline established a work week ending Thursday noon and beginning Saturday morning.

Greatest work delay due to the difference in religions occurs during the Moslem month of Ramadan. For that entire month the devout neither eat nor drink between sunrise and sunset. When Ramadan falls in the hot season, work without drinking water becomes a torture no man can stand through a full day. And so for that period Tapline reduced its work day to six hours. But when work was pressing, the Arabs made no objection to returning to work in the cool of the evening.

Throughout the construction period life on Tapline was ascetic from a western point of view. A good Moslem never touches alcohol; he won't even serve it to others. And so the frugal allowance of beer for the American workmen had to be transported and served by nonMoslems from India or other countries. Until only a few years ago radio, movies and even the phonograph were forbidden the faithful. In many regions they still are. And Arab women still live behind the veil and lattice. Life on Tapline has tended to be a men-only existence.

Water tanks

From the beginning it was the aim of Tapline executives to use just as large a percentage of Arabs as possible. Because of the understanding policy adopted toward them, and the patient and expert on-the-job training courses, it early became possible to increase the Arab percentages. Finally Tapline had about 14,600 Arabs in its employ, against less than 2,000 Americans both on the job and at home.

Another entirely different personnel problem cropped up early in the Tapline construction period, a problem that still and presumably always will continue to exist. It was in the beginning as unpredictable as the Palestine conflict or the sudden suspension of quarterly licenses by the OIT when the line was just well begun. It involved water, that priceless desert commodity.

The great circle route mapped for Tapline coincided with none of the ancient camel trails of the nomad tribes which have inhabited the desert since long before Bible days. There are places where such camel trails cross the Tapline route, and they have long been used for the annual migrations in search of water and fodder. Tapline adopted a policy, wherever such a trail crossed the pipe line where the pipe was elevated above the desert floor, of constructing earthen ramps so the Arabs and their herds might pass without, trouble.

There was no water well, no oasis, anywhere within reach of the line from the Persian Gulf to the frontier of Lebanon. And each Tapline worker needed two gallons of water a day, with copious dosing of