Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1874-04-17
IMPROVEMENTS N TURKEY
EszPnnr Erhrnary =. lsll


IMPROVEMENTS N TURKEY.
ERzRoou. February ., ls74.
T. III, E4.toro. the Free Pres and Times.
Atthe first call / ever made on Turkish
ofF,,al. the libcIal-uinded Pasha then hold
inrofice in Trebizanl, more than ten years
ae... was informed that telegraphs would
soon be built to all parts of Turkey. This
prophecy wa- soon fulfilled. First a trunk
line Wa- established from Con~tantinople to
the borders Of India under the patronage IN
part. Of the English government, one wire
of which l. reserved exclusively for message
between England and India. From thi~
trunk line branches divide Of at many
poipt-. which. -ubdiyided. reach all the
pr.ncipal cities and towns Of the empire
The tole. and wire- of these lines are pat
up in Substantially the same way and have
tl,. same general appearance as similar lines
IN Europe and America-strangely exotic 10
the mud hut~ and anicdluyian habits ol tie
people.
The telegraph is owned and managed toy
the government. perhaps a. enterprelngy
A. any private ron,Iauy would do it III this
slow country. Il does not pay expenses nor
az. o. lu,il i.,rc is more intelligence and
,..I,i. ti.ar are uaw to be found. With
ib. exception 90 81 few of the larger Offices,
where French aud English may Doe used
Turkish l. the only language ia which teie-
grams can be sent.
The telegraph Is Of great services To Ei--
>ioIaries, though it Is rare to get reply
irom any quarter in les than two
day.. the delay frequently stretching
on 10 week. The must striking instance
of promptues- and real usefulness OF the
telegraph that has come TO my notice oc-
Cured some two years ago. One Of tie
only missionary family then in Bitlis, fell
violently SEX, and that city ailording no
educated physician. was requested to visit
the telegraph Office and communicate direct
IL with the family For two hours, such a
conversation passed over the wire as would
naturally occur at the bedside Of sick
person. and was valuable to the troubled
family. not 50 much from the remedies re
commended. as from the seESe OF near
ne,- of sympathizing friends which the in
teryiew afforded.
More than ten years ago an attempt was
made to build carriage road between
Trebizond and this city. But a. no careful
,qrycyS had been made and the plan OF
building had not been definitely fixed. after
considerable money had been used and eaten
Up hy corrupt officials the project was
abandoned. Two or three years later n
large corps of French engineers were en-
gagged for a term Of three YEAR., the plan
being to press enough peasants into the
enterprise to complete the road without
further expense. But the energy OF local
governors wa not sufficient TO produce the
required number Of laborers. - the three
y.ar> passed, the money was again exhaust
el and little was accomplished, excepting
the surveys and small beginning at
different points The third and last
effort was made under Turkish
engineers, Who had learned something from
their French predecessor Stringent order
were issued to the local governors to proyid,
laborers. Every able-bodied man in Trehi-
zand and Erzroom. and in all the towns and
villages not only near the road bat ior q
long distance in every direction from d.
was required to work four days each year iOl
five wears But a. tins plan was decided
upon " hen the road was first projected, The
five Years were nearly or quite exhausted
before the rule was put vigorously INTO exc
cutiun So, TO make a clean thing OF 1t, IL,
whole FIVE wears tax was demanded at once
that is, twenty day. labor. The Privr
lege was granted Of committing the labor lN
paving one hundred piaStres. about ioul
dollars, tie value of the twenty day labor
or a man could send,a substitute in his place
Tie men of the cities could arrange the mat
ter in one or the other of these ways aud
feel the burden ;ery lightly, hut the demaua
bore very heavily on the vii gers, especially
those living at distance of three or hy,
daNs from the line of the road. lmag ln'
the effect Of ma rching of all the able bodice
men of Il village To work on the road Whcr
every one was needed at home 10 sow hi
fields or gather his harvest. OF cour-
something must he done that some NIGH
remain behind. One must do the work %
two or three, remaining forty or sixty day
nn the road. while the ones left NJ hum
should see to bis work. 4 few wcr
able 10 pay the communication money
but nj hest, large numbers wcr
removed from fam work, greatly To tL'
drtrimoni of the villagers. Beside, th
government provided them very iwreIlert'l
with food aud shelter, and many ~ickcuc,
aud died Al this burden was cast ol
thousands whose distance from the road
makes it Of No possible use to them.
At last the road was fnishcl--or nj iea>
- Tar 80 that it was opened for u-e in thu
fall of ISL. 1t l. well-graded and pretty
thoroughly constructed macadamlzcd road
In many places the curves and zezage arr
very skiliully arranged to avoid heavy
grades in rising the high ranges OF noun
tains which must be crossed. Most of th'
bridges are substantially built of stone
though some are cheap wooden structures
The road Is rather narrow and almost en-
tirely unguarded at the sides. \ carriaC,
going a lutte way to one side would Il
many places take fearful roll 10 the depth
below.
For the benefit Of any not familiar Wit
macaGamized roads. ] msy say that aittI
grading il l. built by filling in the ruad-he,
(which has been depressed some inches
with stones Of cOnsiderahla size. This be,
j. covered with stones broken To about tn
size Of hens eggs Broken stones. observe
for this Is the peculiarly OF tie lnacadam
lied road. 1t worn stones are used the
will slip on each other under heavy huf
den, thus breaking up and destroying H.
road. But the sharp angles Ol broke
stones wedge past each other, forming, IN
der heavy burdens, one solid mass q
rock structure. The surface of III
road i rounded like a turnpike and th
whole Is covered with fine gravel. Som
parts of THIS road were built with stone
that were not broken, and in places wher
gravel could not easily be obtained the sur
face has been covered with soil. But j
many places Its surface Is a hard an
smooth as the finest pavement.
The length Of this road Is one hundre
and seventy-one. miles marked off by mil,
stones neatly cut and set up by the road
side.
Though so fine road has been open t
the Tree use of the public more than tw
years, very few wagons are used upon il
The old muleteers stick TO their pack saddle,
though travelling most of the year, owe
this fine, beautiful road They are indi.
posed to change, or they are too poor to bu
wagons. And if they were to invest j
wagons, for four or five months in ii
year they would be useless. Sleighs wonl
be equally out Of place, as in the Trebizon
region there Is never sleigbing, and on II
mountains constant force would be nece
Ary to keep the road open.
At an early day an omnibus company W:
formed to carry passengers, but at sue
high rates that none but the wealthy eoul
afford the luxury, and the company's hors
stand idle most Of the time. Even the En-,
lish consul, passing over the road la
autumn, hired cheaper conveyance. The
cheaper conveyances are mostly clumi
Russian wagons, covered with whit
and resembling western enigrs