The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1878-04-05
ConstantInopIe,s Gates.

terprise.- Textile Manufacturer.
ConstantInOpIe's Gates.
! Tie vast Importance of the Bosphorus
as the gate or passage TO Constantinople
/ from the Black sea, and of the Darda-
nelles as its gate from the Mediterranean,
I had been fully recognized by the Roman
and Greek emperors Gibbon tells us
1 that the emperor Constantine built
! forts at the Euxine entrance to the Bos-
phorus in order 10 stay the incursions of
/ pirates, who had been in the habit OF
/ sailing through the Bospherus, the sea of
! Marmora, and the HellespOnt TO ravsge
( the coasts of the Mediterranean thence
( in due time to escape to the channel
I through which they had come, to
their practically inaccessible harbOrs
/ in the Black sea. In modern times
/ Europe has never, hitherto, been
+ threatened from the Black sea, ex-
+ cept by the Turks themselves, who, to
prevent return expeditions OrexpeditiOns
Of any kind from the west against Con-
stantinople, constructed the forts, towers
or castles, as they are vaTiously called,
off the DArdanelles. The castles con-
structed by Mohammed H., At the
narrowest part of the Dardanelles, were
the advanced posts of the Ottoman
empire on the south European side. The
Venetians, however, disregarded them 10
the point OF approaching them very
closely. Accordingly, MOhammed ",
10 keep the Venetian galleys from sailing
so far along the channel built much
nearer the mouth the castle-one on the
European, the other on the Asiatic side
which have been known as the
new" ones in contradistinction TO the
cold"
The story OF the Bosphorus is less in
teresting than that OF the Dardanelles,
from which, however, it cannot well be
dis!ocated. 1t must sometimes have
been supposed that the Bospherus and
not the Hellespont was the scene of
Leander's celebrated performances, for
on rock opposite Scutari, facing the
entrance to the BOsphorus, stands
( tower, which is often, without reason,
called "the Tower Of Leander." The
/ Turks call it 60 the Tower OF the Virgin -
( and in it, according to a Turkish legend,
was confined the lovely daughter of
Mohammed-Sult MeharSchegid by
name, of whom II had been predicted by
a mysterious gypsy that she would die
by the bite Of serpent Mehar-Schegid's
. reputation for beauty spread until it
who came to Constantinople determined
/ by some means to gain admission
to the tower. He contrived, by
bribing her attendants, to get con
veyed TO her bouquet of symbOlical 6ow
ers, expressing 10 her, in language she
. perfectly understands, the passions with
which she had inspired him. But like
. Cleopatra basket of fruit, Mehar-
/ Schegid's bunch of flowers concealed an
. asp. Mehar Schegid was stung. Her
servants, remembering the eypsy's pro
phechy, uttered loud cries of distress,
and, throwing open the doors of the
tower, rushed frsntically out, declaring
that all was lost Then the prince ct
Persia rushed in, seized Mehsr- Schegid
in his arms, and sucked the wound in
her shoulder until he had extracted from
it all the venom left there by the asp.
The sultan, when he heard the young
mans noble and interesting conduct,
declared that he should be his son-in-lsw !;
and the prince of Persia made Mehar-
Schegid his wife, and lived with her very
happily for a number of years and
had many children.
It need scarcely be said that the first
passer of the Bosphorus from shore to
! shore was 10. transformed into a heifer
through the amOrOus prosecutions OF
| Jupiter, and driven into the sea by the
maddening attacks of a gadfy. 1t has
already been mentioned that across this
branch of the great historical and myth
illogical canal, which, from Agamem-
mons siege of Troy at one end to No
manned HIS siege OF COnstantinople at
the other, has been the scene cf such
world-important conflicts, the army of
Darius crossed. The only entry of a
military force from the Black sea into
the Bosphorus since the time of Constan-
tines Black sea enemies, the pirates,
occurred in 1888, when the Russians,
after making explanations on the subject
to the western powers. occupied the Turk
ish capital in a friendly manner with the
view of guarding it against the sultan's
rebellious vassal, the viceroy of Egypt
The Russians kept their hold in so far
that they quilted Constantinople as they
had promised to do. But services of this
kind are not to be forgotten that, al
though the Russians made no sign of
wishing to remain in Constantinople, they
took away with them, when they left, a
secret treaty known as the treaty OF
| Unkira-Skelessi, by which the porte
granted to Russia alone, among the
! European powers, the right of passing
to the Mediterranean, and from the
| Mediterranean to the Black sea. Be
sides being protected, or placed in an adj
mirable position for being protected,
against approaches both from the Medi-
terranean and from the Black sea,
| Constantinople was at one time
guarded against further advances by
a chain drawn across the mouth of
the harbor, the so-called " Golden
Horn" The chain was supported at
| intervals on piles, and the distance from
point to point along which it extended
| measured five hundred yards. No
other city in the world is so admirably
situated as ConstAntinople for letting
in trade and keeping out war. Before
| the introduction OF steam navigation its
position was even finer than now. For
every wind, from whatever quarter it
might blow, brought ships TO its port;
now from the Black sea, with rich pro-
duce of the east now from the White
Sea-" or Mediterranean, with the manu-
| features of the west. The winding
course of the Hellespont or Dardanelles
is variously estimated at from forty-fve
| TO sixty miles in length; average
breadth, three miles; breadth at mar
rowest point, where the ram with the
golden fleece, Leander, Xerxes, Alexan-
| der the Great, and the Turkish invaders
of the fourteenth century crossed, and
where Mohammed II, in the middle of
the fifteenth, constructed his forts, tow
| ers, or castles, from six hundred TO eight
| hundred yards; breadth at point where
| Mohammed w, in 1895, constructed
the new castles, four and a half miles
| The Sea of Marmora is one hundred and
twenty miles long. The Bosphorus
is from sixteen to eighteen miles long;
average breadth, one mile and a half;