The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1878-03-28
ConstantInople,s Gates.

Delles as It's gate from the Mediterranean,
had been fully recognized by the Roman
and Greek emperors. GibbOn tells us
that the emperor Constantine built
ferts at the Euxine entrance to the Bos-
phorus in order to stay the incursions of
pirates, who had been in the habit OF
sailing through the Bospherus, the sea of
Marmora, and the Hellespont to ravage
the coasts of the Mediterranean thence
in due time to escape to the channel
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 or expeditions
of any kind from the west against Con-
stantinopie, constructed the forts, towers
or castles, as they are variously called,
off the Dardanelles. The castles con-
structed by Mohammed IL, at the
nsrroWest part of the Dardanelles, were
the advanced posts of the Ottoman
empire on the south European side. The
Venetians, however, disregarded them to
the point OF approaching them very
closely. Accordingly, Mohammed ",
to keep the Venetian galIeys from sailing
so far along the channel built much
nearer the mouth the castle-cne 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
| dislOcated. It must sometimes have
been supposed that the Bospherus and
not the Hellespont was the scene Of
| Leander's celebrated performances, for
on a rock opposite Scutari, facing the
entrance to the BOsphorus, stands &
tower, which is often, without reason,
called " the Tower of Leander." The
! Turks call Il I" the Tower of the Virgin"
and IN it, according to Turkish legend,
was confined the lovely daughter of
Mohammed-Sultan, Mehar Schegid by
name, of whom it had been predicted by
q mysterious gypsy that she would die
by the bite of serpent. ENTHUSIASTICALLY
reputation for beauty spread until it
reached the ears of the prince of Persia,
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 flow
ers, expressing to her, in language she
perfectly understands, the passions with
which she had inspired him. But like
CleOpatra's basket of fruit, Mehar-
| Schegid's bunch of flowers concealed an
asp. Mehar Schegid was stung. Her
servants, remem boring the gypsy's pro
! phechy, uttered loud cries of distress,
and, throwing open the doors of the
tower, rushed frantically out, declaring
| that. all was lost. Then the prince of
| Persia rushed in, seized Mehsr-Schegid
in mis- arms, and sucked the wound in
her shoulder until he had extracted from
| it ah the venom left there by the asp.
| The sultan, when he heard the young
mans noble and interesting conduct,
| declared thai he should be his son-in-laW;
and the prince of Persia made Mehar-
Schegid his wife, and lived with her very
happily for number of years and
had many children.
1t need scarcely be said that the first
passer of the BOsphorus from shore to
shore was 10, transformed into q heifer
through the amOrous prosecutions OF
Jupiter, and driven into the sea by the
maddening attacks of a gadfy. It 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 of such
world-important conflicts, the army of
Darius crossed. The only entry Of q
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
rebellioug 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
with vessels of war from the Black sea
to the Mediterranean, and from the
| Mediterranean TO the Black sea. Be
sides being protected, or placed in an ad-
mirable position for being protected,
against approaches both from the Medi-
! terranean and from the Black sea,
/ ConStantinOple Was at one time
| guarded sgainst further advances by
a chain drawn across the mouth of
the harboT, 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 50 admirably
! situated as CODstantinOple 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 IL, 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 ", 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;
breadth st narrowest point, where the
| Greek empeTors and first sultans con-
structed forts, where Darius built his
! bridge of boats, and where the Crusaders
embarked, six hundred yards Pail
! Mall Gazette.
LUCINDA's not a stylish woman"
said CnaaSIs describing hes wife tn 4