New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-11-24
LIFE IN ASIA MINOR.
/. WEDDING IN MARsovAN-woRK OF AMER-
CAN MISSIONARIES.
.pospENr OF THE TRIBUNE.

NarSoNau
We toiled hack up the hill, out Of the Gorge OF
.-.s,a and struck of in northwesterly direction
across the plain toward the town OF Marsovan'
The harvest was still in progress, and the reapers
Gathering their handfuls with the od.fashoned
s;ckles included the whole family Of the farmer |
Fven the babies were there in their cradles III
the shade of the rare trees visited by the sturdy
mothels occasionally, under the influence OF oha'
curious dread common to mothers that tneir o
spring may take sudden notion TO cease oie''l
inc Small boys and girls ran out 10 one rs
Of the road as we approached, and sto"o III u"Sn
silence, poking the dust with their toes anu NV
ing each handful of the new gram III ,no ea
the hope that the travellers wouiu 'osS w
nenny 10 he scrambled for in rewaru ior "'ei
offer Of the fruit OF the soil HOUSES "''
none save as We could see at rare i u, ' VIZ
cumps of trees and mud huts OF the 'iiN'seo w
these farmers huddle for safety lar """' A'A
their fields. -. .Aooo ,;,,ocos for
-. go, ssIected the porch of the little mosque
- tirsv miparet for the purpose aValling
.,.a.,,,ss Of the custom in Turkey which makes
a mosoue-vard lawful camping ground Tor va
grants The door of the mosque was closed put
after ensconcing ourselves on the porch we could
bcar a single voice within intonlng the Allan
Alber7 of the Muslin service. All was ready for de-
moition of the viands produced from our luncheon
baskets when the door of the mosque suddenly
opened and some thirty or forty ragged ana
weather beaten Turkish villagers came forth adj
iusting their raw-hide sandals, while with open
mouths and suspicious scowls they glared at the
croup of foreigners who had unceremonlously
seized upon their premises. The whole male popu-
lation Of the little squalid village was there The
faces, fresh from the noon devotions, wore
solemn expression, which left question of the
sincerity of the re gious feeling which had brought
these simple peasants TO their prayers. 1t so
happened that Just as these stolid-lool<ng Turks
began to swarm out of the mosque door grace was
being said over our frugal repast by one OF our
party The foremost of the villa gers observed
this and as and more of the turoaned
farmers came forth the whisper was passed
along: They are good people. They pray before
they eat" At this the scowls quickly melted
away chord of sympathy had been touched
and bond Of common interest had been estao-
lished when the Muslms discovered that Christian
foreigners also sometimes pray AT the close OF
our meal, when the old Imam received a gratulty
of o cents for the of the porch, both he and
his flock wished us God speed in the sonorous
phrases of the Muslin benedictlon and urged upon
us entertainment of unlimited cucumbers, which
seemed TO be all that the village possessed IN the
way of food. We drove off, wondering what the
farmers of an American village would do II the
Government made them give up half an hour of
their incoming to prayer-meetng in the church as
o regular daily practice!
Twenty miles Of riding brought us 10 Marsovan.
In keeping with the usaaes of Asia Minor, the
PEOPLE have their vineyards and their orchards In
the outskirts of the town, and pack their houses
Of sun-dried brick on the sides of the narrow
winding lanes which answer the purpose of streets.
l>,,;It tbo of no
castles of more ancient and troublous times, with
windows looking on the street only in the upper
story The contrast between the veIdure of the
outskirts of the town and the gloom of its streets
hemmed in by endless dead walls of brown mud is
striking and depressing MarsOvan has 25.OOO
inhabitants, and the difference between the erect
on the mind of entering it and that experienced Oh
enta ring an American town of the same population
is about like the difference of impressions produced
by going into a penitentiary and those evoked by
he interior of $4,000 house in a civilized
country
These feelings disappeared. however, when we
found hospitable welcome at the home OF the
American missionaries which forms delightful
annex TO the northern end of Marsovan. Inc
next day being Sunday went with the mission
aries 20 the church built up under their auspices
Puritan simplicity is too luxurious term TO de-
scribe the STYLE of this church and its appoint
ments It's walls were of the usual material. OF
the earth earthly, but were neatly whltewashed'
The roof was supported by columns formed OF
pine logs merely stripped of their bark and SAND
papered till smooth. The pews were strips OF mar
cloth spread on the floor. Upon these rough car
pets the audience sat cross-legged; an ecohomcai
arrangement by which congregation of thou
sand were compressed within the limits of hail
which would not seat 900 on the American plan
A problem in an Oriental church is always de-
veloped cut of the fact that women have 10 ne
provided with places. The improperly of having
the women mngle with the men always weighs
upon the Oriental mind. The Greeks of the early
centuries used TO solve the problem by refusing
the women entrance 10 the body of their churches,
or by having certain churches assigned to the
women In this church, where American ideas
have tempered Eastern exclusiveneSs, light fence
ran along each side of the building mark off the
narrow strips of floor space given up 10 the use
of the fair sex. With prudent fOrethOught worthy
of the men of the early New-England times, the
deacons had arranged the small boys OF the assem-
bly,. to the number of a hundred or more, in front
and directly under the awe-inspiring eye of the
minister. When the whole congregation led by
an American organ, burst forth in hearty render
ing of a Turkish hymn, set to a familiar Moody
and Sankey tune there was no mlStalxng the
adoption of some at least of the ideas introduced
by the missionaries The welding of American
training upon the hereditary equipment of these
people was suggestive novelty 70 the visitor.
II was impossible to sit in that place and TO OBJ
the close attention given TO the sermon of the
missionary without feeling that the moral and
intellectual influences Of the Americans will GER
tainly affect the whole future Of these curiously
backward races
few days later we attended q wedding in the
same church An Eastern marriage ceremony i a
very solemn affair indeed, and the people utterly
sbhor the foreign idea of finishing it in ten or
fifteen minutes. The ceremony showed that the
Eastern Nations hold TO their individuality. even
while the people assmiate, from the example of
iher American teachcrS. Mlnt is suited o 1heir