Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1901-07-20

Special Correspondence.
Temcen, Africa, June 1,-En,ering
this historic town by the Bou-Medina
Gate, you pass at once into the noble
avenue Of the Mechouar, or citadel
under a dense row Of poplars, planes
and acaclas, whose leafy shadow is 50
dense that no ray Of the fierce African
sun can pierce it, even on mid
summer noon. After this beautiful in
troduction--yOUr mind teeming with
recollections OF Tlemcen's stormy and
romantic history--how much greatw is
your disappointment TO find the city OF
today so shabby and unattractiye, It's
former wealthy population Of half a
million dwindled 10 a p0verty-stricken
community OF seventeen thousand.
When the Moorish cities IN Spain were
at the zenith Of their splendor, this
contemporary of Grenada was equally
renowned for rs artists and scholars,
poets and philosophers. It's civilization
and refinement, commerce and wealth.
the capital of a powerful nation and
the center OF worldwide trade Ions
long before that golden day-centuries
before Christ was born-lt was power
ful city, known as Pomeria Ruined
during the Nandal invasion ana subse
quently forgotten, IL was rebuilt a. d.
900 by Idris ben ldris ben Add Allah,
an enterprislng Arab. who bought 1t
from the Berber nation OF the Ienata
and established his brother In possess
sion. He named II Aghadir ana erected
the great mosque whose remains are
today his most impressive monument
The brothers and their descendants held
II q hundred and fifty years, when Il
passed into the hands Of various tribes
Of the desert, and finally 10 the then
all-pOwerful Almorayides. about the
year 1850. The new masters renamed It
Tagrart, and fortified II strongly and
increased It's commerce Then for
long period, Tagrart figures In history
as a royal city "a city Of soldiers
among whom was guard OF several
thousand Christians. The Almoravldes
(meaning Aiiirmers OF the Unity OF
God, were intensely religions, and wise
wthal II their day and generation, CIV
ing equal protection TO an foreigners,
Jews and Christians. Al one time there
were many thousands of Christians ln
the place who had a church OF their
own ana practically their own govern.
ment The present barrack Of the
Spahls was the foreign bazaar Of that
day, within whose high walls Spanish,
French, Geroese. Plsan and Venetian
merchants displayed their wares. under
The exclusive government of the con-
suls--the only stipulation being that It's
gates should be closed az sunset.
Tho pFqafpaea az fruUYapt t.n 90, IA
gun by the Almorayldes, eliminated un-
der their successors. the better known
because later Almoahides. who came
into possession In has changed It's
name 10 TlemCen, and built new wall.
IN wider circles around the several old
er walls. Then for a hundred years il
remained one OF the chief cities OF the
great Mohammedan empire Of the
west; until early In the thirteenth cen-
fury, when Ghamarasan, OF the tribe
OF Adr-el-Ouad, conquered ~. and
presently II became capital Of the king
dom which embraced the present prov
inces OF Oran and Algiers. Then fol-
lowed a dreadful period Of long sieges,
SLOW starvation. and crueltles innumer-
able blackening even the dark pages
OF African history. The first
siege. begun because the sultan of
Tlemeen refused TO give up mgitives
TO the massacre, lasted nearly nine
years, and was raised only after the
murder OF Abou Yakoub, sultan OF
FeZ. His successor, the terrible
Black Sultan --Abou-el-IIassan ALI
returned Unexpectedly 10 the fray and
so captured the city. but lost It again
after ten years Of horrible misrule The
H.l lar INatN