Durango semi-weekly herald., 1902-05-12
CITY OF GRAND TURK.
William E. Curtis Says constantinopIe
Is Not Up to Expectations.

Is Not Up to Expectations.
| CONSTANTlNOPLE. April S.
Poets, painters and other people with
vivid imaginations and emotional nu-
| lures have become ecstatic in describ-
| ing the city of the Grand Turk. ami
while it has unique and exquisite at
| fractions it is no more beautiful than
New York or San Francisco. Rio ia
neiro. Naples, Hong Kong or half
dozen other cities | might name.
There is none of the barbaric splen-
dor, the gold and purple, the blue and
scarlet of Moscow, as seen from the
Sparrow Hills; nor the fantastic pa
godas and temples of Kiota of Pekin.
1t lacks the quiet dignity of Stock
holm and the soft beauty of Naples,
but the colors that are lacking and
the gorgeousness that is invisible is
readily supplied by the imaginations
of the tourists, who generally see
what they expect to see, no matter
whether it is there or not. You find
the same old trouble in Holland and
Spain after reading the books of
D'Mici and at Venice after studying
3uskin You may suggest that per-
| haps it is the fault of the observer,
who lacks sufficient poetry in his soul
but when you begin to dissect the
scene and separate the actual from
| the imaginary the criticism of the
practical mind is sustained.
The continents of Asia and Europe
| are separated by the sea OF Marmora.
i oh 81 t., "a
miles wide in its widest part At the
west end it is entered through the
Hellespont or Dardanelles, stream
| or strait. very deep and with a swift
| current. which is nowhere more than
two miles wide and at several points
as narrow as the Hudson river. The
place where Leander swan across to
visit and where Lord Byron initiated
| his example is only about three-quar-
| ters OF a mile and although to swim
| it was prodigious feat, in those
days. it would not be more than an
ordinary adventure to many members
of the Chicago Athletic club. and the
| sailors around the lakes would con-
| slider it beneath contempt.
At the east end the Sea of Marmora
| is connected with the Black Sea by
the Bosphorous. channel similar to
the Hellespont. The streams form a
remarkable boundary. and since the
continents were inhabited by men
have been regarded as of great STRAIT
egic importance, and from the time
of Alexander the Great to Alexander II
of Russia have been fought for by
rival nations.
| Where the Bosphorus joins the Sea
of Marmora there is little bay about
a mile wide at its mouth, growing
| gradually narrow and curving like a
cornucopia for about three NH,
to a point where it receives fresh wa
ter from a little stream. This bay is
called the Golden Horn.
| Between the Golden Horn and the
Sea of Marmora is a tongue of land
similar in size and shape to Manhat-
| tan island, upon which New York is
center. The ridge, or hogs back" )"
is about 500 feet above the water. and
al intervals is broken by gullies, or
quedebraes. as the Spaniards call
them, gashes that have been cut into
the soil by water.
This ridge or tongue of land is oc-
cupied by the old City of Stamboul
and upon the extreme point. CORES.
ponding to Battery Park, New York
is located the Seraglio, group of pal
aces occupied by the sultans before
the nineteenth century. An impos-
ing marble gate by which the grounds
are entered, is the ancient Sublime
Porte. and from it is derived the title
by which the Turkish government is
often referred to in history and diplo
matte discussions. The Sublime Porte
at present is a still more imposing
gate which leads into an enclosure
where are situated the palace of tho
grand vizier, the ministry of finance
and other official departments OF the
government.
Upon the opposite side OF the Bos
porus. situated to Stamboul as Jer
sey City is to New York. is Scutari
city of residences. schools, hospi
tails, military barracks, carpet factor
les and other manufacturing establish
ments, with population OF abou
$4,000. 1t is surrounded by a groul
of fertile hills. which in the sprini
and summer are covered with bril-
liant foliage.