The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-09-19
STORY OF PROGRESSIVE BEIRUT
Europe Shoulder Asa"The
Which Admiral Cotton Is Protecting Bel
College Chartered by the Legislature New YoTh cox
ford Orient. ~.

operations. They have brought with them
European wants and European ways.
The result is curious. It is the east and
it is not the east The loathsome beggar
and the ''yaller" scavenger dog are there:
but there too are the cafes chantants Of
Paris and the boulevard cafes, with mar
gilehs looking out of place on the little
round tables. Here is q Turkish bazaar;
but here, too, is a street of fine European
shops. You are in Europe on this broad
white road with its pretty stone villas;
but go down into the tunnel-like streets
Of the filthy old town and you are in the
Arabian Nights. See,- in this restaurant
forty men lie smoking nargilehs, while a
professional. story teller regales them with
the stirring tale of-"Jack and the Bean
stalk" perhaps They will lie listening
half the night. thrilled to their toes with
tales Of giants and magicians heard, it
may be, for the hundredth time.
Here surely is the childlike east. Yet
you have only to lift your finger to call
a. cab. And when it comes the horse will
wear the inevitable blue bead to guard
against the evil eye. In this single town
of all Syria to have streets which make
carriages possible, smart European turn
| outs dash about or bowl along the easy
gradients of the Damascus road. S3t
look! they are halted now and then by
shining strings Of many camels. All the
romance of the east is in these amazing
costumes; women swathed to the crown
Of their heads in shapeless folds of white,
men draped in robes OF satin brocade over
rich belted tunics or gay vests and baggy
trousers Yet, here comes a fez with a
gold embroidered vest below it, and below
that the trousers Of a European check
| suit! With your eyes on the stored
heights Of Lebanon, you sip delicious
drinks iced with thriftily gathered Leban-
on snow. Truly 1t Is 1.-THE hand Of Europe
laidsupo the shoulder, of Asia"
The hand of Europe Is the really i'm
portant thing about Beirut. It is a busy
modern town. 81 In 1902 It's population was
estimated at 100000. OF these. the Mos
lens (Arabs and Turks) number $4,000;
the Christians Greeks and Maronites),
foreigners of all faiths, 400. There are
mot. a. few Americans there; last year a
Princeton reunion was held in the city.
Syriac Is Of course the more common
tongue, tho SO strong is the foreign influ-
| ence thru business and the schools that
French and even English are beginning
to be freely spoken. No city In Turkey
has grown so fast as Beirut. From being
merely. the port OF Damascus. 1t has come
! to overtop Damascus in Importance. Com
mercially it is the capitol Of Syria ALI
/ the products Of the terraced slopes OF Leb-
anon, the golden wine, the fruits the
wool, the raw silk and cocoons come down
| to Beirut to be shipped. It is, moreover.
| the center Of the transit trade Of all
Syria. And lying at the head Of the Medi-
terranean it is the natural port Of ship
ment for olives and silks that go to Italy,
England and America. It's merchants are
little princes, and build them stately stone
mansions on the hill slopes toward Leb-
anon. Consuls ard bankers are many,
and society life In the foreign colony Is
quite respectable shadow Of the real
thing overseas.
But Beirut boasts q higher glory than
| that Of commerce or society. She is the
"Oxford Of the Orientl'' or educational
/ institutions she has no less than one hun
dred, and some $4,000 students are in at
! tendance thereat. Great Britain supports
some Of these schools, and the Jesuits sup
| port more. But it Is to America that the
/ Lighthouse Of the Turkish Empire the
Syrian Protestant college, chartered by
/ the legislature OF the state OF New York,
belongs. That Is no doubt the biggest
american interest" which our fleet is
/ safeguarding. On the western headland
outside the town, In full view Of incoming
/ Ships, the twelve stone buildings of the
American college (of which, by the way,
our consul, Mr.. Ravndal, Is trustee) con-
stitute conspicuous feature in Beirut.
4 And well they may. For If reports may be
4 trusted, the institutions standards are as
4 high as those Of the great universities
4 at home. It's 80 0students como from all
parts Of Syria, Egypt and the Euphrates.