Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-10-22

orthodox church. distinguished by their
long. curly locks. sometimes gathered
neatly into knots, and their sleek figures
and faces. Greeks and Armenians share
the red fez with the Turks. which in
Constantinople, during the anti-Austrian
boycott. was freely exchanged for the
white fec made at Broussa, the old Turk
ish capital. Dark Syrian women. In
white or yellow, are marked out from the
moro refined Turkish types: the Arabs,
too. one easily picks out.
All the trading seems to be in petto.
With some few except ons-the Germans
have some immense stores In Smyrna
the shops are tiny and their stocks small.
Scores of NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. sad
dlers, bakers, blacksmiths, confectioners,
scent sellers, bead sellers, ironworkers.
brush makers. tailors-ply their tools and
mold their materials by the side Of the re-
tailers. sometimes in separate quarters.
sometimes mixed with other works in the
small industry. Every one calls his wares.
and calls them together. In high-pitched,
nasal tones. not unpleasant to the ear,
for the noise Is human. and diners widely
from the metallic din Of our western
streets. One Of the innumerable things
sold is disease or deformity. The leper's
SCARED and twisted limbs. the infirmities
OF the cripple and the dwarf are market
able commodities in the east. No one
shrinks from them: hardly from the i'm
posture and idleness that ape or manufac-
ture misery.
But during Ramazan the great business
of the Mohammedan world is religion.
The little square before the Hissar Jami
the great mosque at Smyrna, Is crowded
with midday worshipers. none Of whom
has eaten or drunk. or touched cigarette
or narghile since sunrise. All are busy
ing faces. hands and feet In the founta MS,
dofhng shoes and goioshes. waiting silent
ly in long rows. hundreds at time, to take
their turn on the crowded floor Of the
mosque. Accommodation is the most
democratic OF religions. Rich and poor,
Kurdish porter and Turkish pasha mi agle
without q touch of distinction in the COM
mon act of worship, unaided a. 1t is by a
single visible symbol of faith. Today the
sultan's interdict is removed, and the
mosques in the cities. save only the very
sacred mosque of Eyuh, the prophets
beloved disciple" or buildings in very
fanatical quarters, have been again
thrown open to Christian sightseers. who.
II they are commonly discreet and re-
spectful, are safe from q worse rebuke
than a stare or a frown. With all their
faults, indeed, the Turks are not illiberal
on the score Of religion.
"In the Nick of Time"
Beneath all these trappings Of sixteenth
century life. set in the vivid coloring of
the east. the working Of the new civilixa-
ton is visible. The Young Turkish move
ment has come in the nick Of time. Had
it been delayed for another twenty years
it might have arrived too late to save even
the remnants Of the empire Of Mahonet
the Conqueror. 1t has therefore been
above all things a movement Of self-pres-
ervation. Abdul Hamid and his Cana
riila had brought Turkey to the last gasp
With the navy reduced to a handful OF
huiks resting at their anchorage on the
Golden Horn. with the onee-powerfui
army enfeebied by corruption. idieness and
the want of all military spirit or national
feeling, with q system which marked
down as Victims every honest character
and useful intellect In the Turkish state.
with Germany exploiting the commercial
possibilities Of the future. and at the same
time working only through the palace
clique, which made any true material de-
velopment impossible. Young Turkey rec
ognized that 1t must strike now or never.
The blow, long matured, and carefully de-
signed by able and patriotic men. has
fallen, and has crushed the Hamidian rule.
! believe. for ever But j. has nroduced
some strange