Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-04

magnificence or prosperity remains to be
seen, except in the treasury of the sultan,
where vast and untold riches are still
stored.
The Turk appears to be centuries behind
all civilized peoples. For the use Of the
huge capital there is but one railway line
connecting it with the west, and this skirts
the Marmora between the remains of the
sea walls and the Turkish quarter of the
city, until 1t reaches Seven Towers, where
the land walls start. On the sea side the
line is fringed with low novels, whose tin
patched sides have long been covered with
rust; beyond them, dividing Europe from
Asiatic shores, lies the Marmora.
Crazy Crannies Full of Life.
On the land side, covering hills and val
leys, is a bewildering mass Of crazy looking,
weather-beaten dwellings, one or two
stories in height. Struggling hither and
thither like groups OF centenarians or in
ebriates, each house feebly props up it's
neighbor, which appears as If about to
collapse from sheer inability to stand alone.
Here and there a new house is seen; II
stands for the moment yellow, crude and
aggressive beside the tumble-down wooden
structures that surround it. and one won
ders how soon IT, too, will join the totter-
ing throng.
Then at the back of the town, like crowns
resting upon the summit OF the seven hills
on which the city is built, are gigantic
mosques. while the domes of thousands of
smaller ones rise up from the city below,
their innumerable minarets pointing like
warning fingers toward the heavens.
Narrow. winding streets, dirty and i'll
kept, Lead to the Seven Towers, an old
Turkish fortress. at one time the Byzan-
tine citadel, which is rented by the gov
eminent, with the adjoining moat, to a
market gardener who adds TO the small
income derived from the sale OF his vege-
tables by charging 8 p~iastres 90 cents) for
n sight OF his property. IL you stand for
a moment outside the main gateway you
are Immediately aceosted by a clean feat
ured, red fezzed Greek in European clothes
probably the old gardeners son-who
invites you to come inside.
Exploring the LaByrInths.
There are; "The golden gate, the prison
OF the ambassadors, the carvings and the
dungeous-only s piastres. monsieur" he
adds eagerly as you hesitate. and while
you are hunting for the necessary coin the
youngster disappears, returning almost i'm
mediately with a lighted lantern of con-
siderable age. He escorts you across the
courtyard in the center Of which is a
solitary minaret-all that remains Of the
little mosque where the Turkish generals
once attended prayers-and pushing open
a door in one Of the old towers he holds
the lantern low for you TO find the steps
Of a winding marble stairway.
Up and up you ascend an interminable
number Of steps. feeling your way eau
tiously, until a welcome shaft Of daylight
reaches you from the doorless exit on the
summit Of the walls. And here, upon the
broad grass grown road that leads from
tower 10 tower is a view OF land and sea.
of mountains and valleys and fertile plains,
the owner Of which should be the proudest
and happiest OF monarchs instead OF the
most miserable and haunted OF human
beings.
Away TO the south, lying at the foot
Of Seven Towers. is the Marmora with