Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1909-05-07
ILL-FATED ADANA.
LAND OF MASSACRE
FOR CENTURIES PAST FIRE AND
SWORD HAVE VISITED THE
UNFORTUNATE CITY.
BATTLE-GROUND OF NATIONS.
Ever Since the Days of Alexander and
Pompey 1t Has Been Dis
trict for Destruction.
STORY OF A SARCoPHAGUs.

STORY OF A SARCOPHAGUS.
Edward w. Very, late of the United
States navy, who commanded the cor
yette Shenandoah which transported the
| marble sarcophagus that had held the re-
mains of Roman princes for a thousand
| years and more from the island of
Cyprus to New York, where it has be-
| come an object of interest in the Metro
| poitan Museum of Art, writes as follows
| in the New York Evening Post, concern
| ing the stricken city of Adana:
OFF to the northeast of the island of
| Cyprus just after the mainland makes Il
sharp bend from running north along the
| Syrian coast to west along that of Asia
| Minor, lies this, the finest natural gran
| airy of the whole Mediterranean coast,
| ana its three principal towns of Mersina.
| Tarsus, and Adana lie almost in line
completely through it's center. Riding
| and camping out OH the banks of the
| Cydnus our caTe-free band heard from
| the native story tellers traditions innum-
| cradle of the fair land that is so I'M
| fortunately located as to have been the
| battle-ground of nations since the dawn
of history. The name of the mythical
! Sardanapalus is claimed as that of the
| in its boundaries Alexander the Great
| won the most famous of his victories.
| Pompey the Great reached the pinnacle
| of his fame here when his legions cap
| tured the province for Rome, scarcely
thirty years before st. Paul was born.
| Then the Arabian Moslems swept up
and across it from the east; the savage
| Armenians from the mountains in the
north devastated it. The Christian En-
| peror, Baldwin, of Constantinople,
brought fire and sword from the west;
| Greeks and Venetians harried the coast
from the south, and so down the CEN
| turtles the little province simply from
| being a military key to surrounding peo-
| pies was kept in poverty and desolation
until great Haroun al Raschid gave it
the new name of Adana and brought
peace and plenty to the land.
A Consular Agent.
There was a wealthy native of Tar
sus named Aldo Dabbas. who for many
| years had prospered under the protec-
ton of an appointment as consular
agent of the United States, and it so
came about that in one of his fields was
unearthed a fine marble sarcophagus,
which, as mark of appreciation, he
made gift to the United States, with
only the proviso that some one should
! be sent to take it. And so it came
about that the Shenandoah was ordered
to the eastward to pick it up, and in due
| time let go her anchor in the snug har-
| Dor of Mersina.
| 1t was grand opportunity for old
| Aldo. beyond his dreams, to have a
man-of-war as ocular proof of his i'm
| portance, and he made the most of it
| in the best of ways, for not only were
his house and gardens placed at our dis
| position. but at the first mention to him
of the interest that was most natural
IN of 4 laxanAAF.
he equipped complete camp, even to
n detachment of Turkish infantry, to
take us throughout the province. Over
the campfire at night the stories were
told that. true or false, brought to our
ears the famous names whose victories
and defeats had alike brought only mis-
cry to Il peaceful people. Of all those
names so often heard, one only, Haroun
al Raschid. cur Arabian Nights hero
WIS called blessed. 1t seems queer that
two of the greatest names of Christiani-
ty and of Islam should find their COM
mon ground here of unalloyed respect.
All through the rolling plain and in
the foothills of the Taurus were in this
time of thirty-odd years ago fine fields
of grain, orchards, and luXuriant gar
dens, and all that should make a people
happy and well-to-do, but the war storms
of nearly 5000 years have stamped an
indelible mark on the people. Poor
a
drop in the stream.
Ancient Ruins.
Just beyond Mersina and on the sea
beach are the ruins of two old cities
that gave our men a grand scope for the
exercise of amateur archaeological re-
search, Julieopolis, named for Pompey's
wife, the daughter of Julius Caesar, and
/ Pompeopolis, which was an altered name
for the ancient seaport of Soils. The old
breakwater that formed the original har-
Dor was traced out in the sand by max
ing soundings, and its outer edge was
found to be fully 200 feet inboard from
the present sea water line. The perfect
pillars of an old temple were standing,
and the men captured one of the capt.
tails complete and uninjured by sending
a line over the top of the pillar by a
kite, and so rigging a means to climb the
pillar, pry mp the capital, and lower if
to the ground carefully. 1t is my i'm
the Smithsonian institution at Washing
ton.
As for the sarcOphagus, the secret of
its soul will never be betrayed, for if
bears no inscription, nor was anything
recovered from it. Probably, whatever
1t contained was stolen by the laborers
who unearthed it. Its bulky eleven tons
was hoisted to our quarterback. the
beautiful sculptures carefully boarded
in, and the last home of a countrvwom-
an of st. Paul, like him a Roman. came
on its long voyage to rest in a country
unheard of and unsupported when II
was created.