Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-07-11
AT FOOT OF ARAFAT
Site of Erivan, Capital of Rus
sian Armenia.
HOUSES ALL OF ONE STORY
Ancient Monasteries Among the
Country's Chief Attractions.
CAMELS AS BURDEN BEARERS
Traffic w.. Moscow of Large Pro-
portions-Bazaars of City Small
and Unattractive.

BY WILLIAM f. CURTIS.
Special CORRESPONDENCE Of The Star and the
Chicago Record Herald
ERIVAN, Armenia, June s. 1910.
This. the capital of Russian Armenia.
is thoroughly Russian in spots. but the
greater part of it is oriental. and the
bazaars. where most of the trade is con-
Quoted. are as interesting as any in the
east. The name of the town Is pro-
nounced 'Yer-ri-van.' with the accent on
the last syllaie. and the word means
at the fOOt"-referrin. Of course, to
Mount Ararat. the most famous of all
mountains. perhaps, as we'll as one Of the
most interesting.
The two peaks that compose the noun
tain. the greater 1920 and the lesser
1900 feet high. are always within view
barring the weather-and there is a de-
cided difference of opinion as to the num-
Der of clear days in this climate. People
who want to knock the town insist
that the peak of Great Ararat cannot be
seen more than once a week. but the
more loyal inhabitants will assure you
that it is in plain sight every hour-morn-
ing, noon and highland every day in the
year.
AS Ararat is the principal attraction
that brings strangers here. and as
strangers spend money. it is natural that
the reapers of the harvest should take a
visitors are waiting for the clouds to
roll by they can visit several interesting
mOnasteries in the vicinity.
Character of the Dwellings.
The streets of Erivan are wide: the
houses are of one story, built very much
after the Spanish or Moorish plan. around
a patio. and without windows on the
streets. There are a few good shops
filled with modern merchandise in the
Russian quarter. with restaurants, cafes
and other modern improvements. There
are two hotels which are simply tOlerable
and no mOre-the kind that you would
not patrOniZe unless you had to. The
bazaars. however. are very busy, because
a large population come here for trade.
and Erivan is practically the terminus Of
the railway, which brings vast quantities
Of freight that must be carried farther
on by camel caravans These caravans
meet and receive and discharge their
cargoes at a large open square, surround
ed by kahns. the oriental substitute for
hotels. and such places are always fas-
cinating to people from other parts of
the world.
Most of the goods that are carried into
the interior come from Moscow, for the
Russian government does protect its
manufacturers and promote their trade
where it can be done without interfering
with military affairs. Most of the goods
that are brought in are rugs, wool, hides
and skins from various parts Of Persia
and Turkish Armenia and kurdistan,
which are shipped in bulk by rail and
boat and steamer to Constantinople, and
there distributed.
Of Undesirable Quality.
There is nothing to buy here. nothing
that any American would want, although
the baZaars contain complex assortment
of merchandise of sufficient variety to
suit oriental corners. but they are not our
kind of goods. Here as elsewhere the ba-
zaars are made up of little boxes, not
more than six or eight feet square. lined
with Shelves filled with goods, and the
proprietor sits in the midst of them
''sQuatting like a Turk or stretched out
comfortably upon rug. smoking ciga-
rettes. You seldom see the nargileh, or
Turkish water pipe with a long tube.
are cut up into narrow, winding streets
sheltered from the sun by roofs of ma
sonry awnings of mating. and. as
usual, the trade is classified for the con-
venience of the public. The vegetable
dealers the butchers, the bakers, the can
dlestick makers. the hardware and iron
mongers. the leather mongers and print
dealers each have their own streets. and
the shops are so close together that rival
merchants can chatter together while
waiting for customers.
Old Persian Fortress.
There is an old fortress built by the
Persians while they occupied the country
and an ancient palace within the walls.
several of the rooms being handsomely
decorated by tiles and fantastic designs in
colored glass Most of the space. how
ever. is occupied by barracks for the SOL
diers, who are as numerous here rs they
are in all other frontier Russian towns
but, at the same time, they bring in a
great deal Of business and contribute to
the prosperity of the farmers and mer-
chants and everybody And / do not
know what the hotels would do il it were
not for the officers Of the Russian army.
The population of Erivan is very much
mixed. but the larger number are Arme-
Man Christians who control the financial
and commercial affairs as they do every
where else in this section. and have dis
played that remarkable aptitude for COM
merce and accumulation that is charac-
teristic of the race. There are many
Turks, more Persians and still more
Kurds who do the teaming. drive the
cabs and load the camels. The heavy la
Dor is done by Kurds and Tartars and
the trading by Persians and Armenians
as it Is elsewhere.
Ancient Monasteries.
There are many monasteries in Arme-
MIA and all of them are very old. Etch-
miadzin is undoubtedly the oldest mo-
nastic establishment in the world. and
is not only interesting for that
reason. but also because it was the era