The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1911-10-06

are torceu TO lanu at a quay at the
| farther end of which a big and omi-
! nous looking gate gives access to the
essentially oriental city and to the
country beyond, and before the for
eigner is allowed to pass through this
gate he himself and his papers are
subjected to far from friendly and
exceedingly strict examination, which
as often as not ends in the visitor be-
ing requested to betake himself at
once back on board the ship which
brought him.
No Exiles Return.
The mention of the name of Tripoli
is sufficient to cause a shudder at Con-
stantinople, for whenever a prominent
citizen or dignitary in Stamboul sud
denly vanishes from sight without bid
ding farewell to his friends and to
his family 1t almost invariably be-
comes known sooner or later that he
has been shipped off by night to Trip
oil, where on landing he has been
compelled to trudge on foot the thirty
days journey to Murzuk, the capital
of the province of Fezzan, which Is an
oasis in the burning desert of Sahara.
None of the eXiles has ever returned
thence, and it is fortunate indeed If he
IL not done to death on the way thither.
1t is only rarely that one of them man
ages to get letters to those whom he
has left behind, letters that give the
most appalling account Of the tortures
and of the hardships to which he is
subjected. Among those who have
been thus deported to Tripoli and to
Fezzan have been large numbers of
Armenian bankers and merchants of
Constantinople, who owe their exile In
many instances to anonymous accusa-
tions or else to mere suspicion.
Tripoli was for many hundreds of
years famous as the principal lair Of
the so called Barbary pirates, or cor
sairs, who constituted the scOurge Of
the Mediterranean. Lying midway be-
tween Tunis and Egypt, it was -four
ishing state in the day of the Phoeni-
clans. of the Romans and of the
Greeks, under the name of Cyrenaica,
until conquered by the Arabs twelve
centuries ago. In the sixteenth cen
rury the city of Tripoi was held for
few years first by Ferdinand the Cath
olic of Spain and then by the Knights
of st. John, who were expelled. how
ever. by the famous Turkish corsair
DiHgut
Fierce Tuareg Tribes.
His descendants governed the state
Of Tripoli until 1885, when the Turks
took advantage of civil war to seize
possession of the country, which ever
since has been administered as prov
ince of the Ottoman empire. The from
iers east and west are ill defined, the
desert in either direction being swept
bv those fierce Tuareg tribes which are
the most fanatic and bloodthirsty of all
| the nomad races of the Sahara.
Tripoli has become the headquarters
of all the great caravan trade of cen
traI Africa. 1t has the advantage of
being several hundred miles nearer the
great marts of the interior of the dark
| continent than either Tunis or AL
| giers. and almost daily there are cara
| vans leaving for the south laden with
cotton fabrics, cutlery, ETC., and arriv-
| ing with esparto grass, ivory and os
| trich feathers. Tripolis most impor-
| tant export. however, is that of black
slaves. They reach the seacoast from
the great negro empires of Wadai and
Bornu, to the south of Fezzan, and are
thereupon shipped from the ports of
| Bcngazi. Tabrouk and Tripoli itself di-
rectly to Constantinople and to other
parts Of the Ottoman empire.
Fighting Forces Compared.
In the event of war between Italy
and Turkey the Turkish government
could put into the field probably
million more men than Italy, but any
advantage that might accrue to the
latter nation as a result of this nu-
merical supremacy on land would be
more than offset by the tremendous
advantage that Italy would have on
the sea. Italy has a fine navy, against
which the Turks could send only
few obsolete battleships and semiar
mored cruisers, none of which is to
be compared to the big Italian battle
ships of the San GiOrgio, Pisa, Vito
rio Emanuele and Benedetto Brin
classes
The latest available data on the mil
itary establishments of the world
gives to Italy a standing army of
225,000 men in active service and
100000 in reserve. In addition to this
armed force Italy has available for
+ duty, but not organized, an additional
100000 men. 1t would take several
months to whip the unorganized force
into shape.
At the head of the Italian army is
Lieutenant General Polio. The army
is organized into twelve cOrps-name-
ly, the corps of Turin, Alessandria,
Milan, Genoa, Verona, Bologna, An
coma, Florence, Rome, Naples, Bari
and Palermo, each corps commanded
by a lieutenant general Each corps
is subdivided into two divisions, each
commanded by a lieutenant general
D The same authority on which the
Italian military strength is figured
| n11to tho otto ndinnr a,vox 80 n,,,t-o.x n.