Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1911-08-23

interest to civilization.
Paradoxes Of Progress.
The present stage In Turkeys rapid
awakirg is that Of contrast. The
I palaces along the Bosphorus. practical.
~ all Of them owned. until the Revo-
luton. by Abdul Hamid, are rather
tawdry creations at best. but they are
In contrast with the miserable novels
of the people. whose dwellings, are
meager beyond the western compre-
hension. The word "home" AZ q
synonym for house can scarcely be
used here in Turkey.
Along the water front - palace
which was used by the Parliament,
until fire Quilted 1t. Not far away is
the present palace OF the reigning Sui
tan. who is a mere shadow OF the alb
solutism OF his deposed brother. In
terspersed between palaces are the
residences OF Pashas. and morn or
less prosperous citizens. with the lat
ticed windows Of the harcms turned
toward the water. There is the 10
nance of the mysterious about these
dirty Siattices-a western woman would
surely keep them clean-and about
the iron barred tunnels that lead nm.
der the houses to the water. One
cannot help specializing as to the
tragedies that have been enar4ed
along these shores. The system OF
seclusion for women that Islam or
dams has many disadvantages. one be-
Ing that It requires man to build q
high waH alongside OF his house. 70
keep his netghbor from overlooking
his harem. ~ Il KIM
Schools are beginning TO oume to
their own In Turkey, but tho minaret
still dominates the landscape, and
the wailing cry Of the muezztn i've
times q day 10 . familiar sound to all
parts OF the city.
An Inadequate Fire Alarm system.
On yUnder hill cannon bo0ms when
ever there is a fire in one of the vii
lages along the Bosphorus. The plan
In the city proper Is for a Waterman
on one of the great fire towers to 70
port ITO Others who patrol the streets,
and these others 90 crying. in jackal
tones that make one think OF the
souls iUf the lost. the general vicinity
OF the fire. Whosoever win may then
run to the scene OF excitement and
GhHre In the possible lout. A few
modern fire engines have been intro
duced into the city. but It has been
my fortune chiefly 10 Bee the made
tQuate box carried on the shoulders OF
runners. who are accustomed to get
to the hre sometime before the whole
city has been burned down. and hire
themselves out to the property own
5ers. have Witnessed several CON;
ha8rations. one Of them devastating
NIFTY houses.
There are no telephones in tho city,
except between government ofhces, No
public lighting system and no electric
cars. The streets ara incredibly bad.
yet at one corner Of the foreign quar-
ter Of Pera saw these three won
ders: Constantinople street being
widened, steam roller at work, and
the cypress trees OF the Moslem
graveyard being cut down! Tho god
Of change has certainly come to Tur-
key!
The cooiie and the Automobile.
That the old order IL passing 10
patent to everybody who knows how
70 look at things In the large. People
cannot have even form Of constitu-.
tional government, and yet treat one
section Of the community as mere
beasts Of burden. The newspaper, 4
moving picture show. the automobile
and the school book are forerunners
Of the inevitable new day. Now that
Constantinople has reckless red autos
driven through its narrow overcrowd-
ed streets, 1t is bound to have also a
chariot OF progress Of which this is q
symbol.
There is not room on the same high
way Of civilization for a twenty horse
power automobile and a man strug-
Cling under the load Of an OK. Con-
stantinople has had the latter for
centuries, It is now getting the form
er. The incredible burdens which
these Koordish coolies or hamals bear
would seem like fiction to the west
ern world. Frequently have seen
man carrying dozen chairs on his
back; another bore at one time thirty
six Of the big square oil-cans which
the Standard Oil Company has made
q not uncommon load. saw a man
with Grand Rapids roll top desk and
the Office chair fastened to it. on his
back. A packing case is one Of the
scommonest Of loads. saw coolie
crossing the Galata bridge with cof-