The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-02-25

dedication of the mosque and mosque it has ever since remained
 | Two other mosques in the city are arch- tectural glories and well worth visit; they are the Mosque of Sukeiman the | magnificent, copy of Ste. Sophia and in some respects surpassng it in harmonious 1 grandeur and said to be the finest mosque | in the empire, and that of Ahmed, which l is often called the blue mosque and IS the only one in the empire that possesses l six minarets.
 Nearly every mosque has it's sweating column which emits a dampness that cures disease and one assuredly experiences d clammy sensation when he inserts his hand in the cavity of these perspiring shafts.
 l Nera, the mosque of Ahmed, is the site of the ancient hippodrome, the only relics l of which are extant are an Egyptian | obelisk of syente which once marked the j, turning goal of the gilded charots in the l historic races, and bronze spiral column l of three fntertwining headless serpents l that formerly constituted the tripod in the. temple at Delphi, whose oracle was ro- l garded as the voice of God. and upon which column Thucydides and Herodotus 1 had gazed.
 
 columns is quite interesting, though now dry, but the most weird and uncanny 1 sight imaginable, surpassing in gloom and | spectral shades the catacombs or H-uie 1 or Paris, are the Basilica Cisteris, or Un- derground Palace, that has to Be viewed by torchlight. Wierdly fascinating are it's 2s rows of 336 columns half submerged in 1 water as black as ebony and haunted by startled bats fleeing from the flame of a z a ipb of day. Legend has it that tsese sun less vaults echo throughout the night he l wild laughter of goblin and mourn1ul wall of demon, and that ambitious traveters in exploring the Stygian labyrinth have disappeared in the mysterious darkness and silence to return no more. The cis- terms were built by Constantine Is cen l turie ago and like the pyramids with them I time has been as naught.
 l. One of the impressive landmarks of the city is the Tower of Galata, white hoi- low cylinder with walls 12 feet thick and a stairway that was built 15 centuries ago. Upon the top are several towers from which watchmen day ana night sweep the city with field glasses and tele- scopes upon the lookout for fires. Con stantinople has been practically rebuilt 30 | times from it's destruction by conf1agra- tions since it became Christian capital and since my visit there the old part of the city has been swept by a holocaust The Golden Horn is a most beautiful sheet of water and derives its name not so much from its resemblance to a golden blade as 1t shimmers in the rays of sunset, as to the fact that into It's bosom have been poured the treas ures of commerce and the golden wealth of the civilized world Here and there it is spanned by floating bridge na ,ta.i, bracelet clasping beautifully rounded arm Into this marine cornucopia empty the sweet waters of Europe and l spent an entire afternoon floating in caique. tiny boat, upon their placid surface.
 There are said to be 30,000 caiques in Constantinople and they are to that city what the gondola is to Venice or the clumsy canal boat to Amesterdam It was Friday, the Mohammedan Sab bath. and for miles the shores of the sweet waters of Europe were lined with the aristocracy and fashion, most of them ladies of the Turkish population. Seats cafes and booths were strung along the banks upon which 1oune need the women, eating, drinking and smok- ing in most charming languor. often a veil was removed and dreamy, sl or ious eye glowed with nltency and splen- dor for the Turkish women will. as do the danes of America sometimes notice strangers. Hawkers were crying cir wares. mandolins were strumming, children were gamholing upon the gra ss and a general gala spirit prevailed. We rowed as far as Eyoub, tranquil sub urb at the extremity of the horn, which possesses one street so sacred that no Christian has ever been permitted to enter it's hallowed precincts, and then we returned to the Galata bridge.
 One of the most desolate localities in the world is a Turkish graveyard, as q Moslem cemetery is always placed in 8 aeypress grove and haunted by polk evans, q weird bird whose mels aneholy cry is said to be that of lost soul or the restless spirit of a griey- ing Turkish woman who has died child Hess. The tomhstones are grotesque in the extreme and often ludicrous They are never straight and being but mere posts resemble in their topping con dition intoxicated human beings. This resemblance to humanity is enhanced by the fact that the post which marks tile grave of a man is surmountod by 1 q carved turhan or fez painted red while those of the women support q | chissled bouquet of flowers. The Turks always bury their dead in great haste for they believe that the spirit actu-