Gilpin observer., 1913-07-17

phorus, about seven miles aboove Con
stantinople the Greeks in olden day.
had built towers, one on the Asiatic,
the other on the European shore
These guarded the passage of the
strait. The Greeks had abandoned the
tower on the Asiatic shore and had
permitted It to become a ruin. The
Ottoman, seeing its value. took pos
session of it. and. as the Greeks raised
but feeble objection. they soon pos
sessed themselves of the other tower.
scarcely two thousand feet away.
which they rebuilt and strongly forti-
fed. and this was their first start to-
wards the subjugation of southwestern
Europe. These towers still exist. the
one on the Anatolian shore being
called Anadoll Hissar, named also
the tower OF Oblivion" because pris-
oners confined there were never heard
of more: the other bearing the name
of Roumeli Hissar, or the tower of
the Romans These towers are at
about the very narrowest part OF the
! Bosphorus, OF which Pliny said. You
can hear In one continent the dogs
bark and the birds sing in the other"
You can also hear the OK believing.
the name Bosphorus being derived
] from the Greek name for OK. bous.
Superb scenery. beautiful homes and
many quaint villages cover the entire
distance on both shores from the city
to the Black sea. The Golden Horn.
than which there is probably no more
beautiful harbor in the world. ex-
tends from the Bosphorus to the
Sweet Waters OF Europe. distance of
Ave or six miles.
Once Roman Capital.
Under the name Byzantion city was
built on the site now occupied by
STEAMBOAT. long before the founding of
Rome. and like Rome. 1t was built on
seven hills. When Constantine had
concluded to remove his seat OF en-
pire from Rome to the east, he saw
the beauty and superiority OF this To-
cation over that of Rome. and hence.
in $50 he made Byzantion his capital.
and the capital of the Roman empire.
naming 1t for himself. Constantinople.
1t has been a capital ever since. and
it will likely continue to be capital
for all time. Turk or no Turk. because
II Is the situation for a great capital
city.
Its septicollian feature is a matter
of the diseant past, and it is today n
city OF many hills. which with the in
termediate valleys have been covered
in all directions with buildings of
every description. These are mainly
of wood. OF inferior architecture and
construction. ready for fire at mo-
ments notice, although interspersed
among them are many noble edifices.
The new palace of Dolma- Bagtche, on
the Bosphorus. is at once beautiful
and superb in dimensions. constructed
Of marble, with a front of about 2 500
feet. and said to possess one Of the
most complete interiors of any In Eu.
rope, and here the Padishah OF all the
Ottomans resides. When Abdul the
Damned" was master. 1t was estimet-
ed that there were 400 pianos in It.
each one 'womaned" by one OF his
ladies'. but must confess my only au.
thority for this is newspaper. The
old palace OF Ylldlz. at Seraglio Point.
the immense bazaar. the great bar
racks, the largest In the world. the
mosques OF Santa Sofia, Sultan Sol.
man H.. Sultan Achmet, Yeni Yami.
and hundreds Of others. and tho
Church OF st. Irene. are few of the
great buildings. There are several
great towers, for these have been use
full to the Turk because of his dislike
for bells. which have come into use
again in former Turkey to Europe
only during the past few weeks.
Among these are the old tower of Ga
lata and the tower OF the Janissaries
in Stamboul. which were used as
watch towers From the summit OF
these drums were beaten when n flre
broke out. but the Turks are getting
away from this and other antique Gus
toms and are rapidly assuming all the
novelties and frivolities OF the west