Evening star., 1914-11-08
sERAGL1o POINT. coNsTANTINoPLE

lSh possessions the plight OF 1nndelS,
or Giaours, as all persons not follow
ers of the prophet are known, are at
all times rather precarious. Moslem
towns like Durazzo, the late capital OF
King William of Wied, are nothing
but squalid Moslem towns, and their
inhabitants. like the people who make
up the great majority of the subjects
of the Ottoman government through
out all Turkey. are unenlightened, fa-
natical Mohammedans. who look with
distrust, If not with dislike, upon the
strangers within their gates.'
kk
The term sublime porte,'' by which
the sultan is so frequently alluded to.
is derived from the great gate of
the seraglio Bab-i-Houmayoun. which
stands not far from the famous old
basilica of Justinian ST. Sofia, long a
mosque, originally dedicated by Con-
stantine and his predecessors to holy
wisdom The building near the sublime
porte is the ONCE OF the sul.ans grand
Hlzier and other high dlgnitdrles, and
hence the name stands for the sultan
and the Turkish government itself.
The sublime porte is a modern-look-
ing arch OF some beauty, having the in
scription, in beautiful Arabic letters
Wnlch look like hleroglypn.cs to NE
uninitiated: May Allah ever preserve
strengthen his foundation"
Until recent years-in fact, until the
beginning of the nineteenth century
in the two inches within the gate, one
On either side. the heads of those who
had been executed recently were ex
posed. Horrible war trophies were thus
displayed, great pyramids of CORY heads
being piled up. as ghastly to the sight
London bridge and over Temple Bar.
Until Just few years ago, in Get
tinji the capital of Montenegro, for
merly possession of Turkey, upon one
of the prominent buildings in King
Nicholas home city. horrible row of
heads taken from decapitated Moslems
decorated it's exterior-a sight so
shastly and abhorrent that the brutal
character of the Montenegrtns was
forcibly portrayed-Montenegrin who,
like the Albanians. scrvians and other
peoples so long under the dominion of
Turkey, have proved conclusively by
their own cruelty and tiendishness i'll
the Balkan war. it is reported, that
they are no more civilized, let alone
ChristianiZed than is their old master,
the 'unspeakable Turk" himself.
The Darda nelles is strongly fortified
on both the European and Asiatic sides,
the principal forts being known as Xiii
lid-bahri, the Castle of Europe" or
Lock of the Sea- and Tchanak-ka-
lessi the earthenware castle of a cele-
brated manufacture, or Sultanieh-ka-
~
Tchanak- -kalessi. in English known as
Dardanelles, is situated on a fiat point
Just opposite the great fortress. now
equipped with powerful Kru~- guns.
In fact, two years and more ago Tur-
KEY under the stimulation of German
pressure not only entirely reorganized
and modernized the equipment Of all
her forts, but added powerful guns
capable of commanding large section
of the straits both above and be-
low the town. Besides this, some dis
tance below Dardanelles forty-ton
Krupp gun has been mounted behind
earthworks and smaller armaments are
hidden behind the hills here and there
all the way through the straits. Above
and the fort Of Khilid-bahri. situated
at the foot of a steep hill known to
have fifteen large Krupps. and both
above and below new earthworks COM
pletely equipped have been constructed.
*
The heavy ar,naments along the shore
on both sides. taken in connection with
the swiftness Of the current, which
races through the straits. making navi-
CATION extremely hazardous except for
nayfeators familiar with the channel,
combine to render the Dardanelles al
most invincible to the attacks of for
eign foe.
The pardaneiles, in ancient times
known as the Heiiespont. was crossed.
ysaI g4eat 4sn in & ss4 i. anu Il was the scene
also of the famous exploit of Leander.
who used to swim from Abydos, on the
shore, to visit his fair Hero. 1t is
claimed that Lord Byron emulated the
prowess Of the famous Leander most