Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1914-11-26
ONE OF "SEVEN CHURCHES OF ASIA"
SCENE OF FIRING AT AMERIC CAN SHIP
Smyrna Gets It's Greatest Fame From the Book of the
Revelation; 'The Gateway of the Martyrs
THE AMERICANS IN SMYRNA
(By The Religious Rambler.)

A single mention of the name of a
person or a place in the Bible Is
surer guarantee of immortal fame
than to be the subject of whole Ii
brares of classic literature. With a
brilliant history for three milleniums,
the city of Smyrna, which of late
days has become center of news be-
cause one of it's forts fired upon the
American flag, is better known for
the allusion made to ii in the New
Testament than for all its other dis
tinctions. Even its claim to have been
the birthplace of Homer is known to
relatively few educated persons.
The romance of religion entwines
about Smyrna, called in the days of
the Roman Empire the faithful
city, and still loyal, through count
less vicissitudes to Christianity. 1t
is the second city in the Ottoman En-
pire, having a quarter of million
inhabitants, and the majority of its
people are Christians chiefly mem
bers of the Greek Church. Riots and
outbreaks from religious causes have
always been frequent i'm Smyrna,
down to these latter days.
What the Angel Said to Smyrna
The closing book of the Bible is
the apocalypes, or Revelation TO John
the Divine. This book declares, in
it's prologue, that the revelation which
came by the angel should be ad-
dressed to "the seven churches that
are in Asia" of which Smyrna was
one of the foremost. While criti-
cism is made of the other churches
in the cities of Asia Minor, founded
by the apostles, none is uttered
against Smyrna. The word that
came to the revelator was:
And to the angel of the church in
Smyrna write:
These things saith the first and
the last. who was dead, and lived
thy poverty (but thou art rich), and
the blasphemy of them that say they
are Jews, and they are not, but are
a synagogue of Satan. Fear not the
things which thou art about to suffer;
behold the devil is about to cast
some of you into prison, that ye may
be tried; and ye shall have tribula-
tion ten days. Be thou faithful unto
death, and l will give thee the crown
of life. He that hath an ear, let him
hear what the Spirit saith TO the
churches. He that overcometh shall
not be hurt of the second death"
The words concerning the Grown
of life" are supposed TO be an allu-
sion to the acropolis of Smyrna, which
was for ages crowned" with beauti-
full buildings, celebrated in literature
An Ancient City's Fame
The fame of Smyrna has persisted,
in altered form, throughout the CEN
turies. 1t was often called the most
beautiful city in the world-a title no
longer merited In its harbor all the
navies of the world could anchor.
More than seven thousand steamships
pass through its roadstead every
year.
The Christians have made smyrna
a great commercial center and more
than thousand European and Amer
lean businessmen are numbered
among it's cosmopolitan population.
The principal business thoroughfare
"a narrow highway through which
carriages and caravans of camels
pass with difficulty-is called the
Street of the Franks" or foreigners;
n name which probably goes back
to the time of the occupation OF
Smyrna by the Crusaders. The more
modern buildings, including the con-
sulates, are directly on the waterfront,
on the great Bund.
Every stick of licorice that Amer
lean youngsters chew. and all the
licorice that goes into American
chewing tobacco, medicine and con-
fectionery, comes from Smyrna.
where one of the subsidiary corpora
tions of the American Tobacco Com
pany has it's headquarters.
Smyrna figs are the most cele-
brated exports, although rugs and to-