The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1915-12-09

residence in which he has suffered
many centuries of most bitter perse
cution, is described in bulletin
Just issued by the National Geog
raphic Society, whose data is basec
upon communication to the society
from Hester Donaldson Jenkins, &
longtime student of Near Eastern
peoples.
Armenia is not easy to bound at
any period of history" the writer
begins, but, roughly, it is the table
land extending from the Caspian sea
nearly to the Mediterranean sea. Its
limits have become utterly fluid, the
waves of conquering Persians and
Byzautines. Arabs and Romans, Rus
slams and Turks have flowed and eb-
bed on its shores until all lines are
ohliterated Armenia now is not a
state. not even a geographic unity
but merely term for the region
where the Armenians live
Tho ancient Kingdom of Arme-
mia. writer mentions, was larger
than Greece and France combined.
with FIVE hundred thousand square
miles OF fertile tableland reaching
from the Black sea and the Caucasus
mountains to Persia and Syria. The
land Is fertile, ri god and beautiful.
including endless acres Of fine graz
ing land and excellent agricultural
soils, which produces grapes, wheat.
Indian corn, barley, oats, cotton.
rice. tobacco and sugar. Resides
these. all the vegetables that we
kno" in America are grown. to-
get'ler with such fruit sorts as
ounces, apricots, ncctarines, peach
es. APPLES, rears and plums. Two
melons in this country are said to be
canels load. Armenias exports
arc silk and cotton. hides and
leather. wine, dried fruits, raisns.
tobacco. drugs ami dyestuffs. In
mineral wealth. too their land is
rich Gold, silver. copper and iron
are present in stores. but the Turk
ish government has never allowed
their exploitation.
armenian civilization is NOT
brief one, dating back to Mayfower
or even Norman Conquest Miss
jenkins says. but one that is al
most contemporaneou with recorded
history; and every Armenian feels
behind him vast antiquity, giving
him Personal dignity and great nat
lonal pride. They begin their his
tory with the Garden of Eden which
they claim was in Armenia. basing
the claim on the naive statement
that the land is beautiful enough to
have included Paradise. Their first
recorded ancestors they find in the
BOOK OF Genesis. Their church diff
fers from the Greek church very lit
tie In creed, but unlike the Greeks
the Armenians are not theologically
inclined and lay little stress on doc
trlne They have always been, how
ever, devotedly trinitarian.
The Armenian church has been
prosecuted not only by Moslem and
Fire Worshipper, but also by Roman
and Greek; yet it is one of the beau
tiful characteristics of this ancient
church that ii never persecutes in
its turn. 1t fellowships with all
churches, holding that Christianity
means brotherhood through Jesus
Christ, and gives no warrant for
oppression or anathema. :
The appearance of this sorely
trled people, the writer continues.
bears remarkable resemblance to
the Hebrew, definitely eastern
swarthy, heavy-haired, black-eyed.
with equiline failures, and summing
up III much more Oriental tyne
than Turk, Slav or Greek. The fates
of these two peoples, also. has much
IN common. Both developed a re-
markable strength Ct nationality |
and wonderful persistence of TYNE
and Z strong cob nSiyeness ont of |
their generations u oppression and
persecution. Both are gifted with |
Keen business instincts. with a tai I
ent for languages. and with unusual |
po" ar Tor concentration. The best .
known Armenian towns are Erxer- /
oum, kharput a lit.le town of L. I
$50 feet above the sea: Bitlis not
far from Van; Van itself. on the
beautiful blue lake of the same
name, loiarhekir, Marash, near state
~ NJ. Tarsus; Tars,is and Dana; in
the same district of Cilicia. and Mar
soran In all of these towns the
population is largely Christian. rart-
~ NuSlem. with enough armed
kuls TO terrify. Over the frontier.
withia Russian Armenia. lie Friyan
aAa Etehm!adzin, and Tiflis. which
Is LARGELY Armenian.
Tn Armenian grievances are
stated by Miss Jenkins as follows.
They may lc divided into two
classes those which arise from the
deliberate policy of the government.
and thnsa which ri. .r,,n L.