Norwich bulletin., 1915-03-17
THE WAR PRIMER By National Geographic Society

Sea of Marmora-With the strong est fleet ever assembled for battle re- ported fighting it's way through the Dardanelles toward the Sea of Mar mora, this quiet Turkish sheet of water suddenly has taken on a thrill ing world d-inportance, for it's area may soon witness the last scene of tue mighty struggle of centuries for the preservation of Europe from the mar cotic effects of eastern aggression.
 Nature has been more than generous in ner provisions for guarding this sea between Asia and Europe against hos tile power. The BoSpnorus, it's ap- proach from the Black Sea on the north, is a deep, water filled. twisting valley, whose surface almost all the mountain heights. In the south, the Dardanelles, while of greater breadth than the Bosphorus, form an easily defended channel, 47 miles long, and commanded by it's shore heights.
 Mamora Sea is a wonderful ampIi- theatre for a modern naval struggle. An elliptical bowl of bluest water, it is enclosed by hilly shoreline, which is bold and steep upon the Asiatic side. From east to west, the sea is width is about 50 miles. It has an area of 4.500 square miles.
 Constantinople, the objective of the invading fleets, lies tucked away near the northernmost point of Marmora, at the opening of the Bosphorus out let. In the west and south are several considerable islands, of which the largest, Marmora, has been famous for it's alabaSter and marbles since the days of sculptural and architectural glory.
 The Sea of Marmora is the most fa- nous and important sea of passage in the world. Behind it's water, along the northern shore of the Black Sea, are the most fertile and favored prov inces Of the Russian Empire, Russia S granary; while on the eastern Black Sea coast lies Russia's greatest oil port and her famous oil-bearing hin- terland. This Turk-dominated sea is the most important avenue of Central Asia's raw materials western trans port and of the Vests manufactures for consumption in the Central East"
 Strasshurg CathedraI-Just back of the line of battle in Alsace, within the zone where thoroughgoing destruction is threatened, another of the marvel ous, most worth while works of our civilization stands exposed to the varying chances of battle. This is the beautiful Cathedral of Strassburg, an architectural glory which makes mock of modern satisfaction at the expense of earlier centuries. The enormous old minister, famed wherever joy in the ideal is felt, one of the choicest Goth ic visions ever dreamed by master mason. is a memory of ages when art was more a passion and religion, and less a means for preference and daily bread.
 Strassburg Cathedral Is a Christian epic in stone. Exquisite in propor- ton and detail, it rises, a great pile out of the surrounding city. Its spire vies with the loftiest daring of the New York makers of skyscrapers against a dark background of noun tains, whose heights, with the cathe- dral spire, watch over Upper Alsace. The spire of the minister is a master piece, excellent by no other steeple and equaled by but few. It ends more than 800 feet above the town, and it is wonder-compelling structure of delicate, open stone-work, rich in an endless complexity of forms After finishing the one spire, builders never companion to it.
 Strassburg differs from other Ger man cathedrals in that it possesses a greater width in proportion to its height. It Is one of the most har- monious of Europe's sacred struc- lures. The doors are very beautiful and the rose window, more than forty feet in diameter, is an artistic achievement that wins the admiration of every visitor. The building was begun in 1176 and was completed in extensive restorations have been nec- essary, and their lamentable results give grounds for the most discourag- ing reflections upon the recently an- nounced prediction that Rheims Ca. thedral can be restored"