The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1915-01-21
Remote Piece Of Asia.

". .
Remote Piece Of Asia.
Before the revolution OF 1903, Con-
stantinople was a survival OF the fif-
teenth century without electric lights,
telephones, trolley cars, fire brigades,
theaters or woman suffrage. At first
this was because the Ottoman capital
was allowed to remain remote piece
of Asia transplanted into Europe; in
later years, It was 30 because Of the
will OF one mantle ex Sultan Abdul
Hamid IL This sultan, Mr.. Dwight
conf lectures, firmly believed that q dy-
namo had something to do with dyna-
mite, and therefore would have none
Of them.
The Young Turk uprising in 1908
transformed the city, and, according
to Mr.. Dwight. Constantinople has
changed more in the last five years
than in the 200 years before then.
Dynamos hum there now; electric
cars clatter through the streets, tele-
phones are in use; streets have been
paved and wfdened; motor traffic
plies upon them, and there is even
talk OF a subway system for the city.
Yet the tinge Of the Orient still sat
urates its life Constantinople OF to-
day, the writer says, Is neither mod
ern NOR mediaeval; not wholly Asiat-
ic, nor yet wholly European; rather,
1t Is q confusing mixture OF the old
and the new, Of the East and the
West.
The great city. the writer continues,
Is an agglomeration OF villages rather
than an expressive whole. 1T does not
assimilate the people who come to
dwell In 1t, but each tribe and race
lives in section apart, speaking Its
own language, wearing its native
tracts, and adhering strongly to its
native customs. How the stranger
will live In Constantinople is depen-
dent upon the circumstance OF his
nationality. An visitors, however,
must share somewhat In its eastern
atmosphere. In thfs connection, Mr..
Dwight explains: &
Houses Not Numbered.
The stranger shall not be amazed
when he discovers that his street has
no name, and his house no number,
for the real >system ON which the adj
dresses OF Constantinople are organ
lied is that OF quarters. I, for one,
live in such and such village of the
Bosphorus, In the quarter. Of Candle
Goes Not Out. Find that quarter and
someone IN 1t will,be able to find me,
II he feel so disposed.
Practically all the work of the city
Is done by outsiders, and each kind Of
work is done chiefly by men from a
certain country So IT is that the
men who sell ice. cream in the streets
are Albanians. from the region Of
Uskub: that the layers at pavements
are Mohemmadan Albanians OF the
south that the railroad nayvies are
Christian Albanians from the same
region; that bath men are Turks from
Sivas; that street porters are Kurds
or Asis Minor Turks, according to
the kind Of load they carry; that most
boatmen are from the Black sea coast
and so indefinitely" NJ
There Is plenty OF time in the Otto
man capital; in fact, a prodigality OF
this element OF Afe-for the city. re-
Sligiously, regardlessly follows four
calendars Time has no money cur
renry there: It has no relationship at
all, according to Mr.. Dwight, to the
material world, the world Of daily
bread and economic endeavor. The
Turks OF Constantinople prefer to re-
gard 70 o'clock as falling at sunset.