The Clio messenger. (Clio, Mich.) 1907-current, 1916-12-22

- las chief seaport, was the log
- zeal place for the landing Of
Russian troops and supplies
bound for the Hungarian and Bulgar-
an frontiers, it has been smitten by
he iron fist Of war, and since its swift
capture by the Teutons has endured
the hard fate of being repeatedly bonn
oarded by its friends.
Before the war this thriving little
city of 27,000 inhabitants handled
practically all the surplus wheat raised
oy the ROumanian peasants which did
aot find its way up the Danube to the
great flour mills of Budapest, says a
bulletin of the National Geographic
society.
Until hostilities began in 1914, Con-
stanza was also the transfer point for
he extensive passenger service from
london, Paris, Brussels, Berlin, Wen
IN and Budapest to ConstantinOple
and the near East. Here express
| steamers connected with the de luxe
rains from the west, making the run
% the Sublime Porte overnight.
Millions of dollars have been spent
IN the harbor and docks of Constanza
since the town became Roumanian
possession by the treaty of Berlin,
which transferred the Dobrudja prov
nee to this country. The principal
improvements were begun in 1896.
On Site of Ancient City.
Constanza, or Kustendje, with it's
wide, clean streets, its numerous
mosques, synagogues and church, oc-
cupies the site of the ancient Toni,
Tomis or Tones, the metropolis of the
Euxine. The remains of many col
INNS and fragments of statuary testify
20 the Importance and the wealth of
he city in those days. In the fourth
century Constantine the Great changed
the name of the port to Constantiana,
n honor of his sister. During the
! reign of Theodosius it experienced an
era of great prosperity as the metropo-
is of Pontus, but after it passed under
he control of the Bulgars and later
IF the Turks its decline was rapid.
In the Russo-Turkish war of 1912 it
was bombarded by the Russians, and
II years later surrendered to the same
power without blow in it's defense.
Probably the most noteworthy event
n the history of ancient Toni was its
designation by the Emperor Augustus
as the place of exile of the great Latin
poet, Publius OviHus Naso, Familiarity
known as Ovid. The poets offense
was the publication of "Ars Amatoria,"
which enjoys the questionable distinc-
ton, according to no less an authority
than the oxford scholar, George Sid
ney Owen, of being perhaps the most
immoral work ever written by man
of genius. Augustus had become pc
culiarly sensitive about such literature
because he had been forced to Danish
and disnherit his own daughter, the
brilliant and beautiful Julia, on ac-
count of her scandalous intrigue with
the son of Mark Antony. This dis
grace was followed by second scan
ial in the imperial family-the notori-
Gus behavior of the younger Julia, the
emperor's granddaughter. AS Socra-
ties was charged with having corrupted
the youth of Athens, so Ovid was
deemed by Augustus as ut least in part
responsible for the corruption Of youth
full society in Rome. Therefore he was
ordered to leave the capital and take
up his residence at Toni, where he
remained for the last eight years of
his life, bitterly complaining of his
fate in a series of letters, compiled as
the five books of the "Tristia."
Turnu SEVERN a Busy Town.
Turnu SEVERN was the first town In
Roumania to receive baptism of
iron after bostlities were declared
between that country and Austria-Hun-
garia. 1t is an 11-mile voyage down
the Danube from the international
boundary line at Verciorova to point
opposite Turnu SEVERN. This busy
Roumanian town of 5000 inhabitants,
pleasantly situated on high ground and
partly hidden from the river by trees,
has important shipyards and repair
shops for the Danube Steamship Navi-
cation company, and is center for
trade in petroleum, cereals and pre-
served meats. 1t is supposed to derive
its name from the ruins of an old
tower in the vicinity which is said to
have been built in commemoration of
one of the victories Of the Roman en-
peror, Severus.
1t was at Turnu SEVERN that King
Charles I, who died only few weeks