The Tabor independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1913-19??, 1917-04-12
AVALA, the walled Aegean sea-
port for Sores. the commercial
center of northeast Macedonia,
= has been prominent In the news

center Of northeast Macedonia,
has been prominent in the news
concerning the fighting In the near
East. This historically interesting
town Of 5000 people is situated on the
mainland across the Bay Of Kavala
from the Island Of Thasos, and Is con-
nected by rail with Saloniki, says a
bulletin of the National Geographic So
ciety.
The ships which frequent Kavala
for cargoes of the finest Turkish to-
bacco In the world approach the docks
from both the east and west, for the
town Is built on a ~promontory which
juts southwark into the bay. The port
is so miles in an airline northeast Of
Saloniki and Is about $50 miles west of
Constantinople. In the summer time
its population is more than doubled by
the influx Of peasants who find en-
ployment in curing and packing the
tobacco for which America and Europe
paid more than $1,000 900 annually be-
fore the war.
Whatever may be It's role in the pres
ent warfare, Kavala's place in modern
history Is secure as the birthplace Of
Mehemet Ali, the remarkable son of an
Albanian farmer whose career as vice
roy of Egypt during the first half Of
the nineteenth century almost precipi-
tated Europe into a war of nations
such as is now being fought on battle
fields throughout the world. The house
in which this witty, willy pasha was
born in 1869 Is in a narrow, crooked
street not far from the Turkish school
which he founded, although he himself
never learned to read or write.
1t was during Mehemet Ais activi-
ties, from 1880 to 1S41, as a rebel vas
sal of the Ottoman sultan, that Rus
STA, Turkey, Prussia, Austria, England
and France were kept on the verge of
war in their determination to prevent
a disturbance Of the 'balance of
power on the continent. During this
perilous period the ambitious pasha,
who has made himself master of Egypt
by a massacre Of the Mamelukes, was
the crux of the Egyptian question, and
his claims to O~verlordship of Syria,
where his son. Ibrahim, was constantly
operating with a well-trained army,
gave rise to international compllca-
tons which for a decade taxed the
diplomatic of Metternich,
Palmerston, Theirs, Ponsonby and Gui-
zot.
Was the Seaport Of PhiIippI.
In Roman days Kavala was known
rs Neapolis, and 1t was here that st.
Paul landed on his way from Samo-
thrace to Phllippi, where there was a
thriving colony of Christians to whom
the Epistle to the Philippians was ad-
dressed. Prior to the beginning of the
Christian era Neapolis was the seaport
of Philippi, whose ruins are to be
found some ten miles from shore, on
the highway from Kavala to Thessaly.
Here the feet of Brutus and Cassius
was at anchor during the famous con-
flct on the fields of Philippi in ~ B.
c., when the assassins of julius Caesar
met defeat at the hands of the legions
commanded by Antony and Octayius.
Philippi was named for Philip ii of
Macedonia. father of Alexander the
Great, and was originally known as
Crenides (~Fountains). 1t owed It's i'm
portance to the proximity Of the hill Of
Dionysius, where Philip had made him.
self master Of valuable gold mines.
Practically all that remains to con
meet ancient Neapolis with modern
Kavala is q Roman aqueduct whose
two-tier arches still convey wafer from
Mt. Pangeus to the town and citadel.
Island Of samos.
Another Greek possession of great
historical interest that has been in
volved in the hostilities because of its
proximity to Turkish territory is the
Island of Samos.
The strait which separates Samos
from the promontory of the mainland
Of Asia Minor known in ancient times
as Mycale is barely a mile wide. The
island, which has an area about one
and one-half times as large as Mar
tha's Vineyard. lies about 40 miles
southwest of Smyrna and has eXcep-
tional natural with its for
est-clad mountains, it's valuable marble
quarries and its extremely fertile val
leys where ~raisins, oil. fruits, corn and
wines are most prOfitably produced.
The cigarettes of the island are shipped
to every country in the world while the
wines are exported to Europe, where
they are used for mixing purposes. The
population of the island is between So
600 and 10000.
Samos was the seat Of one of the
first settlements of the Ionians in the
Mediterranean and from 1t went out
many of the colonies which dotted the
coast of Asia Minor and the neighbor-
ing islands Of the Aegean.
During the second half Of the sixth
century before the Christian era Samos
rose to a place Of dominance in the
Ionian union. thanks to the executive
ability and judicial wisdom Of the IA