The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1920-12-14

maenolias, bays and myrtles; and
profusion Of wild flowers and grasses.
That the delights OF its mild climate
we're discovered early is testified by
the ruins of Greek, byzantine and
Italian architecture which are to be
found among the mosques Of the later
Tatars, the palaces Of the Russian
imperial family and nobility, and the
magnificent modern hotels Of the
pleasure towns to which the prosper.
GUS classes OF Russia hocked before
the World War Yalta, in those care
free days was Russia's Nice, Newport
and Miami rolled into one; its cafe
end casino life was as hectic, gay. and
expensive as that to be found in any
of the worlds pre-war Fairgrounds.
THE Crimea is a peninsula that
barely escaped being an island It
hangs from the mainland Of South
Russia down into the Black Sea, like
a gigantic watch fob shaped like a
founder II is attached by the narrow
ribbon Of the lsthmus OF Perekop, a
strip of land only three.quarters Of
mile vide and only a few feet above
sea level On one side is the Black
Sea and on the other the stagnant.'
shallow, malodorous waters OF the
Swatch or Putrid Sea. lagoon of the
Sea Of Azov. This is the only un-
broken natural land connection he.
tween the mainland and the Crmea
but q few miles to the cast a narrow
mart Of the Putrid Sea has been
27ldeed by ,the railrad which enters
the peninsulase Still farter eastward a
peculiar natural formation. mere
thread.like capseway OF sand known
as the Tongue of Arabat. stretches
Tor more than 80 miles from the main.
hand 70 the base 6f the founders
tall thai forms tue easternnost ex-
tension Of the Crifnea A canal has
been cut through his spit ofsand lear
Is Northern end to connect the
waters Of the Sea Of Azoy and those
Of the Putrid Sea The intrenching
or mining OF tbese, three narrow land
entrances TO the crimea are relative
" simi'a matters from the point Of
view O. military engineering.
"The greatest width of the Crimea
north and south Is 115- miles. and its
greatest length from head to tail is
% miles. u contains about 800
square miles and Is TINS annroximate
W the SIZE of the State of Vermont or
he island Of Sicily. Before the
World War its population was about
100000
Tho Cimmerians, Gets and close
cousins OF the WEIGH. were the FIRST
0eople known to be in possession Of
the Crimea. at the early dawn Of
rGreek history. They were driven ont
! by the Scythans. Coast communi-
ties were established by the Greeks
at later date The Huns oveman
the Crimea when they surged into
EUROPE It was coloniZed by Byzan-
tine, Greeks, Venetians end Genoese
The Ta~tars later took control and set
10 a Mohammedan state under line
II Khans BakshiSarai. Their capital
remains little changed today, a slice
Of Asia in Europe The dominant
feature for the old Tatar city is the
palace OF Khaus. which IN many ways
Is like the Alhambra of Granada
The Crimea was conquered by
Catherine the Great of Russia in III
and remained part of the Russ an
Empire until that political entity's col
lapse in 1915 The bulk Of the popu.
lation remains Tatar though there is
an admixture of both Greek and ltal.
ian blood in the nominally Tatar peo-
pie.
"Sevastopol, on the west coast of