South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1920-12-12
CRIMEA Is LAND
OF ROMANCE, SONG
AND HISTORY
Ii is Known 10 the Tartars
as the Little Para
disc.

sfinea iu which newspaper dis
patches say Gen. WrangeTs anti
bOishevik forces have met disaster,
IS a land which has aspects known
10 every school child" says a bulle-
Tin issued Uy the National Geogra-
phic society.
1T is the land OF the Cimmerians
about whom Homer sang In the
odyssey and from whom the pen
Ursula takes its name: the land OF
the Erimean war. the siege Of Sc
bast4p0i. and the Charge Of the
Light Brigade; the land in which
Florence Nightingale first caused
efficient. ordered mercy 20 have
part IN war.
The Crimea rs known as The Lii
tie Paradise % the Tatars, last OF
the many races to overrun the PEN
lnsIia before the land fell under the
sway Of the MusCOEite A traveller
journeying from the north is likely
90 accept this appeIiatlOn if at all,
with a strong mental reservation as
he crosses the almost desert-Iike
plains Of northern Cr.mea. but once
over the mountains that rim the
southern shore be VIII approve the
description with enthusiasm. There
Nature has made wonderful gar
den spot the Riviera Cf Russia,
riotous vcrdurc that really We'd with
its famed italian counterpart in the
day when CZ7rhOod was M flower.
Cars Pleasure DomcS.
Though 9 pare OF what has come
70 be- looked upon as cold Russia.
tho southern shore of The Crimca
brought 90 the old empire "A touch
Of the tropics. ON The mountain
- Ope5 and in the sheltered valleys
grow grapes figs. olives and all
tho tender fruits. magnola7 bays,
and myrtles. and a profusiou or
wild flowers and grasses. That the
delights of its mild climate were dis
covered early is testified by the ruins
OF Greek Byzantine and Italian ar
chitecture which are To- be found
among the mosques OF the later Tar
tars. the palaces of the Russian i'm
perial family and nobility. and the
magnificent modern hotels OF The
pleasure towns 20 which the pros
porous classes OF Russia flocked be-
fore the world war. }ait1. In those
care-free days. was Russias Nice.
Newport and Miami rolled into one,
its cafe and casino life was as hcc-
tic. gay and expensive ass that TO
Doe found in any OF the worlds pre-
war Fairgrounds.
THE Crimea is peninsula that
barely escaped being am island. It
hangs from the mainland of South
Russia down into the Black sea, like
"a gigantic watch fob shaped like a
Ioun Ter. Tt is attached by the mar
row ribbon of the Isthmus of Pere-
kop. "a strip OF land only three
quarters of a mile wide and only "a
few feet above sea level on one
side is the Black sea and ON the
other the stagnant shallow, NAL
o1orous waters of the Swatch. or
PuUid sea. a lagoon of the Sea of
Azov. This is the only unbroken
land connection between the main
land and the Crimea. but a few miles
10 the east a narrow part of the Pu-
trid sea has been briGged by the
railroad which enters the pennin-
sula.. Still farther eastward a pc
Culiar natural formation. a mere
thrcad-like causeway of sand known
as the Tongue of Arabat stretches
Tor more than so miles from the
mainland 90 the base of the found
er's tail that forms the casternmOst
extension OF the Crimca. a canal
has been cut through this spit of
Eand near it's northern end 10 con
meet the waters of the Sea Of AZOv
and those % the Putrid sea. The in
trenchinS o. mining of these mar
row land entrances to the Crimea
ure relatively simple matters from
the point OF view OF military engi-
ueering.
The greatest width OF the Crimea
north and south is 115 miles. and its
greatest len9th from head 10 tail
s. 225 miles il contains about 300
square miles, and n thus approx
luately the size OF the state of Yer
mont or the island of Sicily Before
the world war IT'S population was
about 100000
Gives Atmosphere Of Asia.
The Cimmerians. Celts ant close
cousins Of the Welsh. were the first
people known 10 be in possession of
the Crimea. ar the early dawn of
Greek history. They were driven
cut by the Scythians. Coast COM
nunities were established by the
Greek az a later date The Huns
overran the Crimea when they
EurBed into Europe. TX was cOlonized
ly Byzantine Greeks. Veuetlans and
Cenoese. The Tartars later took
control and set up a Mohammedan
state under line Of Khans Bakshi-
Earai, their capital remains little
changed today, a slice Of Asia in Eu-
rope The dominant feature OF the
CID Tartar city is the palace OF
Nhans which in many ways is like
the Alhamhra OF Granada
The Crimea was conquered by
katherine the Great of Russia in
1771 and remained a part of the
russian empire until that political
tutity's collapse IN 1917. The bulk
r. the population remains Tartar.
through there IS an admixture of
both Greek and Italian blood IN the
nominaily Tartar people.
"SevastOpOl, on the west coast Of
The Crimea, was a great military
post IN the days of the old Russian
Regime. and 20 was as well the home
port OF the Russia Black sea fleet.
Prom there. according 10 cherished
inperta dreams. was 10 go forth on
The Russian counterpart OF Der Tag
the forces that would wrest the Bos-
Tnorus and Dardanelles from the
TURK, and place the cross OF ST.
Eeorge over Constantinople and the
Cross Of Christ over Sancta Sophia"
ROOM FOR MORE
Tn so years the percentage OF