The Challis messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1912-current, 1921-10-12

prepared by the National Geographic So
! ciety. Washington. D. c.
An international commission official
ly rules the destinies of 1.-The Zon'
Of the Straits" Only since the Worlt
war has it been zone" For cen
turtles 1t was the heart of Turkey-th,
Dardanelles, Marlnora, the Bosphorus
Over 1t sat not commission, but sui
tans and caliphs. jealous of the dem
onstrated power Of political Islam
And ages earlier Byzantine Greeks
and before them their Ionian ant
PelopOnneslan cousins ruled thos'
same straits. The new commiss OF
does not find its rule unquestioned
Descendants of Turk and Greek
Turkish rebels, in open revolt against
the commission, and modern Greeks
entirely willing to rule In its stead
over the important waterways of theil
fathers-are fighting 1t out in the Near
East; and the Black sea and it's gates
are again field of world events, while
Russians, ROumanians and Bulgarians
and the great powers of the West look
on, all to be affected whatever the
outcome.
This is historic ground and water
from the mouth Of the Dardalelles at
the tip of the Gallipol peninsula, to
the point nearly 200 miles to the north.
eastward where the narrower Bosphor-
us sucks a mighty stream Of water
from the Black sea. Greek mythology
and legend first made them its theater.
The legionnaires of the Trojan war.
Phryxus and Helle. and Jason and his
fellow goldseekers sailed over their
waters and around their headlands {;
and later Greeks. Romans and Genoese
built great cities on their shores and
established over their waters the
world-important trade routes Of their
days.
Center Of the Old World.
1t Is against the current that flows
from the north that civilization as we
have known 1t has worked it's way.
The first adventure was to enter the
Dardanelles or the Hellespont, as the
Greeks called 1t. This is the longer
OF the two great saltwater rivers that
separate Europe from Asia Minor. 1t
winds its way. with two sharp turns
and numerous gentler curves, for 40
miles before its expands into the Sea
Of Marmora, the Grecian Propontis
The strait varies in width from a lit
tie over three-fourths of a nile to five
miles. On the European side rises the
steep ridge of Gallipoli where the ill.,
fated expedition Of Australians and
New Zealanders suffered so keenly in
the World war. On the Asiatic side
OF the Dardanelles lies the plain of
old Troy and the foot hills of Mount
Ida.
The Sea Of Marmora from which the
HellespOnt leads is about 40 miles
In length and 40 miles wide at its
greatest width, and is thus somewhat
smaller than Lake Ontario, the small
est Of our Great Lakes. But though
relatively small, 1t has In its time been
the center Of the world. Probably /
about no other lake or sea In the world
Of such size have so many important
cities stood. OF these, Constantinople |
alone retains importance today; but |
living and dead cities cover the shores
Of practically every harbor and head |
|and OF the little sea. The settlements
mat still exist are not even the heirs
Of the great cities Of yesterday, but
rather ill-kempt interlopers-squatter
that under Turkish domain occupied
heir sites.
coIonized ~ the Greeks.
Colonists from the Greek cities and
Islands pushed up through the Helles-
pont and settled on the Propontine
'hores at the dawn Of European his
:ory. Byzantium, on the site of pres
midday ConstantinOple, was a member
u the Second Athenian league; and
he Dardanelles. already a Grecian
trait. was the scene of the battle
which closed the Peloponnesian wars.
The MarmOra really came into its
'wn In the period following the death
u Alexander when the kingdom OF
flOurished on its shores. and
'ontus and Pergamos grew to pros
'erity on either side. Cyzicus on the
'eninsula Of that name on the south.
I'm shore Of MarmOra was the chief
ity. 1t was founded earlier than
tome or Byzantium. It had a long
ire. possessed at various times by
Athens, Sparta. Persia. Macedon. Per.
amos and Rome. It was rated one
4 the splendid ancient cities, and its
ola coins were the standard of their
ay as Florence's forms became In
renaissance times. |
but when Byzsntium. In its incom