Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1921-09-03

IF the so-culled 'Angora govern
mcnt' of the Turkish NutionaliSiS has
left Angora and shifted It's capital to
Sivas. as dispatches state following
the defeat of It's armies by the Greeks
IN Asia Minor. II has truly moved in
TO the Turkish back country. says
bulletin from the Washington. ID. C..
HEADQUARTERS of the National Gee
graphic society. In fact II might al
most be- said To have moved from the
Twentieth century into the Thirteenth.
Angora Is the rail head of the only
steel highway that pcnetrntcS north
ern Asia Minor Ecyond this outpost
OF the age of machinery the country is
wholly dependent for transportation
on the camel and other beasts of bur
den. operating over roads that are far
from good SlvaS lies more than 100
miles south of the Black sea.
The city exists. however. in IA region
that reached very high state of de
Vrlopmcnt long before the smoke OF
putting locomotives ever darkcned an
Asian landscape. and il Is no mean
city. as cities 20 in its part of the
world. II Is credited with a population
Of 6JHO. aud is therefore of about
the size of Little Rock. Ark. and Sac
ramento. Cal, cities with which ii has
the further point in common that II
Is the capital of state or Vilayet.
May Be Turkish Ruhr.
''Sivns is situated on high plateau
which is bleak and even frgid In
winter when the blasts from the
steppes of central Asia swirl around
and over the Caucasus and give the
region climate comparable 10 the
snow-swcpt plains of Russia. But II
Is by no means waste country. The
grain Of the plateaus of the vilayet
of Sivas and the fruits from It's valleys
help to feed the less favored sections OF
Turkcy. II is rich In copper, iron, coal
and other valuable minerals. and II
an Industrial Turkey ever rises Sivas
may he It's SileSia or its Ruhr.
when Rome was the ruling power
in the world SivaS (then Sebastia)
was one Of its chief border cities
Armenian kings ruled II for while
and under the Byzantines II was the
second most important city In Asia
Minor. being surpassed only by Caesar
IN 10 the southwest
IF In union station for came
caravans in the Ragdad Of Mammal
Rashid's day there was the counter
part of the train-cricr of today. Sivas
must have been often on his lips. for
II lies In strategic position between
Bagdad and points west A few
wears later IL became the metropolis
of the Seljuk Turks empire in Asia
before they moved westward and cap
tured Constantinople.
when Marco Polo visited the city
n the Thirteenth century Il was one
II the show places Of the Near Eas'
and had population of about lVb
mo. At that time the city was noted
for It's fine rugs and carpets. hut nov
that industry has passed farther west
One Of Most Heartiess Acts In History.
when the SeljukS had the seat Of
tnpiT eHlI'lTf III SNHS 'iflT "I'hit''
iural arts nnurishcd The colleges
which they built there in IN" Thir-
teenih century are among the finest
remains OF Moslcm art 10 he found In
Asia Minor
"Perhaps the most despicablc act
If cruelty ever perpetrated on
sacked city. even in a part Of III"
world wher" cruel tyrantS have been
numerous. was inflicted on SivaS In
400 by The notorious Timur the Lame.
He caused thousand children to be-
tramplcd To death under the hoofs Of
his war horses. and followed this mon
SrrouS proceeding by hnving 1000 Of
the defeated Armenian defenders of
the city buried alive. Since II went
through that narrowing experience the