The Glasgow courier. [volume] (Glasgow, Mont.) 1913-current, 1921-12-09

rose to power, the glories of Cyzicus
passed away. To-day practically moth
ing Is left of the once great city, fol-
Byzantines and Turks alike used the
OLD buildings in the place Of natural
quarrleS as sources of stone with
which to build the latest metropolis OF
the MarmOra and the BosphOrus.
Nicomedia, now Ismid, at the ex.
IRENE eastern end of the MarmOra,
was another city of world Importance.
Under the Emperor D%iocletian it was
for a brief time the capital Of Rome
II the world. Nicaea, just to the
south Of Nicomedia and a short dis
lance inland, has three times been the
seat OF empire. Twice the Turks, be-
fore they reached Constantinople,
made 1t q capital rivaling to a degree
old Bagdad; and for more than half
the Thirteenth century, between its
peaks Of Turkish brilliance, while the
Franks held COnstantinople, it was the
capital Of the Byzantine empire.
There, too, the Nicene creed, a land
mark In the crystallization Of Chris
tan theology was framed.
Chalcedon, Rodosto, Heracleia Per-
inthOs, SelymOria were other centers,
no mean cities in their day, which have
disappeared or dwindled to i~nsignif-
canoe. Thriving communities in al.
most each case until the Turk ap-
peared on the scene, they have been
since touched with the blight to pros.
perity and progress hat Is said ever
to follow his steps.
6%osphorus Most Important.
Shorter and narrower than the OAR
%danelles, the Bosphorus, third link in
the chain Of historic waters that sep
arates Asia Minor and Europe, is per-
haps most important; 1t is the imme-
diate gate to and from the great Black
sea which reaches toward the heart of
southwest Europe. To dominate 1t Is
to dominate n Of the worlds great
trade routes, a fact which has been
put to good account from the days Of
~pre-Byzantine Greeks to those Of Sell
juk Turks. The strait Is about twen-
tv miles long and varies in width from
1900 feet, OF a third Of a mile to two
miles. Darius chose not the narrows
but a point at which the shores are
more than a half-mile apart as the
site for his famous bridge of boats.
The water in the Bosphorus is over
100 feet deep. A mighty current flows
along the surface from the Black sea
but beneath the surface a return cur
rent of water flows in the reverse d.
rection. A similar inbound current
flows from the Mediterranean to the
Sea Of Marmora, furnishing for the
Black sea at least an answer to the
old query: Why Is the sea salt?
The Seljuk Turks recognized the
strategic Importance of the Bosphorus;
and crossing 1t above COnstantinople
in 1852, built on the European shore
the old "Cut-throat Castle" only seven
miles above the city. With the Bos-
phorus in their control, they captured
the ancient capital the following year.
Until the conclusion of the World
80 ~" WV uuOPtAOh "a AK tACuly VI
Sevres with defeated Turkey, the
Turks had sat for over 500 years as
the masters Of the BOsphorus.
Many Nations Around Black Sea.
At the northern end Of the Bosphor-
us lies the Black sea-a dark, forbid
ding ocean to the landsman and we'll
worthy of Its name. One wonders that
the early Greeks named it Euxinos, |
friendly to strangers" un-
they did so by way Of Offering
a propitiatory complaint to the angry
sea god. Here we are dealing with
small sea comparable in size to
our lakes. but with a great expanse of
750 miles long and from 200 to
400 miles wide, which would cover
Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama and
South Carolina and a considerable
part of Tennessee into the bargain.
Around the Black sea are now
more nations than its waters
nave touched, perhaps, at any other
line in history. Just beyond the mar
'Ow zone Of the straits and the tiny
to which Turkey-in-Europe has
Greece, forging nOrthward,
low has a strip Of the coast. Next
Bulgaria with a shoreline Of
about 100 miles; and beyond 1t lies
occupying the greater part
If the western end of the sea. Across
he north stretches Russia, and In the
asst lie Georgia and Armenia. Stretch
ng along the rocky south shore is
Turkey-in-Asia. Hardly less interest.
ID In the Black sea are inland Austria.
,zecho-Siovakia, Hungary and JugO-
over the Danube.