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

prepared by the National Geographic So
ciety. Washington, D. c.
An international commission official
ly rules the destinies of 1.-THE Zone
of the Straits" Only since the World
wal has it been a Zone" For CEN
turtles 1t was the heart of ~Turkey-the
Dardanelles, Marmora, the Bosphorus.
Over 1t sat not a 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 and
PelopOnnesian cousins ruled those
same straits. The new commission
does not find it's rule unquestioned.
Descendants of Turk and Creek
Turkish rebels, in open revolt against
the commission, and modern Greeks,
entirely willing to rule in it's stead
over the important waterways Of their
fathers-are fighting 1t out In the Near
East and the Black sea and It's gates
are again a 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 Dardanelles at
the tip Of the Gallipoli 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-lmportant 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 it. 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 mile 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 it's
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 beer
the center Of the world. Probably
about no other lake or sea in the world
OF such a size have s. 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
land OF the little sea. The settlements
that still exist are not even the heirs
of the great cities Of yesterday, but
rather ill-kempt neutrality-suspicious.
that under Turkish domain occupied
their sites.
Colonized by the Greeks.
Colonists from the Greek cities and
Islands pushed up through the Helles-
pOnt and settled on the PrOpontine
shores at the dawn of European his
tory. Byzantium, on the site Of pres
ent-day COnstantinople, was a member
Of the Second Athenian league; and
the Dardanelles. already a Grecian
strait, was the scene Of the battle
which closed the P~eloponnesian wars.
The Marmora really came into its
own In the period following the death
Of Alexander when the kingdom of
Bithynia fiourished on its shores, and
Pontus and Pergamos grew to pros
perity on either side. Cyzicus on the
peninsula Of that name on the south
ern shore Of Marmora was the chief
city. 1t was founded earlier than
Rome or %ByZantium. 1t had a long
life, possessed at various times by
Athens, Sparta, Persia, Macedon, Per
gamos and Rome. II was rated one
Of the splendid ancient cities, and its
gold coins were the standard Of their
day as Florence's forms became in
Renaissance times.
But when B%yzantium, In its incOm-
position by the Bosphorus.