The Raymer enterprise., 1921-09-29
~cu.,nroa, Castle" ssia by mohammed ii.

"Cutthroat Castle 81
prepared BY tn. National Geographic 80
cisty. Washington, d c.
An Information commission official
ly rules the destines Of the Zone
Of the Straits" Only since the World
war has 1t been II zone" For cen
turies II was the heart Of Turkey-t'le
DardaneIles, Marmora. the Bosphorus.
Over 1t sat not q commission, but sui
tans and caliphs, jealous pf the dem.
onstrated power Of political Islam.
And ages earlier Byzantine Greeks,
and before them their Ionian aud
PelOponnesian cousins ruled those
same straits. The new comn!ss on
does not find It's rule unquestionet.
descendants Of Turh and Greek
Turkish rebels, In open revolt again
the commission, and modern Greeks.
entirely willing TO rule Ia its stead
over the important waterways Of their
fathers-are fighting II out In the Near
East: and the Black sea aud It's gates
are again q field OF world events, while
Russians. RoumaniaIs and Bulgar.ans,
and the great powers OF the West look
On. all to be affected whatever the
outcome.
This Is historic ground and wiA r,
kOm the mouth OF the DardaLelles al
the tip of the Gallipoli peninsula, 10
the point nearly 200 niles to the north.
eastward where the narrower BoSphor.
us sucks mighty stream OF water
from the Black sea Greek mythology
aud legend first made them It's theater.
The iegi0nnalres Of the Trojan whr,
Phryxus and Helle and Jason and his
fellow goldseekers sailed over theii
waters and around their headlands;
and later Greeks, Romans aud Gen0ess
built great cities on their shores and
established over their waters ths
world.important trade routes Of their
days
Center Of the Old World.
1t Is against the current shat flows
from the north that civilization as we
have known II has worked It's way.
The first adventure Was to enter the
DardaLe.les or tie HellespOni, as the
Greeks called II. This Is the longer
Of the two great saltwater rivers that
separate Europe from Asia Minor. II
winds Its way. with two sharp turns
and numerous g.ntler curves, for 10
miles before Its expands into the Sea
Of Marmora, the Grecian PrOponts
The strait varies In wid,h from lit.
tie over three-fourtbs of mile TO five
miles. On the European side rises the
steep ridge Of Gallipoli where the III
fatcd expedition Of Australians and
New Zealanders suffered so keenly In
the World war. On the Asiatic side
pf the Dardanelles lies the plain IT
Did Troy and the foot hills of Mount
ida
The Sea of Marmors from which tie
Hellespont leads is about 40 miles
W length and 40 miles wide at its
greatest width, and is thus somewhat
smaller than Lake Ontario, the small.
.st of our Great Lakes. But though
relatively small. 1t has In lis time Lern
The center Of the world. Probably
about no other lake or sea In the world
u such size have So many important
cities stood. OF these, Constantinuplc
alone retains importance today; hut
living and dead cities cover the shores
Of practically every harhor and head.
land Of the little sea. The settlements
that sill exist are not even the hers
Of tlie great cities Of yesterday, but
rather ill.kempt sguattcrs
tim under Turkish domain occupied
their sites.
colonized by the Greeks.
Colonists from the Greek cities and
Islands pushed up through the lielleS-
pont and settled on the PropontlCe
shores at de dawn of European his
tory. Byzantlum. on the site OF pres.
en- day Cons.antlnOple, was menier
Of the Second AtheDian league; aud
he Dar,lanel!es, already Grecian
strait, was the scene Of the battle
which closed the Peloponnesian wars. |
The Mnrmora really came into lis
avn In the period following the death |
Of Alexander when the klnglom Of !
Bithyna flourished on It's shores, nnd |
Pontns and Pergamos grew TO pros.
perlty on either side, Cyzlcus on the
peninsula Of that name on the south.
ern shore Of Marmora was the chief |
city. II was founded earlier ihnn
Rome or ByzantIum, II had long
life, possessed at various times by |
Athens, Sparta, Persia, Macedon, Per.
samos 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 Ia
Renaissance times.
But when Byzantium. in Its inc0n-
n