The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1922-10-07

abandonment order, every cooper
alton will be offered by the state
fair, executives. 4. $3.50,
Mayors of cities and towns of
the. state. have been invited to is
sue proclamations looking to- a sup
port Of the activities OF the port o.
Charleston. Mr.. garnweH has
been asked by the Fair officials TO
work out "a special program for
Navy Day. or Charleston Day The
main idea, viii be, to exploit to the
world the advantages Of Charleston
asa port and naval point. -
The Martha: Turkeys .'Fffty-fouf-
Forty or Fight"
"The Martha River. the> boun-
dary Of the European territory
which the notorious Turks de-
manded as soon as they drove the
Creeks. from Asia Minor, is, like
the Rhine, between France and
Germany, a, symbol and bone OF
contention among Bulgar, Greek
and Turk says a bulletin Of the
National Geographic Society from
its Washington, D. C., headauar-
ters. ...s. ..
..Each of these three .peoples has
claimed the Martha Valley as be-
longing to- it on ethnic grounds, "
continues the bulletin and such
IS rhe racial mix-up in Thrace and
the portion of AIacedonia which ad-
joins it, that each has at least so:ne-
excuse for its. claim. Thrace-sand
indeed all of Rupaelia Or Runaii, /,
as the. Turks called the portions OF
Europe which, their swords cen- n.
auered-has7 for five. hundred years
been in the anomalous condition OF
being Turkish territory, yet mere
Christian than Mohammedan. and
more alien than Turk: Moreover,
the ,non-T Turks non-M ohammedans
we're more intelligent and more IN
dustrious than the Moslenls, a fact
which has heightened the. non
Turkish aspect Of county in SPITE
Of the burden Of heavy taxation,
prosecutions and massacre: which
the non-TuEks have had placed on
their shoulders.
European Turkey was, Occupied
; s; Terrstory'' q.
More or less unconsciously the
Turks, seem. throughout their te-
nure OF half a millennium IN Eur
rope, to have considered themselves
engaged. in military occr patton. In
the trade and industry of the towns
and cities they. did not and could
not compete with the Greeks and
Jews and Armenians; and in the
agricultural pursuits Of the coun-
try they were equally outclassed
by the Bulgars and Vlachs and the
occasional Greeks who were farm
ers. Many of the Turks confined
their activities to the cities where
they were. rulers or soldiers. Those
who led the. lives Of peasants never
wholly shook OFF their nomadism.
They were less efficient than their
despised Christian neighbors. a fact
which led to, many {, pillaging and
massacreing expedition: for the
Moslenas, however humble their sta
ton, were armed, while the Chris
tians were not.
Eastern Thrace between the
Straits and the. Martha River is of
little value agricuiturally. It is an
unattractive, dreary. monotonous
plain with here and there swa;npy
depressions. Large areas Of the ter-
ritory are untitled and in summer
they give the country the appear
ance of a desert. Furious fighting
with little quarter. ragged over this
region during the Balkan. War Of
1928, as Bulgar and Turkish
arms were alternately successful.
Turkish villages were .destroye l
first. and soon after Bulgarian vii
lagos suffered similar fate. When
the Bulgarians finally controlled the
region many Turks. resigned to
fate, trekked to Asia Minor: and
Under the Greek control of the past
few years that movement has con-
tinued. AS result the Thrace OF
TO-DAY is even more striking'y nom
T,,ele;SI, than in tho naS
AdriaDople First Turk Capital
.son the Martha and in Thraee.
barely % miles. from the present
Bulgarian border. is Adrianople.
second city Of old European Tur-
key. and strong sentimental rea-
son for the. Turks desire once. more
to possess. s1'hrace. Thracian land
was the Hrst< in Europe te fall un-
der Turkish sway: and while Con-
stantinopfe still remained Byzan-
tine Adrianople was the Ottoman
capital From there they crush
ed the Serbians. and finally, in 1853
seized the great city on the straits.
There, though in ruins, is the first
European pasace of the Sultans and
the grave of the first sultan, Murad.
Formerly Adrianople was a
thriving center. of trade with the
far flung regions of Rumili. But as
the European portion Of the Otto
man Empire dwindled, and Bucha-
rest, Athens. Belgrade and Sofia,
released from Turkish. control, grew
from dingy mud villages to bustling
towns. Adrainople lost ground. The
city still contains about $4,000. in
ha bitants. however. with the Greeks
and .RnloarS and JawS and other