Perth Amboy evening news., 1922-09-27
Geographic News
Bulletins by the
National Geographic Society
THE NEAR EAST

LIE MEAN L<tol
People and their daily life in Asia
Minor, that historic bridge-land be-
tween Asia and Europe, which
again focuses world interest since
the Turkish army has taken Smyr-
ma, are described in the following
bulletin from the National Geogra-
phic Society's Washington, D.. c.,
headquarters:
The modern history of Asia
Minor began when the Seljuks in
vaded it, only a few years after
William the Conqueror set foot on
English soil. A pronouncement CT
Mohammed saved the Greeks from
either displacement or forcibie con-
version. The true believers paid no
taxes. Hence the Greeks Of Asia
Minor were as much of an econ-
omic asset to the Turks as were the
slaves to our own Southland before
the Civil War.
Tax Payable i'm Children
THE conflict of Greek and Turk
of 1922 also has its roots in a prac-
tice which would be even more re-
voting to the twentieth century
than slavery-that is that tribute
children were demanded of the
subject race to fight in the army of
Islam. BY drafting children If
Christians the famous janizaries
were formed and these picked
troops, under Mohammedan train
ing, were mighty in battle and eff
Gent in peace time as police.
1.-THE contribution of Classic
Greece to world culture is univer-
sally recognized; but the renasence
Of Greek cities and towns during
the eighteenth century is not so
generally realized. Smyrna, now in
the hands of Turks. had a famous
school with a great library, and
the city itself was called a 'verita-
BILE home of civilization and intel
lectual propaganda on the threshold
of Asia Avili, a seaport to the
north, frequently mentioned in re-
cent dispatches, has been called the
Oriental Boston, Here the passion
for Hellas once induced the city
council to enact a law compelling
citizens to speak in Attic Greek,
and imposing as a penalty recitation
of Homeric lines for talking any
other way.
Area of Greek Administration
when Greece revolted in 1921,
and America was stirred by Daniel
Webster's famous Grafton on the
Greek cause, Asia Minor Greeks felt
the fury of Turkish massacres
Avili was RACED and Smyrna devas-
tated but the Greeks survived. The
sea coast area of Asia Minor which
was assigned to Greek administra-
ton and which the Turks have now
captured, was carved from the old
Turkish vilayets of Brusa and Adm.
TN these two divisions the Greek
population is estimated to have
nearly doubled within the past
uTnntu-fNn &c ,nti1 ~
proaches a million.
"One element in this expansion
has been the Greek aptitude for
trade in contrast to the Turks in
grown distaste of commerce. A
striking aspect of many a town IN
Western Asia Minor is the single
shop, with merchandise as conglom-
crate as an old-time American viii
lage, country store, and var bly,
this shop is kept by a Greek. Greek
peasants settled in many fertile
valleys, and all over the land they
have erected schools. In Smyrna
itself more than half the population
is Greek. and in lessening numbers
the Greeks have penetrated the
coastal plains. but the plateau which
forms the interior of the peninsula
is the stronghold of the Turk.
The Corner Grocery OF Turkey
Pause a moment and examine
the stock of one of these stores
either the lone emporium of a viii
lage. or a lonesome shop set by the
roadside to catch the passing crowd.
Your up-to-the-minute American
merchant who aspires to quick
turnover has eliminated door,
steps as one of those minor obsta-
cles which may be just enough to
divert a customer to an adjacent
competitor. Your Greek merchant
of Asia Minor has done away with
the front of his store; his stock of
gooeA constitutes his display. He
sits cross-legged at the entrance,
smoking his inevitable cigarette.
His merchandise comprises coffee,
tubs of olives, tobacco, blankets,
garlic. bread, sweetmeats, dried
beef. salt, cheese and sugar.
One other absence, beside Turk
ish merchants. is conspicuous in
Asia Minor-that is the ome
Where Christian mingles with Mos
lem he must adopt the latter's
policy of feminine seclusion. Upon
entering a Greek home one may
look upon the faces of it's
folk, but the casual traveller meets
only men on, the highways and en-
counters only men at the khanS, Or
inns. and should he observe a fe-'
male form in the distance her face
will be covered before he can dis
tinguish her features. A mems club
In Anatolia would have all the pop
ularity Of a riding and hunt club on
a Texas cattle ranch.
A Good Roads Idea Went Wrong
Travel is congested on many a
Turkish road which seems extreme
ly remote to Western eyes. Accus-
toned as is the American to auto
mobile-dotted highways he would
marvel at the traffic jams of heavi-