Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1922-11-03

prepared by the National Geographic So
ciety, Washington. d. CO.
Smyrna, captured by the Turks and
partly burned, is one of the patri-
archs among the worlds famous
cities. Some American cities are
proud of their age, feeling that few
centuries entities them to distinction.
In contrast to the newest oil town of
Texas or Oklahoma where cornstalks
are probably still to be found along
Main street, Bostop's 290-odd years
indeed justify a feeling of maturity,
while the four and q quarter centu-
ries that look down on Santo Domingo
entitle that first community to be
established in the. New World to Its
pride of seniority.
But both of them are in the heyday
of youth when compared with Lon
don, which probably has existed for
close to nineteen hundred years, or
Rome with 26 centuries behind 1t. 1t
however. that one finds cities that are
truly old. Many like Babylon and
Thebes. Nineveh and Memphis, have
crumbled away ages ago, but here
and there one comes upon a living
community whose beginnings are lost
in the haze beyond the point where
history began.
Such a gray-beard among cities Is
Smyrna, which is believed to have
been already long in existence at the
time Of the destruction of Troy, eleven
centuries before Christ. In fact
Smyrna is set up by some persons as
rival for Damascus as the oldest
city in the world.
The original builders at Smyrna
chose their site more happily perhaps
! than they knew. The forces Of ma
ture have been kind TO the locality.
Mretus and Ephesus were formidable
rivals for many centuries, but their
rivers finally choked their harbors
with silt and the cities died Smyrna
had no stream of any consequence,
and its excellent harbor-the best in
Asia Minor-has continued to bear its
heavy burden of commerce through
the ages.
OFeSCcnt SiLy OF tnc East
Smyrna has a population close to
that of New Orleans, and like the
latter it is Crescent City" extend
ing ia a semicircle about its bay. But
while the American Crescent City is
wholly fiat, Smyrna has its rim Of
hills which under the magic Of Medi-
terranean skies and sunsets invest the
city with beauty which detailed in
speetion does not verify. Its terraced
outskirts are picturesque, but they
lack the striking quality Of the ter
races of Algiers, Hong Kong and Val
paraiso.
Like a number of other cities of
the Near East, Smyrna is a Babel.
Even under the old Turkish empire
its population was composed of almost
as many Greeks as Turks---a fact
which Is not strange when 1t is re
membered that Smyrna first reached
cityhood under Greek influence and
remained Greek for many centuries
successfully under Ionians, Macedo-
mans. Seleucids and Byzantines. The
city was wholly Greek for more than
millennium; 1t was nominally Turk
ish for five hundred years, until the
treaty Of Seyres was written.
Besides Greeks and Turks, there
have been in the population large
numbers of Armenians and Jews and
lesser groups Of almost every Other
Nationality under heaven. Quite 9
number Of Europeans have been liv
ing In the city, and there was a clear
and fairly attractive European quar-
ter with its modicum of hotels ant
tbeaters.
In some ways the Turkish quartel
has more the flavor Of old Turke,
than present-day Constantinople. II
the latter the dropping Of wells b.
the women Is marked; but In Smyr
} mas streets the yelled figures from thu
harem still Git by In all their oil
mys4eriousne5s. k
! Anao. 4 Noted for Temples and Goats
A city founded by Midas of TIL
touch If gold; overrun two centurie
before Christ by Remembering cous
ms OF the Irishman Of today; q grea
: and wealthy community under Rom
and Byzantium; and in spite Of 1t
checkered history and its past glory
known to recent generations in tn
West only because Of long-haire'
goat