Norwich bulletin., 1922-09-16
ROADS, STORES AND PEOPLE OF ASIA MINOR.

intellectual propaganda on the thres- l hold of Asia! Avili, seaport to the | north, frequently mentioned in recent l dispatches, has been called the 'Ori- | entai Boston Here the passion for 1 HeIlas 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. ssWhen Greece revolted in 1921; and
 America was stirred by DanieI Web
 ster's famous oration on the Greek cause, Asia Minor Greeks felt the fury of Turkish Inassacres Avili was rAzed land Smyrna devasted but the Greeks l survived. The sea coast area of Asia Minor which was assigned to Greek I administration and which the Turks ! have now captured, was carved from the old Turkish vilayets of Brusa and
 Aidin.
 "In these two divisions the Greek I population is estimated to have nearly doubled within the past 25 years, un- I til it now approaches a million.
 "One element in this expansion has been the Greek aptitude for trade in
 contrast to the Turks ingrow dis
 taste of commerce A striking aspect
 of many town in Western Asia Mi nor is the single shop, with merchan-
 
 I American village country store, and lsvariabIy 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 coas- tai plains, but the plateau which forms the interior of the peninsula Is | II .I1 o4 ,~fr Pause a moment and examine the , stock of one of these stores-either
 the lone emporium of a villege, 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 elim- mated door steps as one of those mi
 nor obstacles which may be just en- ough to divert customer to an ad-
 jacent competitor. Your Greek mer-
 chant of Asia Minor has done away n with the front of his store; his stock : of goods constitutes his display. He
 sits cross-legged at the entrance, mak- e ing his inevitable cigarette. His mer- e chandise comprises coffee, tubs of ol- e ives. tobacco, blankets, garlic, bread : sweetmeats, dried beef, salt, cheest > and sugar.
 | One other absence, beside Turkisi Il merchants. is conspicuous in Asia MI ' nor-that is the women. Where Chris : tian mingies with Moslem he mus : adopt the latter policy of feminine SC U clusion. Upon entering a Greek hom 7 one may look upon the faces of 1t d women folk, but the casual travele '- meets only men on the highways an encounters only men at the Khans r or inns. and should he observe a fc , male form in the distance her fac l will be covered before he can distin ls guish her features mems club i 7 Anatolia would have all the popular Il ity of a riding and hunt club on
 Texas cattle ranch.
 Travel is eongested on many ! Turkish road which seems extremel
 remote to Western eyes. Accustome
 as is the American to automobile y dotted highways he would marvel 8 the traffic jams of heavily laden cam N. el caravans in the interior of Anatolis o4 Then there are the slow moving bul 1e lock carts, carriers of enormous bur or dens.
 $. Even the Turk has reason fc to his likes and dislikes; and his oppo s' sition to Western innovations not al T. ways is based on religious prejudice III or sheer inertia. It was these bulloc 'n carts which aroused the opposition { lg macadem roads-an improyemer al which seemed to Sorilg Amerd cai le salesmen so obviously useful that th or Turk would not oppose 1t.
 Tt soon was found that the round ed iron tires of one-ton bullock car oK made a macadam road look like a col ne rugated roof Whereupon officials ol al dered bullock carts using the ne ut roads equipped with wide, flat tire nd which made necessary new wheels ". considerable expense to the farme as Tha co,,n+rv-sida farnoar rehaIlad ay We den,on5ad +be restoratio, of lie s+o, In roads with their magnified cobb We stone surfaces, and once more "; SD credited with pure cussedness' m' newspaper readers at occidental breal we fast tables"
 ne