New Britain herald., 1923-11-02
STORIES ABOUND ON
 THE ORONTES RIVER
Ancient Tales of Mysterious Stream Told Even to This Day

Washington, Nov. 2.-"The Orontes
 river, in northern Syria, which citi. zens of Mecca claim as the northern
 boundary of the Island of the Arabs the native name for Arabia, has all ways played an important role in the theater of Asia where East meets West" says a bulletin from the Wash ington headquarters of the National Geographic Society.
 "Juvenal. the great Roman satirist, uttered what may seem like a geo. graphic untruth when he said that the waters of the Orontes overfowed into the Tiber.' but many historians have claimed that the river was an important factor in bringing about the downfall of the Roman Empire. Along this path made by nature be- tween the Mediterranean and the lands to the east the superstitions and corruption of Asia came to Rome, brought home by the Roman legions, and Greek art and civilization. to- gether with Roman law, flowed to the rising sun.
 An Early Earthquake Theory.
 Tt has been said that the river derived it's name from a man who built a bridge over 1t. After one of the great earthquakes in Roman times had changed the course of the river, the oracle declared that the bones of a man of colossal size found in the old river bed were those of Orontes, and on the ancient coins of Antioch, the most famous city which ever existed along it's banks, the river is personified as youth swimming at the feet of the female figure repre- senting the city. The old name of the river was Typhon after that ter rible mythological dragon buried un- der tho mountains around Antioch whose frequent writhings and twist ings were believed to be tho cause of the numerous earthquakes along the riNcr valley.
 9Th giant under the earth still turns and losses and mutters and makes the earth tremble in the vicin- ity of Antioch. It is one of the few non-, olcanic regions of tho earth in which earthquakes occur.
 According to the Syrians the orontes also is reopled by water spirits, which are believed to be the authors of fertility. When tho water which has been diverted into irriga- tion ditches. again Is allowed to flow across the river bed. childless syrian women wade out into the channel l hoping for the embrace of tho water | spirit in the oncoming rush of the 1 stream.
 sieanders Through steppcs.
 Rising down in the great springs | Of the inter-Lebanon district, near the ancient ety of Raaibek, the great l river flows northward almost parallel | 10 the Mediterranean coast. failing i 2,eoo feet through rocky gorge. The | great depression through which Inc | river flows. tra,ersins Syria from the i Taurus mountains 10 tho Sinai desert. hss few outstanding physical features. It is made ID mostly of broad pia. teans Of steppe land, rock and debris. 1 Tho river widcns out nt Hsmnh into q rich district containing the sites of the ancient towns Of Apamoa and Iarissa. At Jisr-al-lIadid, tho river turns westward around the great plain Of Antioch.
 Though in the main tho river is its valley has for ages been Il convenient highway for traffic from north 10 south. Roads fsom the north and northeast, from Danias- GUS and Coele-syria converge at an- tioch, and along tho depression and across tho Sinai peninsula have passed armies bound to and from Egypt for Of generations. Today tho