Evening star., 1926-08-15
I'D. C.. WOMAN TO REPORT RISE
OF NEW AND DIFFERENT TURKEY
Miss Priscilla Ring Sails
as Associated Press
Correspondent.
Has Great Admiration for
Turk Whom She
Knows So We'll.

A former Washington school teacher
is to he the foremost observer for the
American people in the cradle or
! Western hiStory--C ConSta ntinople.
Miss Priscilla Ring. daughter OF
Commodore and Mrs. James A. King.
Hammond Courts. sailed yesterday to
become the correspondent of the AS
sociated Press in Turkey, where "A
new nation is being erected on the
ruins of ancient tradition
In Turkey some of the most star
, Ting news events of the next few
years can be expected. They will be
reported by woman not only thor
oughly conversant with Turkish ira
dition and character. but with a keen
appreciation of the philosophy of
history.
Miss Ring has been in Turkey three
years. For two years she was a
teacher in the American College TOR
Women in constantinople and for one
year a special correspondent for the
| Associated Press. in which capacity
she produced articles which appeared
in hundreds Of American newspapers
and attracted much favorable com
ment
Student Of Turk Mint.
1t is as student of Turkish char
acter that Miss Ring especially quail
ties for her new post. She has studied
the. somewhat elusive Turkish view
point on International relations ana
on life itself. This study has given
her a deep sympathy for Turkish
manners and thorough confidence III
the eventual success of the present
experiment-the fashioning of a re-
public out of the oldest of autocracies.
Turkey has been widely miSunder.
stood in the West, Miss Ring said be-
fore sailing. She found that Amerl-
cans who never had been in personal
contact with the Turk had some Diff
Guilty in understanding those who
praised the residents of the old Otto
! man empire as models of honesty,
courtesy and democracy.
Those who come to know the
| Turk" she said, always are favor
ably impressed. Unfortunately. our
| estimate is too often formed from
events of the past few years-the
massacre of minoritieS. for instance.
We forget that these minor1tleS nave
lived side by side with the Turks Tor
hundreds of years without the slight
est trace of hostility. We forget that
such affairs were entirely political
and by no means represented the
people themselves suffered from these
atrocities as much as the minoritles,
Is a Natural Pacifist.
The Turk is naturally rather pa
cific He doesn't want trouble and
will endure a lot before making trou-
BILE. He is fearless and absolutely
obedient to orders and he makes one
of the finest soldiers in the world.
But he doesn't fight because he wants
to fight. He has been taught in the
past that the Sultan is Gods shadow
and has done exactly what he was
told to do because of this teaching.
Much of the Turkish character is
bound up very Intimately with the
Moslem ~religion-particularl the in
| terpretation placed upon it by the
priests. The present government. ac-
cused by some of being atheiStic, ac-
tually only is trying to get the people
back to the fundamentals of Moham-
mechanism and away from some OF the
fOrmality NY estimation is that the
Younger Turks are entirely reVerent,
but they are not so bound by custom
as their fathers.
Take, for instance, the failure of
the Turk in material progress: it does
not indicate any shortcoming In buSi-
ness or administrative ability. 1t
means only that he has been tauSht
to be content with what he has. A
man inherits his own patch OF land.
He makes a living from 1t. lie would
regard it as defiance of God if he tried
to increase his holdings, thus show
| ing dissatisfaction with the course
| the Lord had laid out for him. He
| lives in a beautiful. fruitful land He
| wants only complete peace in his pos
| sessions.
Turk Fundamental Democrat.
The Turk is probably the most
| fundamental democrat in the world.
| His hospitality is remarkable. There
| are no class distinctions. | have seen
a poor old peasant woman, who hap
| pened to drop around about meal
| time, eating with the family OF rich
| officeholder 1t was the natural thing.
| She had dropped i'll for n meal. 1t
| would have been very far from their
| thoughts to have sent her to the