Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 173, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 July 1915 — SMYRNA, PRIZE IN MANY WARS [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

SMYRNA, PRIZE IN MANY WARS

ALONG with the bombardment of the forts of the Dardanelles there has been going on another attack on Turkey, although the world has heard little ablaut it. A French fleet has been, bombarding Smyrna, with what result the latest dispatches must be examined to discover. Ten times has Smyrna fallen and each time risen from ruins to renewed splendor and prosperity as the foremost city of Asia Minor. By virtue of its commanding situation at the head of a, sheltered 30-mile gulf, the gateway to the interior and a terminal for caravan and railroad routes of Asia Minor, the little city clustered around the base of Mount Pagus has been a gem sought for the crown of each succeeding ruler dominating the Orient from the dawn of history. Today —or rather six months jjgo — it would not be described as an Oriental city, but as a modern metropolis. With a population of 250,000, a little larger than Providence, it has become a commercial center as cosmopolitan as an American city. Cosmopolitan City. More than half of its people are Greeks; the rest are Turks, Jews, Armenians and people from western Europe living in outlying sections, Burnabat and Buja. The English and French colonies have played a large part in its recent commercial history. Smyrna’s export trade, in the neighborhood of $1,500,000 yearly, has been largely with Great Britain. Seven thousand steamships in a year come into the narrow roadstead off the modern quays and take on cargoes of tobacco, figs, raisins, silks, tanning and dyeing materials. Smyrna rugs and carpets, so-called, come from the interior through Smyrna. The imports at Smyrna, cotton and linens and woolens from England and Germany chiefly, average $1,000,000 annually. Two hundred miles southwest of Constantinople, it is one of the logical way stations for traffic through the Mediterranean to the Black sea ports. In all but its government, Smyrna is now a predominantly Christian city.. A new government building and a new railroad are signs of its recent progress. The fine quays are backed by a line of good buildings. The streets are narrow, but well kept and adequate. The city boasts good schools, of which the International college is the best known, and missions of all denominations have headquarters there.

SMYRNA AND ITS HARBOR