CONSTANTINE

Evening Post, Volume CXVIII, Issue 36, 11 August 1934, Page 11

CONSTANTINE

LITTLE-KNOWN CITY

FRENCH COLONIAL CAPITAL

(Written for "The Post" by F. W.

Furkert.)

Reference to serious fatal rioting between Jews and. Moslems in Couatantinc i prompts me to write a few lines which may be of interest to "Post" readers. The city Constantino is the capital of a division of tho French Colonial Kmpiro of North Africa. 7rom tho west we have Morocco, ; Algeria, Constantiiie, and Tunis. When I went to schqpJ Algeria and Tunis were adjacent, but for bettef government tho Trench Government in recent years carved off a part of each ami constituted the province of Constantino. I cannot give the date of this increase in 'the family of colonies, but when intending to visit Northern Africa in 1926 I obtained tw t o French maps, one of which did not show tho province of Constantino, and the other, obviously new, did. .. The city is about half tho sizo of Wellington and is very picturesquely situated at a height of 2130 feet on a . high limestone bluff admirably disposed for defence in ancient warfare. Its former name was Cirta, but on the rise to power of the Byzantine Empire it was renamed when rebuilt after having been destroyed at the beginning of tho fourth century. It has had a wild and varied' history, being the capital of Numidia before the rise of Carthago or the advent of Boninn influence in Mauretania. It figured prominently in the Punic wars, Syphax taking the side of Carthage and sharing her downfall, but not her utter destruction. It stood out against tho Vandals, when in 428 A.D. they overran the Roman colonies in Africa, but changed hands more than once in various ; phases of interneeino strife. It is said to have held out onco for eight years until starved into submission. In the eighth century*, tho coutinont-wido Moslem wave of conquest submerged it. Just about 1800 years ago. it was in the immediate sphero of influence of the revered Saint Augustine, then a Bishop of tho early Christian Church. A MIXTTORE OF PEOPLES. In spite oi: the successive waves of ;conquest which have swept .over it there is still a fair proportion .of the original .Numidian stock, now called Kabyles, but these are overlaid and intermingled with Koman, Carthaginean, Byzantine, Jewish (these two being probably closely connected at the original migrations), Vandal and Arabic ' strains, with an ago-long infiltration of Berbers and other desert dwellers from tho south. With such a heterodox population it is not hard'to imagine reasons for racial strife. Tho city's general appearance is wild, romantic, and. rugged, with the stupendefus and awe-inspiring Gorge dv Ehumel running through it. This is a gorge cut in tho limestone and which iv Koman times formed its most effective defeuco on three sides.1 Now it spreads across tho gorge and its railway station and "now town" arc joined to the old citadel by a massive French viaduct of stono arches, the height and width of which alono would render it remarkable; but in order to mako tho most economical use of the remarkable topography of tho twofold canyon it'spans, tho individual spans are of different length, the piers of varying shapes and heights; thero are three grades, and tho alignment contains-twy. curves and a connecting straight,, truly !i weird structure. • At another point the stream disappears under a natural bridge or grotto, the top of which is perhaps half .the height of the cliffs: On this the Romans built a viaduct'of two or three storeys of arches some.what liko tho famous Pont dv Gard in southern France.. Tho Vandals destroyed the upper tiers of arches with the road. The Moslems, unable or top lazy'to restore it made use of the lower level arches by means of very steep ramps at the ends, dropping down 50 feet and rising again; for over a thousand yearsl Tho Froneh have built a steel bridge over the top at plateau level, so that there arc now-at one spot four bridges, Nature's, Koman, Arabic, and modern. ' . ROMAN HOT BATHS. In the depths ol! the canyon are hot springs which tho Romans controlled and dead into extensive baths. These are still in use. I was unable to sco how the Eomans obtained access, though squaro holes, in the rock on each side showed that the baths were covered by a gorgo spanning roof, and other holes vaguely suggest ladders. Now tho French lmvo cut and built steps (there siro said to bo 3000 of thorn) and causeways, mostly bracketed out on steel from overhanging cliffs, whereby tho gorge can be traversed and descended, and tho tourist is able, if clear-headed enough, to reach and eujoy the baths which St. and Seipio Africarius used, and where even the redoubtable Hannibal himself may: have whiled away the time as his train of elephants slowly '.round its wny along the route towards that astounding crossing of .the Alps and the attack on the heart of Rome itself. And after hanging like a ily t6 a wall and descending 200 feet'in suffocating heat ho docs enjoy it. When we! visited these baths a young American honeymoon couple carried- away a Roman brick which the husband said ho would build into the living-room fire- i place of the homo they intended to build "way back in old Missouri," so Hint ever after they could see the signmanual of the old Roman emperor, dead and turned to clay somo 1800 years; ago. These old Roman colonists did themselves well with hot mineral swimming baths, central heating, fountains ' in. their: gardens, and beautiful statuary. .In at loast one instanco tho marble pillars to adorn an entrance! (perhaps of the Government buildings be the day) were brought across the Mediterranean from Spain; and Cirfft was fifty miles inland, and uphill all i.he way.

TRACKLESS TROLLEY CARS!

But to me the most surprising sight was trackless trolley cars in tho streets, in 1920, and as wo arrived over fhe Anres Mountains from the Sahara Desort, tho shock was tho greater. The cats were Jiko the small buses which run to Roseueath from 1-lataitai and there was no trolley pole, but a small wheeled earriago ran on top of the trolley wires and from it tangled an insulated wire which could bo plugged in to the top of the cars: tho whole outfit looked a. bit ragged; but was evident) ]y popular with the' natives. I shuddered to think what would happen if tho little trolley fell off tho wires in a crowded street. We liad tho experience of being locked in tho cemetery into which wo had strolled just before dusk, and had to climb the fence, thus negativing the old saying that "those inside can't get out aud those outside don't want to got in, so why havo a fence round a cemeteryI?''

Tlio Kasba or citadel contains parts, still in use, of Roman construction. The Arab houses have no pretentious to architectural, stylo or beauty but are painted gaily in pink, sky blue, or ivhitfi, so that the gen oral effect under Africa's* brilliant sunshine is pleasing. Tho niofleri: French buildings while substantial and pleasing, :v:o in no way distinctive. Tho Hotel Cirtu with its: liiuHi stornya ovyrhangiiig the gorge, might, have been in Genoa or Tlfraenmbe, except, for the gigantic, hall porter in scnriet Arab dress. Tho rug

and bone merchants in tho public market grounds have tho weirdest collections of, to our eyes, useless articles imaginable; for instance, one buggy wheol, damaged, part of a bedstead, iron and rusty, a tin bath with hole complete, tangled wire, and so on. My diary says: "The Arab quarter lookod as if tho houses had been thrown in anyhow, and the roofs poured over them. Tho roofs all tiles (not. regular ones liko ours, but all sizes and colours and mis-shapes), sloping at every imaginable angle. The streets arc often stepped and four to six feet wide." Generally quite an interesting old placo is Constantino.