SALONIKA.

Pelorus Guardian and Miners' Advocate., Volume 29, Issue 48, 22 June 1917, Page 2

SALONIKA.

TURirioH IMPROVEMENTS THAT HAVE ASSISTED THE ALLIES. Rising high above the waters of )the Aegean, with its white stone houses and minerals interspersed between avenues of cypresses and mulberry trees, Salonika has played no mean part in the world’s history. Time and again it has been the scene of wars which have shaken civilisation to the core. It was there that Xerxes assembled hia army and navy before his descent upon Athens. At a later date the city was seized by the Athenians at the outbreak of the Pelopennesian War, and several conCiets afterwards occurred iu the historic bay. Unt it was in Roman tin-.*a that iSaloaiks firat attained its reputation »e a place of atrotagic importance. In thoac days it constituted the chief military station between Rome and the East, th* Egnatia, running through i«>< ce*'-r----of the town. In 1472 Sultan Amruth IT. made his triumphal entry into Salonika, and for more than 400 year-i ic was one of the chief cities In the Ottoman dominions. Everywhere signs of Turkish influence exist to-day. In fact, to all outward appearances Salonika remains » Turkish city. The'ancient Moslem citadel is still found in the Heptapyrgion, high above the modern town, and it is there that narrow, winding streets, and frail wooden houses plastered with mud remain. The Turkish stronghold has withstood the onslaughts of time. The vicissitudes of war and peace have loft it intact. Even at the time of the great fire of 1897,.when over 2,000 houses were destroyed in Salonika alone, this district escaped unscathed. Salonika was the most advanced of all Turkish cities. As the second port in European Turkey tte ment spent huge sums on effecting* improvements. Electric trams were seen in Salonika long before they made their appearance in Constantinople, and it was there that the Oom-. raittee of Union and Progress, the central organisation of the Young Turk Party, first established its headquarters. In 1901 the Ottoman Government ' prepared elaborate schemes for increasing the prosperity and for strengthening the defence of the city. A new harbour was built, and two large breakwaters carried out into the sea for a distance of nearly a mile. Six years later the harbour was again enlarged, but the latter improvements were barely completed when the city fell into Greek hands. To-day, by the irony of fate, these increased harbourage facilities, upon which the Turks spent so many millions, are materially assisting the j naval and military operations of the j Allied Powers.

Ab is characteristic of bo many . Turkish cities, Salonika appears at its best when approached from the sea. The dazzling whiteness of the city, contrasted with the deep azure of the eastern sky, and the equally blue waters of the Aegean, render it of unassailable beauty. The city rises between two great ravines, and the lower portion, which is essentially modern, is made up of straight and spacious thoroughfares, many of which are paved with lava stone. Even here primitive ox waggons, with wheels rudely hewn out of tree trunks, remind one of former Turkish suzerainty. The driver retains his lik and abort embroidered white coat. At ‘>£ cl-we of Balkan wars many of the riler Moslem inhabitants left the city, but the poorer classes were forced to remain. The intermingling of races is nowhere more apparent than at Salonika. Almost every nationality is represented. and tne jargon of tongues ia one of the characteristic features of the place. In the market squares Macedonian girls, with silken handkerchiefs tied carelessly over their jet-black hair, offer the most delicate of flowers for sale. Near by groups of muleteers and porters stand idling beside a coffee booth. Complex though the question of nationality may be, each race contains its own distinctive dress. The Albanian refugee is faithful to his native costume. He is a, picturesque figure, with his white cap and long coat, girdled with a red sash, which sheaths a long dagger-like knife. But even more remarkable is the Jewish colony. With their flowing beards and black robes they are conspicuous in every part of the town. Their womenfolk adorn themselves with headdresses of emerald green, and present a striking contrast to their more simply-dressed Greek sisters. The Jewish community, which is now about 160,000, and is a ruling factor in the life of the etty, is descended from a number of Sephardic Jews, who fled from Spain and Portugal to escape religious persecution at the time of the sixteenth century. To this day they speak a corrupt form of Spanish, which is known locally as Ladino. The bazaars of Salonika, roughly paved with cobbles, and roofed with heavy green glass, are even more attractive than those of Constantinople. The Jews, with their inherent mastery of all matters relating to commerce, have long since wrested the trade from the other inhabitants of the city. They are the leading figures in the bazaars, from which the Greeks would have been boosted altogether but for ' the fact that they control the money-changing business. Until recently Salonika contained many remains which dated from the time when it was the ancient Thessalonica of Homan times. Two triumphal arches which originally spanned the via Bgnatia at the entrance to the Vardar and Calameran Gates wore demolished some years, ago by order of the Turkish Government. The inscription from one of these arches, however, is now safely housed [ a the British Museum. But in con-

verting the cathedral of St. Sophia into a mosque the Turks have succeeded in preserving at least one remnant of Roman occupation intact. Like its namesake in Constantinople, this church was built by ..Justinian. It is cased with slabs of white marble, and is in the design of a Greek cross. The interior is richly adorned with coloured marbles and mosaics.* Though Salonika has been the centre of many former wars, the strategical importance of the city has never been greater than at the present time. The ever-increasing menace of Greece and the other Balkan States previous to the recent wars with Turkey caused the Ottoman Government to make Salonika a base from which it could direct an attack if necessity arose. The reconstructure of the harbour was but one stage in an elaborate scheme of defensive preparations. Salonika is, the termini of four- railway systems, which dominate the whole of the t»«ninsular. The strategic line running between Salonika and Constantinople was built by the Ottoman Government a few years ago, so that it might be able to concentrate troops on the Greek frontier within the shortest notice. Similar lines also exist between Salonika, Nish, Uskub, and Monastir.—‘‘Weekly Telegraph.”