National Geographic : 1918 Jul
THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE Photograph by Helen E. Jacoby NATIVE STREET TYPES IN SMYRNA With the exception of Damascus, Smyrna is the largest city in Turkish Asia. This, the 'chief seaport of Anatolia, has a population of more than 200,000, of which fully one-half are Greeks, 60,000 are Turks, 20,000 Jews, 12,0oo Armenians, and 15,000 Europeans and Levan tines. In November, 1914, diplomatic relations between the United States and Turkey were strained for a time, when a Smyrna shore battery fired on a launch from the U. S. S. Ten nessee, which had been dispatched to European waters to assist American tourists in return ing home. Turkey's explanation was that the shots were fired not with hostile intent, but to warn the launch that the harbor was mined. within the past four centuries, those whose names would be in history's "Who's Who," only 12 have been Turks; all the others were either of Greek or Armenian origin. Taking the country as a whole, the per- centage of illiteracy is between 80 and 90. The government educational program is very comprehensive, but exists largely on paper. The Turk is able to dream great dreams, but amazingly unable to bring those visions to reality.