TURKEY: New Railway

A new Swedish locomotive, trim and bright, puffed forth from the Turkish Capital at Angora last week, and drew a salon car in which rode the great Ismet Pasha swiftly along 240 miles of new roadbed, linking Angora with the hinterland of Asiatic Turkey.

Ismet, a man of medium build, hard, clad in a tight uniform bespread with medals, seemed last week to retain unaltered the Prussian severity which he acquired some 20 years ago as a cadet at Potsdam. He is now Premier of the Turkish Republic, after fighting through the World War, repeatedly decorated by Wilhelm II for his often victorious services to the Central Powers. Today his hair is growing white, but his eyes are still a keen, steel grey; and, still deaf, he continues to play the little trick of seeming deafer than he is when that suits his purpose.

As Ismet’s train reached the end of the new line last week, he descended to the platform, stern and imposing, to accept without moving a muscle of his face the homage of some thousands of rural townsmen. They, well-meaning, slaughtered many sheep, and one gangling camel in honor of the new railway and Ismet Pasha. To make the celebration more costly, bright shawls and valuable rugs were dipped in blood from the slaughtered animals, then burned.