THE MODERN BABYLON.

Franklin Times, Volume 9, Issue 778, 24 October 1922, Page 5

THE MODERN BABYLON.

LIFE IN CONSTANTINOPLE. Lady Kitty Vincent drew a vivacious picture in the London Sunday Times recently of that modern Babylon—Constantinople. “Life/’ she says “is gay enough in Constantinople to satisfy the most ardent devotee of pleasure. , The most brilliant London season is dull compared with the diaily round; of amusement in the Turkish capital. You can hunt, dance, swim and picnic, according toi the’ season and your own wishes, from morning to night. And the violent contrasts add piquancy to the entertainments. Go down the Due de Para, where the shops equal Bond Street, and the scents and powders are not to be surpassed in any town in Europe. Then you ascend the steps of the Pera Palace Hotel the heavy doors swing behind! you, andl you might be in London. The jazz band is playing the latest tunes, the floor is perfect, and young men in British French, Italian and Greek uniforms " guide their partners through the intricacies of the tango. And while one section of Constantinople is dancing and hunting, another is wondering how to live from day to day.. The Russian refugees are an ever present problem. There is a picturesque charm about them which helps- not a little when it comes to appeals for charity. You feel pleasantly fhriilled when you realise that the black haired, almond skinned waitress who pours but your wine at the Muscovite was as likely as not maid of honour to the Tzarina. (The girl with the neat ankles and the red rose in her hair is the daughter of a large landowner, who before the revolution owned an estate of thousands of acres.,, and knew neither the names nor the numbers of his servants. The cabarets in Constantinople! are a meeting place for all the world’s dope purveyors, intelligence agents and! some c?f the best known artists of- the Russian theatrical world. For a few shillings expended upon a cup of coffee you may hear: a tenor who before the revolution was world famous, and chat wiifth Madame X a lady whose work for the Third International is notorioras. Constantinople is a modern Babylon. and the deeper you penetrate into the underworld the more fascinating it becomes.”