TRIPOLI.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 86, 2 October 1911, Page 4

TRIPOLI.

As for the country itself, Tripoli fa the i<>«t of the oversea dependencies to remam under direct Turkish rule a 8 an mtegraJ part of the once vast Ottoman Empare. Tripoli was originally a Phoenician colony, afterwards falling under the sway of Carthage, and bewnTing dependent upon the fortunes of the latter; later it became the sport of funis, of Sicily, and of Spain, culminating m conquest by Turkey. Its history is chiefly one of piracy. Nearly every State m Europe, at some time or other, was obliged to send its fleets to bombard the capital, or enter into hum ui a ting arrangements to pay tribute. In the early .part, of the nineteenth century the Turkish regency, owing to its piratical practices, twice became invoked in wars wirth the United States of America, who had no little difficulty in obtaining satisfaction; and it was in the IVipolitan civil war, which followed soon after, that .the Turks took the opportunity of reasserting their direct authority over the country, since which time it has been an integral part of the Empire. 'Hie whole population of Tripoli to-day is about one millions, and there exists no sort of native defence force or n<tvy. So-that the only opposition which could arise to an Italian occupation would be from Turkey herself, and, as the Auckland Herald recently showed, is not easy to see in what way sh!> could ever come to grips with Italy, a non-eoterminous country, even if she wished to tight. True tliere is a Turkish garrison of some 10,000 men, but, isolated from the Mother Country by hundreds of miles of sea, it can only afford a slight resistance. If the Turks could reach Italy, they would give the Italians as big a drubbing as the late King llenilik gave them in Abyssinia. For as a. fighting man, the Turk is hard to beat. Tlie Turk has been Eve hundred years in Europe, and he has developed nokind of capacity l>uit that of a fighting man. He is wiry, tough, frugal, sober, capable of enduring privation, amenable to discipline, and, in his own wav, religious enough to observe his fusts and say his prayers and die cheerfnllv, with a good hope that it is well with 'him be yond. By the sword he won his way into Europe, by the sword he retains his position, by the sword he will low it. As the cait said to the fox in the fable, she only kne.w one trick to escn.pe the dogs, but her device of getting mp a tree was worth all Bernard's hundred devices. So it is the Turk's one talent—a calm, business-like readiness to kill or to be killed —which has made him a match ifor mil the cleverer nations tha.t »urm>unded him. Mis capacity in that line is his one talent. Nor lnis he ever let it remain hidden in a napkin. Whether with scimitar or repeating o-ille, this one thing he does, and does it will. So inveterate is his devotion to his solitary art that when there was a revolution to be made, a Parliament to be created, and a Constitution to be proclaimed, it was the army who did it. And if, as some 'fear, the Constitution is abolished and "Parliament dissolved and despotic rule restored, it is the army that will be employed to do the job. As Mr. W. T. Stead declared not long ago, first, last, and all the time, the Turkish Empire is tho back garden of a barracks. Rut, unfortunately for Turkey, there is no present means of talking him from his barracks, except, by hind Turkey is without a navy worthy of the name. Did it possess a decent sized one, Italy would not now bo conducting things in the high-handed and brutal manner in which she is. From this there is another moral to he drawn.

| WAR OX HOUSE FLIES. I I Chicago deserves credit for starting a great, campaign against the domestic house Ily. which lias now extended throughout America. The newspapers give valuable assistance daily by reproducing magnified photographs of the house Ily in the act of wiping its germladen feet on articles of food, and by publishing timely articles showing that the bouse ily is chiefly responsible during the summer for spreading all kinds of disease. Householders everywhere are enrolling themselves in a big unnv for the destruction of the house fly, witi "Swat, the fly!" as its battle cry. To "swat" is an Americanism, meaning assault, endanger, annihilate, and, in accordance with custom, many respectable citizens are now wearing badges inscribed "Swat the Fly." To annihilate the pest entirely seems to be impossible; but much is being done in the way of "swatting," by disseminating information regarding the best methods of prevention and destruction of the house fly. Intelligent public opinion has been excited, and the house fly in America will be duly "swatted." Inspectors declare that many restaurants and kitchens, places which were once buzzing with house flies, are now cleared, and, throughout the country people are working together in the campaign against the common enemy. Most effective work for the extermination of flies can be accomplished during the winter by scientific means, but even small boys in the summer can render valuable assistance, as is proved by the anti-fly crusade which began at Worcester, Massachusetts, on June 22. Over ten barrels of flies were gathered by 232 contestants. The winner, who gets a prize of ,€2O, turned in 95 quarts, or a total of 1,219,000 flies, captured in traps of his own construction, and he claims the world's championship. The entire collection of flies will 'be placed on exhibition at Clark University, Worcester. Other towns have promoted similar competitions with equally good results, and in some placo Iliea are becoming quite extinct. When will New Zealand make a move in thia direction?