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Show . y LI 0 1 lu I j Italian Warships Open I ! Fire on the Turkish j Seaport ajH . I, Beirut, Syria. Fob. 2i. Italian war- ; f ships bombarded this city today, but M, ' tho firing only was brief. ' Tho Amor- p lean Protestant college, whose found- 1 1 ep and president Is Lho Rev. Dr. Dan- ft iol BHsb, Is bafo. The extent of tho - damage Jb not yet known. I Nono of tho American Institutions i hero suffered any Injury from the i f c. explosion of the 6hellH. I j Panic Prevails. I ' London, Feb. 24. Three Italian ) warships arc bombarding Beirut, the l ' principal seaport of the Turkish prov- j i Inco of Syria, on the Mediterranean, S !; ' according to a special dispatch re- r : , celved here this mornings A panic t f prevails among tho Inhabitants of the , ' city, tho raaporlty of whom aro Chrls- S ; tians. Sf - The reported bombardment of Bel- !jS&" rut by the Italians Is the first sign l ; of Italian naval activity In the Modl- f terranean for a long period, and ap- jgjjt I pears to be part of the new plan of jt campaign recently announced, gftri The city has only a small Turkish 2H garrison of five hundred Infantry, 250 mu ;: cavalry and detachments of artillery fl : and engineers It Is not strongly for- Bn-' tlfled" aiK01 In Beirut thoro Is a largo foreign population, most of whom aro Chris- i tlans and there are ?.S churches of 3L1 vnrious Christian denominations. ij ; The American Presbyterian mission vjj? . has been active In Beirut for nearly 5J" . a century. It possesses a church, a r& j Sunday school, a girls' school and a JfH:f printing office, where It publishes a. &, weekly newspaper and a monthly S5$ magazine. Spread over the province JIftt.arv abont J50 other -sch6olB-connect- jMS; o' with American missions with ,, manv thousands of pupils. Three rBjp married missionaries with their wives, 3E j one bachelor missionary and five wo- 5J?fi:. men missionaries, am engaged lu the afif work of the society in S3 rla. Tho H Seventh Day Adventlst missionary Wm board has four missionaries in the JH country', while belonging to the Syrian 3 Protestant college In the city of Bei- R rut, -an Institution generally known Sl' as tho American college, there aro l 750 students under the Instruction of IMj? fifty professors, thirty of whom aro 4i American citizens. |