CASSABA  , a

town of Asia Minor, in the sanjak of Manisa, 63 m . E. of Smyrna, with which it is connected by rail . Pop. estimated at 23,000, of which two-thirds are Mussulman; but the estimate is probably excessive . It has considerable local trade, and exports the products of the surrounding district . Cotton is the most important article, and there are ginning factories in the town; the silkworm is largely raised and exported; and the " melons of Cassaba " are sent not only to Smyrna but to Constantinople . There are fragments of marbles built into the houses, but the modern town does not seem to occupy any ancient site of importance .