The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1876-05-25
A ROYAL. sPESDTHRIFT.

Fabulsus Bxfrava sance In the saItan's
Pslnees-Twelve Hundred. wives IN
!. sixteen 1Haresns-The Service of Zen I
thousand Persons Daily at HIS as Tom M
Z mand. ~ -
! Al, 7(Frem the New York Mercury,l ST |
Few Americans have any conception
of the fabulous extravaganza OF tne
daily life of the Sultanof Turkey.aIhere'E
is nothing to, equal the Golden Horn
anywhere in the. world. The Sultan
has defaulted on his debts, ard ~he is
generally considered TO be in serious |
political trouble Yet, in spite OF alll
his difficulties, his enormous establish
ment is kept up undiIninished, and ms !
faithful Mussnlnaus contribute On sef7zf
fully to support the successor OF the
Prophet in style of life SO gorgeous rs
to s1rpass themost boundless inagina-
ton. The Grand Turk keeps in his pay
not less than three hundred and MY
cooks to prepare Che meals Tor hln1seii
and his court; he has four hundred and
twenty coachmen, jockeys and stable
boys, and his many gardens and parks
are looked after by twoB hundred and
twenty-five watehmen, guards and gar
deners, not counting the detail OF two
or three regiments Of Soldiers every day
for duty ut the palaces and the .parks.il
There are one hundred and ten door,
keepers, and three hundred and forty
Awaiters for the various buildings 'tor
his private, amusement Itheb Sultan has
an orchestra of four hundred musicians,
a ballet corps of four hundred dancers,
and z three hundred soperatie ind
dramatic actors. Three "a thousand
people are required Tor the
personal service, of the Sultan. itels
well known that the Mohammedan re-
.ligion not only authorizes, but directs,
the Grand Turk to be a polygamist on
the most extended scale. Hence Abdul
Aziz maintains in all sixteen different
harems, in which he supports more than
twelve hundred women, who are divided
into three classes egularwives, recog-
nized favorites, and candidates for pro-
motion to the, higher ranks. Each of
the wives has retinue of twelve ladies
of honor, the favorites are similarly at
tended by six ladies, and the candidates
have two each, but every one of these,
ladies of honor has from two to ten
female slaves to wait upon her. Be-
sides these there are other harenls, one
known as that of the Kadin-Effendis,
being the mothers of the Sultan's IN
FAINT sons and daughters, and the hafenf
of the Sultanas, being the grown-up
princesses, daughters OF the Grand
Turk, who each have a retinue OF TWEEN
ty servants For the private entertain
ment of all these women the Sultan
nf ~ a
dancers, an orchestra OF; female mu-,
sicians, while for the more mental of
fees of the household tive hundred fe
male slaves and four hundred cham,
bermaids are engaged In the Selam-
leik, the palace where all the official
receptions are held, his Majesty em-
ploys two thousand five hundred of.
ficials. Attending on his person are
twenty-five adjutants, seven chamber
lains, six Secretaries, and one hundred
and fifty secretaries of lesser grades,
who are sub-divided into groups, each
of whom has special functions, one
taking care of his wardrobe, another of
his coffee, another of his tobacco,
another cleans the smoking pipes,
and still < another must. always
be ready to " light ms
pipe. A very high official is the. Ber7
ber-Bashaw,. whose sole duty is to at
tend to the Sultan's beard. This Of-
fetal is generally more influential at
SQUIRT than the Grand Vizier or Prime
Minister himself. Rushzi-Bashaw is
the superintendent of the kitchen, and
at each meal of the Sultan this official
stands by his side and tastes from every.
dish as it is brought in, and what lie
does not approve the Sultan will not
eat Kulhamii-Bashaw is the head of
the stove-brigade, about eighty men,
who make all the fires in the palace,
and Damadii-Bashaw commands a COM
pany of 120 men, who have nothing else
to do than to dust the furniture and
beat the carpets. For himself and his
haremS the Sultan keeps fifty ply
sicians, surgeons and apOthecaries, and
thirty-five more of the lower rank for
the servants of the palace. The chief
occupation of these consists in aprepar-
ing cosmetics and perfumery for the
women. In addition there are fifty
Kawassis and one hundred Batadjis,
consisting of sort of private messenger
service to carry: communications be-
tween the Sultan and the harems. Be-
sides, as a special guard, there Is a
corps of black eunuchs, about two hum
dred strong, who act as watches over
every entrance to the harems, and their
chief has the peculiar title of "Head
Guard of the Gates of Happiness.ns In
all, the Grand Turk feeds daily over
10000 persons in his palaces, which is
a larger retinue than all. the other
crowned heads of Europe maintain to-
gether. ~ e FE q hs4T'