Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1877-05-18
"YANKIN WAR;
Fires Ina COnstRntinople-seenes and
Incidents Attending Them. Etc.

wooden houses has been strictly forbid
den; a kind Of FIRE brigade has been or
ganizsd, and the people. manifest their
ill-humor in some other way than that of
incendiarism. Nevertheless a week
scarcely passes without a fire Scarcely
is it discovered from the watoh-tower on
the heights Of Gsndilli, than it is an
nounce by the firing OF five. seven or nine
shots from the battery there established;
at the same time signals indicating its
precise locality are made-by flags du.
ring the day and lanterns during the
night-to the watch towers of Galata and
Of the maskent in Stamboul. Before the
heavy booming Of the Krupp guns has
died away, runners, dressed in red and
carrying a short lance in their hands,
start in all directions 10 announce to the
different ministers Of the Porte, whose
duty it is to attend at every FIRE, and to
the police and military authorities, the
situation of the fire. In former times ii
was also the custom for the Sultans 10
attend on similar occasions, and one Of
the odalisks, dressed also in red, had the
special duty Of announcing TO the Sultan,
If he was in the harems, the outbreak Of
q fire. OF late years this custom has
died out, and only the minister Of var
marine and police are bouud 10 be pres.
ent, the Grand Yizier even OF. our days
dispensing with that fatiguing duty, ex.
cept in cases of great emergency As
0 0 as the runners are passed, the
watchmen appear with their heavy clubs,
which they strike against the pavement,
shouting out at the same at the top OF
their voices the cry of "Yankin war;
adding the name of the locality where it
is raging. A few minutes afterwards tie
"sakas,' or w~ater.carriers, with thar
heavy leather pouches, ere seen running
to the scene Of the confagration; fer
there are no convenient water pipes or
plugs to be opened, and the whole supply
of water consists IN what the ''sakss'
car collect from the n~eighboring wells or
public fountains. The fire engines coon
appear, escorted by the "tulumbadgis,'
or fremen. The engines" are mere
squirts, carried by four men. To each
engine ar0 attached some thirty or forty
"tulumbadgis," with a chief, and a ruI-
ner or crier, who, armed with a short
lance. precedes them and makes way for
them. If the engines are very small
they are very numerous, and 1t is not I'M
common to see in the space Of an hour
forty or fifty, with their escorts of fire.
men, pass through the narrow, high
streets OF Pera. AS to the t%ulumbsdgls,
they are all volunteers, and taken from
the lowest dregs of the Turkish populs-
tion-overgrown shoeblacks, bankrupt
ucifer.matches sellers, livery stable boys
and conductors of donkeys form the great
majority of these active and promising
gentlemen, who receive no pay except a
suit Of clothes at the Bairam, and are
supposed TO live upon the backsjch or
gratuities which they receive from the
people whose property they have saved,
and who in reality live on plumber. 10
consequence Of this system they are most
jealous in their attendance and their de-.
sire to be the first on the spot; and it is a
strange sight TO see these rufians, half
naked, rushing through the streets,
changing the bearers of the engine from
time to time without slackening their
speed, and yelling all the time to make
the people, the dogs and the donkeys get
out Of their way. II TIVE companies Of
these bsrbarians meet By chance, such Ia
their desire to be first on the scene of the
promised plumber, that a sharp race en-
sues between them, and if victory is
doubtful they come TO blows. Tie en-
gines are generally followed by compa-
MES Of soldiers in fatigue dress, carrying
long, hooked poles, which are used for
pulling down the houses, and this is 10
truth, the most effective and easy way Of
mastering a fire, for the houses, being
mostly built Of thin planks, are easily
pulled down, and thus a waste place Is
made round the already burning prop
erty.
At the scene OF the FIRE, the sight ia
much the same as 10 all countries on
those occasions, except that the noise
and confusion are increased by the fact
that the furniture OF the houses OF e
whole street is being removed at the same
time, the inhabitants never waiting for
the conflagratlou to get near them, ss il
run along among the wooden houses
With fearful rapidly. These people and
their furniture, or at least the part Of II
which is not robbed ia the confusion BY
the Avsmen or the carriers, are conduct
ed to some open space, where, under the
guard Of the police, they sit down on
their property and wait with true Turkish
calm and patience TO see what fate will
do At last the FIRE is mastered, or dies
out OF itself, according to the zeal dis
played by the hremen, who, II largely
paid by the proprietors Of the threa'ened
houses, will sometimes do wonders With
their diminutiye engines, or will refuse
to work altogether, and then a new body
of piundarers appear in the shape Of gu
merous fellows armed with spades and
long sticks with iron hooks, who, notwith.
stssding the efforts Ct the POLICE, rush
among the still sm~ouldering cinders il
search Of coins, OF jewelry, or ofiron and
bress fittings, etc. Gradually the einders
cool down, and then the cats appear in
search Of their homes, aud afterwards
the street dogs, who drive them away.
and hasten to secure a nice warm hole
IL the ainders where to lie down, and
these remain at last masters of the ruins,
IS they we're befcye the masters OF the
living streets.
Another suicide Of a young man from
excessive study is announced. The vic
tim Is Alfred Rand, Of Boston, who was
graduated from Harvard College IN 1873,
With high ho3ors' He has recently been