The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1881-12-22
Praying WOrkmen OF ConstantInople.

In the bazars of Stamboul the work
men and sslesmen (there are no women
employed in these bazars-Turkish opin-
Ion will not permit it) are Of the male
sex only. Eunuchs are not infrequent,
and are easily recognized at glance
from other black men, but are, never
other than harem servants or managers
of the household. AS one loiters through
these bazars some queer things are seen.
The bazars, properly SO called, are mar
row streets of shops, covered from rain
by arched roofs, and continuous for
miles one with another, 80 that without
umbrella for sunshine or rain) one can
go through them protected. The floors
are damp stones or packed olay-they are
dark and one goes mp and down steps
from one to another so that progression
is unpleasant. The personal solicitation
of the statesmen is something painful
and very annoying-untn one learns, as
he soon does, to pay not the slightest at
tentlon to any one, but to look around
him, apparently Indifferent and unob-
servant of the remarks and exhibitions
of goods-while inwardly you feel a
yearning desire to knock over some i'm
pudent man who takes you for q fool.
While you pass along looking at some
workman making something in the skill
full yet clumsy way they work, with tools
unlike, often, anything you evor saw
using feet as if they were hands and
making complex furniture, veneered
beautifully with the simplest Of tools, ESQ
few AS to make the work seem Incredibly
10 the worker will turn about with
his back to the door ard crowd-seem
to read his Koran--and lose himself in
prayer Or walk off, leaving his pur-
chaser at the door, and enter the nearest
mosque and say his prayers. Gnfernally
aggravating when you have about CON
! cluded desirable purchase y In the
mosques one sees them enter, after wash
ing their feet, pray reverently and alb
sorbedly towards Mecca, (the altar of the
mosque is always placed so that praying
towards it is praying towards Mecca,
and reverently depart, putting on their
shoes again at the door as they go out
L several times felt O strong inward
temptation, when at the door of some pop-
ular mosque, to gather up the queer col
lection of worshippers' shoes and fly with
them to start q museum with
On the boats, at sunset, the Moslem,,
teem in the midst of the crowd, utterly
oblivious apparently, Of surroundings,
| bow to the earth repeatedly, seemingly
| UoOSAie SAo UO"ohAU "CSItb, uuO ULlE6G
times touching the earth with the fore
| head. D."
| The bazar workmen are, however, by
no means always Turkish, or even No
hammedan. They are of every race
many Jews, some Americans and Eng
lish, who have crept in. The fruit-sell
ers of the city are mostly. ArmeL ian
The strong-muscled porters (herculear
many OF them) whom one sees every,
where in the streets carrying loads that
q tender-hearted man would not force his
horse to pull, are many of them Wal
lachian, Servian, Bulgarian or Roume
liam. The merchants and artificers, as q
class intelligent-looking and pleasant
CONFERENCE.-The Greek. This. is q
place of conglomerate nationality--the
Turk ruling-the middle class largely
Greek-the under classes Macedonian,
etc, with mixtures in each class. The
Circassain always either soldier, or, Il
woman, q bought wife in the harem (pro
nounced hG reem,) the negro, (of MI
shades of color) Persian, Indian, Egyp
tian, European, American Ga few, ETC.
are commingled, and very picturesque
crowd is the visible result. Constanti
Taopte Letter in Kokonao Tribune.