Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1882-12-28
People n OOus.autinOvls


The lower orders proper live veFy
much Ike their brethren In Christiar
countries. Both men and women work.
The wife helps her lord and master in
the daily toll, washes. cleans. aud keeps
the house In order; she has neither time
nor opportunity for frivolous amuse.
ments. consequently she Is more re.
spected both by husband and children,
and knows not the heart-sickness and
WEAKNESS Of the harem. But even herr
women do not eat with the men. and
never stir outside their domicile un.
veiled.
There is no middle class among the
Turks. There are the rich Tor easy)
and the poor. These two orders are
constantly changing places. The rich
man Of to-day may be the poor one oi
tomorrow. You will know him by his
shabby, greasy coat and unbrushed
shoes. He will make no effort to keep
up an appearance. You may see him
buy some simple fare and eat IL in the
street on his way to business or home.
He has lost his place. He is poor. He
is neglected. Meeting him thus you
might suppose him shoe-mender, or q
low class coffee-house keeper, yet he
has only just missed being Pasha, and
a few months more will probably rein
state him in the position he has lost.
The men and women of the country
arc naturally all on par. There is no
genius, no talent, no eminence Of virtue
among them (or il there be, it is BAN
ished rs soon as it dares lift its head).
One man is as good as another. A fair
address, a smattering of French. and
good luck" are all that are wanted to
make nobody First Minister; but the
same fortune grown tickle may hurl
him from his post, and he sinks lower
than what we understand by the ''poor-
est gentleman"
One fact battles European would-be
reformers. We are always meeting with
surprises. There is nothing solid any.
where. There is no public spirit, no
landed interest, no trade interest, no
personal authority-nothing to grapple
with. Everything slips through your
fingers. The laws exist, but are not en-.
forced. 1t is nobody's business to en-.
force them; property is yours to-day,
mine tomorrow, and q week hence il
may be Mahmoud's, or Safnet's, or All
meds. The one thing permanent among
us is the watchful jealousy of the various
nationalities. 1t is the different Consuls
that keep order here, not the Turks.
and were it not for this protection Eu.
ropeans could not live in Turkey.
The Turks are indifferent tradesmen.
Nearly all the shops in Galata, and tile
whole of those in Pera, are kept'by Eu.
ropeans. The Greeks are the CHIEF
traders, though smart business is done
by the Levantines. The most fashion.
able shops are French, but there are
few first-rate English and American
ones. A large class of Turks hawk
their wares in the street. They are fol
the most part fine, stalwart, civil-spoken
men. They shoulder enormous baskets
containing cheeses, creams, fruits, veg.
etables, and many other comestibles,
and furnish more than half the alimen.
tation of the city. The habits of these
men are very simple; they live chiefly
upon bread and fruit; but they also
know the secret of the pot au feu, and
often have seen knot of them after
their days work, grouped under shed,
or on a green spot of earth, mixing the
''savory mess"-you will perhaps be
shocked to hear the pot contains vege-
tables (of onions large share) stewed
in oil! A somewhat strong tasted NUT
ton called Karamani is the favorite food
of the Turkish upper classes. Pilaff Is
also an everyday dish, wherin Euro
peans also delight. The chief fault OF
the Turkish cooking is the enormous
quantity of grease and fat consumed,
and the excessive sweetness of many oi
the dishes. = Temple Bar.