St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1883-01-27
The SuItan,s insanity.

L
most distinguished physician in the
tan Abdul Ham DIS terrible malady
makes rapid progress. AS DIR. Kia i
bian formally announced, respecting HI S
father iu before his tragic death, the
Sultan i suffering from softening of the
brain. Numerous recent occ rrences
90 prove that he is, without doubt, a
very crazy MANS crazy as his father.
who died thinking himself pursued by
cats; or his brother Mourad.
| One of the latest exhibitions of the
Sultan s insanity was the causeless muir
der of an un ortunate tabtnhi0r. The
tohlGktar is one WHO bears on his head
| waiter, on which he carries the yari-
GUS dishes that make up a meal. All
| the officials Of the palace, all the in
| mates, male and female, from the
| Grand Marshal Osman Pasha. down to
the humble bskd 1. or sentinel, rece We
| their food twice day on walters borne
by tablahinrs. The meal is unloaded,
the offic al eats, the obl4hinv gathers up
the remnants and he empty dishes. and
takes them to e kitchen, away off at
the base of the mounta the village
Bechik ash. No cooking IS done in the
pa ace, except for the Sultan himself
Every dag, at variable hour in the
morning and for two hours before sun
set you will see marching toward the
palace a long line men in blue, bear
ing upon their heads the wooden walters
three feet across, containing prenared
food for the palace tunetionaries
and the officials and others oecup sing
the outlying buildings. These men
travel about mile and half; and you
must know that there are iully 1000
persons, civil and military, male and
female to be fed. The t0bl rkiu 5 march
like soldiers, and the food they carry is
kept warm by piece OF cotton cover
ing the waiter. But am not engaged
in a study of manners and customs.
The particular tablatiar of whom I
WI lie not having been paid for his serv-
ices 1t see to be the rule OF the
Empire that the Saltan shall be lodged,
fed and clothe but may let his sub
jects whistle for their remuneration
and wishing to be. rewarded for his
labor, thought to prbft by his acquaint-
anse with an off ial high in position
who servel near the Sultan's person.
He had prepared a mo est petit on tor
be conveNe by this az aintance to hisJ
august de tor, and was about to take
the document from the pocket OF h s.
vest when Alb hi Hand, who stood
near by, drew his revolver. an shot the
poor tabiak7ar dead. The crazy
monarch, haunted by the constant fear
OF assassination, thought that the man
was feeling for a weapon with which to
kill him. The, body OF the murdered
man was removed and stripped. His
clothing was searched. but moth NC was
found in his pockets except the un-
lucky pet ton.
Friday before last the Sultan rode
out to the mos ue of the n edible at
the foot of the mountain, about mile
and a half from the palace. His horse
was somewhat spirited. The Sultan
being but an indifferent horseman, the
officer commanding the escort tn lught
it prudent to take the animal by the
bride so that his Majesty might re-
main safely seated. The Sultan imag-
ined another attempt upon his life.
Calling another of his guard. he ordered
the thoughtful officers arrest, and the
poor fellow is still behind the bars.
Touching the famous denunciation by
Mehemet Pasha, whose first victim was
Fnad Pasha, the youngest an bravest
ofthe arshals of the Empire and Fuad
is still a pr.soner-I must correct an err
ror made in former letter. In it told
you that the second victim was Ahmed
Mouktar Pasha. This is wrong. The
second victim was another \ ehemet
ha ~ sor
He is a General of division and son of
Shamyl, the old Circassian chief. He
has been placed in confinement with
Fuad Pasha and others Everything re-
lating to public a airs and public men.
is kept SO secret here that it is easy to |
make mistakes in regard to names, es-
pecially assso man x pre- minent persons
rthe same name. a
Since the denunciation Of Fuad, Me- |
hemet, and others, the Sultan's delu-
sions have shown no sign Of abatement.
In fact, he is in condition of perma-
nent mania His suspicion falls upon
everybody. The prescription lists con-
tain the most heterogeneous collections
o. names mares of men of doubtful
and. side by side with these,
the names of others honored far and |
wide for their services, who have been
denounced bv this Mehemet Pasha and
by others also. It's no secret thas the
Mehemet denunciation has degeloped
The disease to such an extent that it has
assumed dangerous Importance. The
natural fear OF the monomaniac has
been heightened and intensified by the
eontrad Glory whispers of jealous and
snvious intimates, who have kept up a
constant fire upon him to serve each his
own ends. s'Do not listen to what
tells you.' saws one; there's
nothing in it, ssThere is no moke
without fire, says another, and so on
until finally the Sultan. seeing conspir