The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1885-12-31
THE PAsTINIE OF A SULTAN.

THE PASIlME OF A SULTAN.
Sadyck-Pasha relates the following.
from the private live of Abdul Azys, late
emperor of Turkey:
He was accustomed to remain in his
poultry-yard for whole hours, feeding
the fowl from his own hands, admirine
and caressing his favorites. Not seldom,
through his eunuchs, did he call the fair
inhabitants of the harem, that they, too,
might participate in his favorite sport.
Sometimes he ordered his wives and
odalisques to catch some of the birds
which he himself pointed out. The run
ming and jumping of the women greatly
amused the sultan, and those who dis
tinguished themselves by their skill and
agility, received rich presents.
Besides this. in the basins and ponds of
the various palaces and kiosks were as
sembled large fiocks of tame waterfowl;
but the sultan was especially fond of
fighting cocks. to which he gave the
names of emperors, kings, statesmen.
and other important persons. Among
| these cocks were Franz-Josef, Garibaldi,
| Bismarck, Napoleon, the Gar Alex
ander, Emperor William, Fuad Pasha,
| Ali-PaSha, and so on.
The number of cocks constantly in
creased. 1t became customary for every
| dignitary sent to the provinces on some
state affair to present to the sultan, on
his return, either beasts or birds.
Once certain Boitor, a veterinary, in
| the rank of sub-colonel, Mechmet-
Enendi, sent to Asia Minor, brought
back an uncommonly large and bel
| ligerent rooster, and presented him to
the palace steward, asking him to give
his name to the fowl. The bird was
| brought to the palace at a time when
the padishah was very angry with his
ministers, Fuad and Ali. Noticing the
| large rooster, he ordered him to be let
| loose on the feathered namesakes of the
ministers. The new champion attacked
his antagonists with such ferocity that
| the rooster Ali was killed on the spot
| and Fuad was carried half dead from
the battlefield.
The sultan became pacified and in
| quired who brought the bird, remarking
| thoughtfully that its owner must be an
undaunted man, if he could train such a
rooster. Immediately the secretary of
war received an order to promote Mech
| met-Effendi TO the rank of colonel, and
| on the occurrence of vacancy, to that
| of commander of regiment.
A few days after this, the sultan be-
came dissatisfied with Garibaldi and the
Italian king on account of their propa-
| ganda in Albany, and ordered that the
| ROSTERS bearing their names should
fight with the newly-acquired warrior
In this case also military fortune was
| tho ci1a of tho lattar onI hic
fortunate owner was promoted to the
rank of Iyva, or brigadier general. This
rooster had also conquered the cocks
| William and Bismarck. when the en-
| peror being for some reason dissatisfied
with Germany, had used the same
method to cool his temper.
On another occasion, disguised with
| his ministers, he ordered all the roosters
bearing their names to be brought into
the arena to fight Boitor. A ferocious
| and bloody battle occurred, the result of
| which was that only Boitor remained on
his feet, but slightly harmed; for this
rooster tourney the General Mechmet-
Pasha received the rank of general-in-
| chief, as commander of one of the five
corps of the sultan's army.
The serascir. secretary of war, Hus-
seyn Amy, although he was well dis
posed toward Mechmet. coming from the
| same military school, could not restrain
| himself from exclaimin9:
ITO whom shall | give the command
OF the army corps, to thee or to thy
| rooster"
The new general-in-chief answered:
ITO neither of us. l beg but one
favor of you; dismiss me from the mill
| tary service"
Mechmet-Pasha was an honest,
| straightforward man; he did not wish
to occupy a position in which he would
only be injurious to his country. The
secretary of war asked permission to
send him as encouragement TO one of
the provinces, but the sultan refused.
LET him remain here and raise roos-
tiers; that will be useful
| Thanks to the rooster, Mechmet-Pasha
had, in the course of few months, at
tanned the rank of a general-in-chief
| Truthfulness and common sense pre-
vented him from accepting command
OF any army corps, a place for which he
felt himself unprepared. Therefore he
did not lead the Turkish soldiers in the
disastrous campaign of 1877.
This sad honor fell to the lot of other
generals, who had acquired their posi-
tons as easily as he, and for similar
service, confirming by their example the
words of Napoleon l., that with good
leaders, badly organized and poorly
clad armies can be perhaps made avail
able; but, with the incapable, even the
best provided and well-disciplined SOL
diers make but very poor army"