The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1885-08-01
RARE TREASURES.
REALIZATION OF THE ARABIAN
NIGHTS" DREAMS.
4 Walk Through the Sultan's Treasure
HOuse-Dazzling Display of Pro-
cfous StOres-The Shah's Throne
Other Treasures.
Lieut.. E. W. Sturdy, U. S. III

II you are IN ConSCantInOple, and the sui
tan intimates that it would give him pleas
ere to open the doors of the treasury for
your inspection, you should not lose the OPP
p,rtunity. 1t is a privilege not easily OBJ
tanned. Through the august Gate" within
the walls of the old seraglio, you can pene-
trate; over the lawns and around the tree
the janissaries you can wander; but at
the Cat of Health" a Turkish guard de-
mands your frman-that talisman without
which all entreaties are useless. If. after
Wa :. this firman is brought in person by
an : damp of the sultan, what was
civility secomes Difference. The guards
who a moment ago waved you aside that q
black "unich might pass and be saluted,
now r-~ent arms to you, and another
eunic4. u white fellow, comes forth to
receive highness' command.
, To the - asury is but step, and whence
all thos- ttendants suddenly spring is
surprI&in You are not. as you imagined,
alone with the aid-de-camp and the white
ennuch, for here are twenty or moro
guardians of the treasury ranged on either
side of the massive doors. The ceremony of
entering is in itself imposing. The locks are
elaborate and the mechanism intricate. The
chief OF the guards unlock one bolt, which
he hands to the man on his right. A pad
lock he gives to an assistant on the left, and
then along the dignified line he slowly dis
tributes one piece after another Of the
pOnderous combination
The door is thrown open, and the treasury
is before you. AT tho entrance stands tho
famous throne which in 1914 was captured
from the shah OF Persia. And it is here that
you utter your first EXPLANATIONS of wonder
and ad neutrality-suspicious. Of feeling
which increase in intensity your eyes rest
upon the dazzling display, until words and
thoughts fail to convoy even to yourself any
estimate of the wealth about you. This
throne is perhaps three feet high and about
the same across and is ono dia-
monds, emeralds, rubies and turquoises.
Over it is suspended a golden egg of more
than a foot in diameter, and this egg sparkleS
and glitterS with the precious stones with
which it is studded. In the cases ON every
hand are rare treasures. Diamonds are
every where-quarts of diamonds: there
turquoises around and between these dia-
monds-pecks of turquoiseS; and this is no
eXaggeration. There are emeralds of such
wonderful size and value as to be beyond any
estimate. In two cases there two emer-
AIDS, one the size of a mans cenched hand,
tho other fiat and large as hanl ex-
tended. There are sword-hlts of solid emf
eralds. The famous jewel of Bangkok must
be overshadowed in comparison.
To realize the pearls, imagin n table cover
Of beautiful pattern and ex, i,isite embrod-
cry, and then fancy that thero has been a
hail of pearls ten minutes, End that they
have all chung to this cover. That would
be one piece of tapestry, and there scores
of them hanging in this room; and the pearls
are as large as peas. That was bead-work
in the reign of some Ottoman ruler.
There are gems i'll bulk; rare old China
vases filled to the brim with huge emeralds;
japanese tureens overlooking with magniti-
cent pearls; decorated plates heaped up with
coral beads like ripe cherries; golden
salvers blazing with the light of hundreds
of immense diamonds; and scattered about
with a lavish hand lie the pale and beauti-
full turquoises like blooming flowers, an IN
pretending bed for all this wondrous
beauty.
There is the cradle in which ten sultans
have rocked, and whose every motion sent
forth rays as brilliant the glory of their
career; their little school-bags hang here,
and still simmer in their crust of gems.
Diamonds, diamonds-everyw where is the
litter of diamonds. Surely they must have
leon guardians of the treasury who first
canned OF the arabian Nights" Presents
rom foreign magnates rival each other in
valus and splendor. Here is another jeweled
rome. and over it hang a ruby and an
emerald of fabulous size. An Indian ra jah's
git, marvel of beauty, is in hei light four
insles only, but in design most exquisite.
4 rajah is seated on throne, and over
IL, tfa1o is q canopy; in front is a slave.
t. of the rajah is single pearl: the
Wa trunk of the slave of another pearl
of shape; the logs and arms are solid
ms iamonds; the canopy is of dia-
mon- effect is beyond description.
You f. Lch surroundings; you cease to
talk Z, indeed, can you saya Turn as
you ". 10 diamonds flash at you, the
rubie 'i:e az you, the pearls soothe you, and
the wno.e intoxicateS you. You see the
aid-decamp smiling, but proud Of his sui
tans tr ures. the accumulated treasure of
over thirty rulors of the great Ottoman en-
pire With an odd mixture of half-formed
thoughts, you pass into another room. A |
golden column confronts you, a model
of the Ira jan monument; over six feet |
in height and eight inches in diameter, it is |
imposing, but docs not surprise you. You
are prepared to SEQ walls and floors of solid |
gold-you almost expect it Over your head |
hang golden bird-cages with clocks at their |
base. As is proper and becoming, the hours |
are indicated by diamond figures.
You mount to gallery and look at the !
OF iginal costumes of a score of dead rulers
The robes magnificently embroidered. |
the turbans are immense, diamonds are tan
gied in the plumes, and the sword hits are
single gems. The older the date, the richer /
the dress, but all with turbans and robes,
until the thirteenth sovereign adopts the fez
and the red trousers in use to-day
There is yet another room of equal splen-
dor. Your bewildernent increases as YOU
move on, and when at last You are bowed
out by those grave watchmen, you wonder
il they not all sultans, and if you have
not been dreaming.
One of +. T. Barnum's Schemes.
IChcago Heradl
A letter from Barnun has been published
recently in an English newspaper, in which