The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-08-15
r1rE sULrAN's HOUSEKEEPING.
over Six Thousand Persons Fed Three
Times a Day.
From the Ncw York Herald

sover Six Thousand Persons Fed Three
Times Day.
From. The Ncw York Herald.
There arc over 5000 persons fed three
times day at Dolua-Bagchee palace
while the Sultan is there, which makes
h n.ekeening rather serious affair, par
.;oulssv when we know that these meals
ore served III nearly half as many pla: es,
there being no regular diniug-room, nor
n,ace which could render tie labor n little
E-btrr Though there are tables in some
nj the departments, tho majority prefer TO
q + fro a their knees, and thus their meals
a.e landed around, whicn makes an enor-
nm amount of unnecessary work.
Aside from tho serving of three regular
Dcals in courses, coffee and sweetmeats are
aiways ready, end at every instant slaves
a seen going and coming with trays OF the
tirv cups OF that subimated essence of
p flo the Turks drink, and in the harem
tl,a women and children eat candies, nuts
I'D fruit all the time, while not smoking
or taking their regular meals.
To keep all this great machinery of sup
nv in perfect order, so that no matter how
many mout1s there are to fill, nor what
g dden caprice may seize the sultan or any
nj his numerous women, it may be instantly
satisfied, is g tax upon the best capacity.
backed by unlimited money or credit. No
nossbe the demand may be, there is no
slloweuce made for delay in the service. If
fine caprice is not gratified as rapidly as it
/, formulated the officer whose duty it is to
provide for it is almost certain to lose his
Tnsiiion, if not his liberty and belongings,
for there is a fashion OF long usage in
Turkey which contiscates any disgraced
officials possessions.
MANY COOKS.
There is cook for each separate course
and he has his assistants and scullions, SO
fiat the:e are in all nearly 400 men work
Ing in the kitchens. In addition to the aids
each chief cook has a body servant.
The lord high chamberlain chooses his
rorps OF buyers and the c6iefs of different
Departments to suit himself, usually making
such choice moro from some occult reason
ing than fitness for the position. He then
tuNs the departments to those rerSo and
Transmits his imperative orders through the
second chamberlain. The lord high cham
brrlain is called Kdnlbinge in Turkish
After him i'll Importance is the treasurer of
the household, who receives all the bills,
looks them over and forwards them to the
sublime porte, whero they are paid--in
time. .,.....
The providing for the material wants of
ell these persons, then, really falls upon the
chamberlain. Heappoints achibouk-kiassi,
who provides all the pipes used in and out
the palace, both for the men and the
women, including the narghiles. Then
there is 1utuIkaiaSsi who sees that the
whole palace is literally supplied with to-
tacco. The espap-kiassi furnishes the
clothes for the sultans wear-that is, he
buys them. Another buys the sultan's shoes
and slippers. Those who buy the personal
effects of the sultan have by no means
sinecure, as lie mover wears the same gar
ment or pair of shoes twice, nor does he
ever sleep in tho same sheets or bedding a
second time. 1t is supposed that all cloth
ing and bedding which have touched the
sacred person of the sultan are DESTROYED
immediately he has discarded them. The
quilts are always of SATIN, quilted with
eiderdown, and the sheets of white Broussa
silk with woven brown borders. They are
very durable, and it is possible that-but |
won't write my half-formulated thought
for fear of injuring an innocent lord high
chamberlain.
THE BUYERS.
The chamberlain has chief of the BUYERS
for the kitchen supplies and another for
each of the household departments, and
these have from ten to twenty aids. and
these again have underlings, who all must
be fed by the royal bounty and they all re-
ceive their salaries, large or small. The
chief Of each department receives and
weighs or appraises the value of all the
articles or food purchased, and then, at
testing to the correctness of the weight or
value, hands his accounts to the treasurer
Of the household. In this way stealing is
not so easy as foreigners imagine it.
The BUYERS of the furniture, of the
carpets, the glassware, silver and gold
plate, the jewels, the soap, perfumery and
cosmetics, the candies and dried fruits, the
kitchen utensils, and, in short, for every
department are all subject to the same
strict system.
The buying for the harem is done by the
same persons, with the exception of dresses
and other feminine toilet articles which
the women now buy for themselves gen
orally. They ride out and shop very like
other women, only they have no idea as to
the value of money, and they order what
ever strikes their fancy no matter what it
is, and the bills ore sent to the chief eunuch,
who hands them, after supervision, to the
treasurer of the household, who has to get
the high chamberlaln's counter signature.
The sewing is done by women who have
nothing else to do-that is, such of it as is
done there. Whenever it is possible the
garments are bought ready made
THE SULTAN's FOOD.
The food for the sultan is cooked by one
man and his aids and mona others touch it.
1t is cooked i'll silver vessels, and when done
each kettle is sealed by slip of paper and
stamp, and this Is broken in the presence
OF the sultan by the high chamberlain, who
takes one spoonful of each separate kettle
before the sultan tastes it. This is to pre-
vent the sultan's being poisoned. The food
is almost always served up to the sultan in
the same vessels in which it was cooked,
and these are often of gold, but when of
baser metal the kettle is set into a rich
golden bell shaped holder, the handle of
which is held by a slave while the sultan
sats. Each kettle is a course, and is served
with bread and a kind of pancake, which is
held on golden tray by another slave.
II requires just twice as many slaves as
tnere are courses to serve a dinner to him,
de usually sits on a divan near a window,
Which looks out over the Bosphorus and
takes his ease and comfort in loose penn.
odzdr and gegeiik, with his sleeves turned
up; After he has eaten all he wants, the
sultan takes his coffee and his chibouk and
lies back in an ecstasy of enjoyment and
quiet reverie, which he calls taking his keif.
woe be to the one who comes to disturb it!
The food being cooked outside of the
palace makes it necessary to have bell
SNAPPED telt covers to clap down tightly over
each kettle, which has been placed on a
tray. For the sultan and royal family
tnere are magnificent velvet covers which
go over the outside of these embroidered
with gold and silver threads and pear, coral
or torquoise heads. Those for others are
not so handsome.