The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1889-09-29

made in the shape of very full water proof
cloaks, and they were rather wrappers
than dresses. Many of the ladies wore kid
gloves, and I noticed that some of them had
spread handkerchiefs over their knees in
order to keep their gloves from being
soiled. Many had their eyebrows painted
and their eyes showed out plainly oven
their wells. Besides each carriage rode q
sombre-faced negro eunuch dressed in
black with long whip in his hand, and the
carriages were drawn by magnificent
horses. There were some beautiful girls
among them, and I noted half-a-dozen red
headed Circassiaus whose cheeks were as
rosy as those of an English bar maid, and
who would have passed for bellies in Cleve-
land, New York or Chicago. At the head
of the harem procession was the carriage
of the mother of the Sultan, who is known
as the Valide Sultana. and who practically
rules the harem.
THE VALIDE sCLTANA
has one of the wings of the palace set apart
| for her use. She has a court almost as i'm
portant as that of the Sultan himself. She
! has her eunuchs and her servants, and she
! is probably the only one whom his majesty
| implicitly trusts. She acts as the gO-be-
tween between the Sultan and his wives,
and she really chooses his wives for him.
l have been in COnstantinople during the
greater part of the Mohammedan Lent, or
of the month known as Ramazan. During
this month the Mohammedans fast from
sunrise to sunset. and they engage in
numerous prayers. At the close of it will
come their Easter Bairam. when every
| Turk will come out in new clothes, and
when the whole Mohammedan' world will
engage in rejoicing. AT this time each year
the Sultan takes new and favorite slave
to wife, and this slave is selected from a
large number by the Valide Sultana. AS
write, the young lady is probably in train
ing for her new position, and she has been
within the hand of the Valide Sultana for
a number of months. Six months before
Ramazan each year the Georgian slave
merchants and others who have girls
whom they wish to sell to the Sultan, bring
their
YOUNG LADIES TO THE sULTAN'S MOTHER.
She looks over them and picks out
fifteen or more. These are taken into the
palace and are carefully fed like so many
prize horses. Shortly before Bairam she
looks over the lot again and picks out the
one who is to be the bride of the Sultan.
The Sultan has, believe, the right to take
such other girls as strike his fancy, but
his Bairam bride he does not see until the
night after the feast. He finds her in his
chamber when he retires to rest at night,
and the story at COnstantinople is that the
new bride must crawl under the clothes
from the foot of the bed in token of her sub
lection. If she happens to please the Sui
tan, she IS given a separate apartment, and
if she has children they are legitimate and
rank with other princes and prin cesses. If
the Sultan does not like her she ranks with
the other slaves of the palace, and it may
be she never sees his majesty again
The favorite ladies of the Sultan's harem
have by no means bad time. They are
certainly better off than they would be in
their native lands, and many of them eS-
TEEN it a great honor to be
BROUGHT TO CoNsTANTINOPLE AND SOLD.
Their life in the palace is a do-nothing.
lazy one. They spend the day in chatting.
eating and sleeping. Most of them smoke
cigarettes, and they go out dining under
the charge of their eunuchs when they can
get permission. The Sultan has a very
nice little theatre in his palace, and the
music for this is often furnished by the
ladies of the har6m. The price of a slave
is largely increased if she is a good must
clan, and some of these girls are good dane
ers and singers The price for an ordinary
slave girl Of the desirable age. ranging
from twelve to sixteen, is $500 If she is
beautiful, she may be worth 1000 and
more, and if in addition to this she is good
musician, the mother of the Sultan will
give from 5000 to $1,000 for her Rich
blonde beauties with blue eyes and trans
parent skins always bring high prices if
plump and well-rounded, but am told that
black girls are brought from Africa and sold
for song in Constantinople
THE SLAVE MARKET OF THE CITY
has long since been done away with. but
the buying and the selling still goes on I'M
derhand, and the terms of slavery outside
of the palace are such that after slave has
served seven years she must, if she de
sires, be released. More than half the
marriages in Turkey are, it is said, made
with slaves, but the slave having child is
usually elevated to the position of wife
The foreign artists who come to Constau-
tinople are often asked by the Sultan to
give performances to himself and his
friends in his royal theatre within the
palace. At such times the favorite ladies
of the seraglio get a glimpse of outside life
through latticed windows of their boxes
and the event is the subject of gossip in
the harem for weeks to come. In connec-
ton with this theatre, / was told an in
cident which gives some insight into the
kindness of the Su,tan's nature. On the
22d of last Eel ru ~ when an Italian opera
troupe was playing in Constantinople the
American minister, Mr.. Oscar Straus, gave
an entertainment 10 the Americans at his
house in celebration Of WashingtOn's
DlftndaN. Al JnlS entertainment he had
engaged this Italian opera troupe, consisting
of
TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY MUSICIANS,
10 perform. Late in the afternoon of the
22d Mr.. Straus received a note from the
Italian manager, saying that the Sultan
hadrequested the troupe to come that night
to the palace, and inasmuch as the request
of his majesty was equivalent to a com
mand. he could not keep his engagement
with him. 1t was too late at this time to
countermand the invitation for the enter
tainment, and Mr.. Straus sent messenger
to the Sultan, explaining the situation, and
asking him to allow the troupe to come to
his house either before or after the enter
tainment at the palace. His majesty at
once sent back messenger, saying that he
would under no conditions disturb the en-
tertainment of Mr.. Straus, and that it
would suit him Just as well to have the
troupe come to the palace after their enter
tainment was over, which was done. At
another time he disarranged one of his din
ners at the palace in order to accommodate
the American minister, and am told here
that a close friendship has existed between