Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1889-12-13

| and otherwise nangleu their persons, pre-
cisely as monks and others practlsed
various austerities in the belief that they
were acceptable sacrifices to the Deity.
| The Sultan forbade the custom IN his
| domiuions. But the life and devotion of
| the deryishes win the respect and reverence
of the people, and it is said that some
royal princes and even sultans have been
members of the fraternity. Each body of
monastery is governed by shelk, or elder,
| and he is always a venerable old man.
These orders date back in their origin many
hundred wears. The dervishes renounce
earthly JOYS and devote themselves In
poverty and retirement to their religion,
| and the principle is the same as that which
| actuates the nuns and sisters IN our own
cities.
The principal monastery in Constantine
pie is in the Rue de Pera though there are
| others, and it stands little back from the
| street in a courtyard, Dimetri produced
slippers enough to supply the party, and we
| put them on over our boots. The idea is
that the dirt from outside, Or the soil of a
| Christian foot, must not come IN contact
with any part of "a holy place. But the true
believers have to take the same precau-
tions. and | noticed in Tartar city that
gentleman wore Overshoes apparently be-
cause they could be conveniently slipped off
when the wearer went to church. A porter
| at the door takes charge of the boots shoes,
canes and umbrellas, and exacts small fee
| for the service as is done In the most of
the picture gallries, museums and theatres
in Europe.
The main building of the monastery was
| in the shape of an Octagon, and the audi
| ence chamber would have made a capital
| circus. A sort of fence nclosed all the
space of the ground floor except the width
| of about 10 feet next to the walls. All
around the apartment was gallery, sup
| ported by columns, for spectators, as well
| as the outside place below. In the rear, up
stairs, the space was lattlced off for women,
| who are permitted to see, but not to be
seen. The front of the gallery was for the
music and a reader, for one can hardly
| imagine that even devotees would think of
| dancing without music. Visitors were re-
| quired to seat themselves Turkish fashion,
| and be as uncomfortable as possible.
The dancing floor was smooth and clean.
| and would have been creditable to any ball
room. Opposite the entrance prayer car
pet was spread for the sheik, and he squat
| ted upon ii. Hooking as solmn as though he
| had been about to deliver a sermon I'D St.
| Sophie instead of looking after a dance.
| The dervisheS entered singly or IN knots as
| suited them. and seated themselves on the
| floor until about 20 of them had gathered.
| They were dressed in loose brown robes,
| reaching down to their ankles, and were
| all as solemn as the leader in the long
white beard The hat was of the shape of
an inverted hower-pot of the same color as
the robe.
| The venerable sheik began to repeat in
low and mumbling tone some sentences
| from the Koran. Then the dervlsh In the
front gallery read, or rather lntoned, from
| book. Being no theologlan, | could not
understand a word of it, The sheik then
talked to himself awhile, apparently; and
! the dervishes headed by a manager, march
ed several times around the circus, hating
and bowling low to the venerable head at
the prayer carpet. The bowling and
saluting was somewhat ludicrous, and re-
called the evolutions of country muster.
| Two of the devotees with their arms
crossed on their breasts, bowed facing
each other Then they wheeled IN good
order and saluted the next couple, and
the process was repeated all along the
| line.
When the last of the bowling had been
completed the music struck up a monot-
onous tune sounding like banjo and
! some other instrument. The head of the
column of iervishes edged out into the
middle of the room and began to whlrl,
and he could not have done any better if
he had called it Waiting. The others fol-
| lowed his example in good order and with
| out haste until all of them were whlrllng
! gracefully in two circles around the en-
| closure, As they entered upon the exClt-
ing part of the proceedings they Invested
themselves of the heavy brown robes and
came forth in white spencers and skirts,
| the latter reaching almost to the floor and
| being dense enough for broadway belle.
| For half an hour they kept 1t up without
any break or appearance of fatigue. There
were no collisions. not even of the skirts,
though they were all spread out as in
making cheeses" The movement is
| quite as graceful as that of an accomplish
ed Walter is in perfect time, and there Is
no hurry or confusion for an instant. The
devotees are barefoot. They keep the left
! foot on the floor all the time, throwing the
right foot over the instep of the left. The
arms are elevated little above the top of
the had, with the palms of the hand spread
| out. The whole thing Is rather poetic and
very graceful | have no idea what 1t all
means, though heard some one say it was
| an lD1lIaJlOH Ol Tic VI INC
heavenly bodies; but do not believe 1T,
for | doubt if those devotees are well
| posted in astronomy.
1t was not till Sunday, and very rainy
one. that we found an Opportunity to see
| the bowling dervishes. We wandered a
| long distance from Pera, and when we
reached the monastery Dimetri said he had
| chosen this particular place to show off the
| Io,-o+oo. &c tl,.s orIar haaanSp thor rItpa
| were less repulsive then those of some
others. The buildings were no better than
| an ordinary barn and not half as good as
many we could find at home. The porter
was there to take charge of our things and
| take his fee and he enlarged his occupation
| by selling oriental confects, which would
make an American child sick. Dimetri led
| the way to the chapel or whatever 1t was,
| an implanted room about 40 feet long and
| half as wide. Across one end was a gal
| lery. where we were duly installed and
seated on sheepskins, which gave up an
ugly vision of feas.
A dozen men were seated on the floor of
the chapel, behaving themselves as though
something was the matter with them.
| They wore no peculiar dress, and looked
| like the men in the street. One wore the
tattered uniform of a soldier. All of them
were ragged and dirty. and they appeared
to be running the poverty idea for all it was
worth. Some of them were seated in a
group on prayer carpet, chanting mon
Otonous strain, bowling and swaylng Wild
" as they sang The burden of their song
was a perpetual repetition of the words
Ia illah-illah-la The main word was
pronounced '.iIyah On the first syllable
they bent forward with a jerk: at the
second. they Strengthened up; at the third
they throw theiE head back, and so on.
The movements are convulsIve. and as
they proceed they warm up and their
tones became wild and savage. Now and
then comes veil in concert like Hoo"
but it Is really 'Ya-hu. ''Allah" or ''Je-
hovah!" with the accent on the last syl-
liable As nearly as ] could ascertain, this
sing-song Is a task to repeat the name of
Allah 800 times, and the hoo" In the tai
ly mark
Some of the dervishes then ranged them
selves In a line against the farther wall of
the chapel. Then they began 10 sway
their heads up and dowr, and right and
left, with heavy breathing sound, like
man chopping wood 1t was sort Of des-
perate grant which they intensified and
made more cultural. while they swayed
their heads and shoulders with violence