Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-09-22

IHe SUttdaS CodchldH as the ona0OW OF
God" and like the Turks of Asia Minor
regard him as the representative of Ma
homet. He has an income of S10,OOO,OOO a
wear, His treasury is filled with diamonds.
His palaces are numbered by scores and he
counts his Arab horses by the thousands.
He has countless servants to satisfy his
every wish, and his barem, filled with the
beauties of the Orient, Is replenished each
year with the fairest of the young female
slaves of Georgia and Circassia. If phys
ical comfort, sensual enjoyments and world
ly power are the chiefiends of life, this man,
now in his prime, ought to be the happiest
man in the world. He is on the contrary
one of the most miserable. Every one Of
the roses of his life conceals thorn, and in
each of his palaces the skeletons of fear hide
in the closets, stand behind the marble
columns of the salons and poke their heads
out at him through the perfumed steam of
his luxurious Turkish bath. Having abso-
lutte control over millions of lives he exists
in daily fear of losing his own, and he
trembles as be spends his nights and days
inside his great palaces surrounded by his
guards. He moves among his people only
when he is forced to do so by the religious
observances which are incumbent upon him
as the head of Mohammedan religion, and
his only outing is on Friday afternoon
when he goes in state to worship at the
Mosque.
AN IMPORTANT CEREMONY.
This ceremony is one of the grand sights
of Constantinople. The people would rise
in insurection If the Sultan omitted it, and
it takes 1000 troopsto guard him on his way
from his palace to his place of worship.
The lavorite mosque of the Sultan is that of
Hamidiea. 1t was built by HIM and it is a
beautiful structure of white marble with
great minarets rising hundreds of feet above
lis airy dome and looking out over the Bos-
phorus, Stamboul and the sea of Marmora
It's near the Sultan's geat palace, called
1lldlz and 1t is in the English quarter of
COnstaninople, known as Pera. A wide
winding road leads from the palace to the
mosque, and at the side of this house has
been built by the Sultan for distinguished
foreign guests. This house is Just opposite
the mosque and its windows command a fine
view OF 1t and the roads leading to it.
Armed with the card of the American Min
lister and accompanied by my Mohamme-
dan guide l was received by the officer in
charge when called at this house yester-
day. was given a seat at one of the win
dows and iOr two hours preceding the cere-
mony was interested In the massing of the
soldiers and in the preparation for the
coming of the Sultan.
First came little armv of carts drawn by
donkevs and led by bare-legged men in
turbans. These carts were filed with soft
yellow sand, and this sand was spread over
the road TO the depth of several inches. The
Sultan's royal bones are too holy to be
Jolted over cobDle stones or macadam, and
whenever he goes out to drive the road over
which he intends to march is covered with
sand. Alter the carts came water wagons
and the sand was sprinkled to make il
softer and hrmer. As time goes on the
soldiers march up division after division
and rank themselves along the highway.
There are regiments of cavalry on the
finest of Arabian steeds. each regiment hay
ing horses of the same color and nearly
every regiment uniformed differently. Here
is troop of CircaSsians with black caps six
inches high, upon the crown of which are
white crosses. They are dressed in Eu-
ropean uniforms, and upon their breasts are
rows of cartridges. Below them are cavalry
from Asia Minor, and coming down the hill |
in the distance are troop after troon of
aud caps on the finest of Arabian horses.
The soldiers are tall, broad-shouldered and
straight. Down another road march long
lines of infantry, some in green colors Of
Mahomet and others in clothes of blue |
trimmed with red.
WATCHING FOR THE CALIPH.
As the hour for the coming of the Sultan
approaches, the roads turn into rivers of |
color, and along the side of them. back of
the soldiers, are seen the curious characters |
OF Mohammedan crowd. There at the right
is patch OF white, and YOU note that the |
hundred balloon-like bags of white cotton |
or silk, which seem to stand upright on the |
ground are alive and taking your glass YOU
see that out of each bag near the top poems
two black eyes and you know that these are |
the ladies Of several Mohammedan harems. |
vino have come out to get view of the Sui. |
tan. Now come the officers of the court.
They drive up in carriages drawn bv mag
nifcent horses. Some of them come on
horseback, and the breasts of all are covered
with medals, while their clothes of Euro
pean cut fairly blaze with gold lace. Each
man wears bright red fez cap, which looks
like a gigantic red tumbler inverted, and
these caps crown the heads of the soldiers
as we'll as making the whole crowd look
like a great human flower bed of red.
There is a cheer from 10,000 throats, aud
the music is heard in the distance. The
cry goes up that the Sultan is coming. and
now around the corner, preceded by gor-
geously dressed guard upon horseback. sur
rounded by officers, with swords drawn,
comes low barouche drawn by the most
magnificent black horses You have ever