Wichita eagle., 1889-11-22
AMONG MOHAMMEDANS.
THE RICH TURKS SLEEP AND THE
POOR FAST DURING LENT.

From SUN Up to Sum Down They Must
Abstain from Food and Drink-Feastin|
Everywhere After Sunset - The Great
Mosque of Saint Sophia
arrived in Constantinople during the
| month of Ramazan, and l find the whole city
observing the Mohammedan Lent. The cook
shops of STEAMBOAT are closed during the day
for lack Of custom, and of the half million
Turkish men, women and children in this
city not one eats anything from sunrise 20
sunset. They do not drink a drop of water,
and the more devout viii not even swallow
their spittle. The Turks are the most invet-
crate smokers OF the world, and they like TO
titillate their nostrils with snuff and to
crafty them with perfumes. During Rama
zan they do not smoke during the daytime,
and they entirely abstain from snuff and the
use of altar Of roses. This is not only in
hammedan world
THE GREAT FAST
1t is o'clock p. m as write, and one hun
dred million Mohammedau stomachs, scat
tered from the wilds of North China to the
tropical regions of Central Africa, are bowling
with hunger. One hundred million parched
tongues are now scraping against the dry
roofs of one hundred million mouths, and I
doubt not that something like two hundred
million eyes are watching the going down Of
the setting sun. The moment 1t drops behind
the west these millions will grab for the food
that has been prepared for them, and for the
next hour or so the fasting will be turned into
feastlng. The nights Of Constantinople are
now nights of revelry.
The Koran does not prohibit the Turk from
eating when be pleases after sunset, and the
people gorge themselves to make up for the
fast of the day. The city is lighted at night,
and crowds throng the streets. All the cafes
and eating houses are open, and the lemonade
peddler and sweetmeat man are out in all
their glory. The Turks are very hospitable,
and during Ramazan they give many dinner
parties. Such as are wealthy enough to do
without work stay up the whole night in or
der that they may the better sleep through
the fasting hours of the morrow. 1t is .
time for religious observance as well as pleas
ure.
There are services at all the mosques every
evening, and all the men go TO prayers. The
mosques are Illuminated, and the hundreds
of minarets which rise high above the somber
city of STEAMBOAT are girdled with Light, and
between them are stretched great figures of
fire, made by stringing countless lamps upon
wires. Here is one composed of gigantic lot
tiers, forming the Turkish word for God or
"Allah." There is one representing a cannon
a hundred feet long, and between the towers
of another mosque hangs a mammoth star
and crescent of fire.
MOSQUE OF SAINT SOPHIA
There are between two and three hundred
mosques in Constantinople, and the Ranazan
ceremonies III thsse are most interesting to
the stranger. l witnessed them in the largest
mosque Of the world last night. This was the
mosque of Santa Sophia, which was built as
Christian church in the Fourth century,
and which was for ages the finest Christian
church in the world 1t took hundred
architects to superintend its construction,
and ten thousand masons worked upon it at
the same time Il had doors of ivory amber
and cedar, ard its altar was made of pre-
cious stones embedded in gold and silver
1t was decorated with beautiful paintings,
which the Turks destroyed when they took
possession of Constantinople, and its roof has
still enough mosaic TO carpet an acre field.
The great temples of antiquity have been
robbed to build this church. Within it there
are four pillars of green granite, which were
taken from the temple of Diana, at Ephesus,
and there are other columns from the temples
of Thebes, Athens, Rome and Alexandria
If you will take two acre field and plant
within it forest of columns, rooted with a
dome bigger and grander than that of the
Capitol at Washington, hang thousands Of
lamps in the air between the dome and the
floor, scatter richly carved pulpits about va
rious parts of the building, put immense foun-
tains here, and hang gigantic Turkish inscrip-
tions there, you may have mazed idea Of
how the mosque Of Santa Sophia looks when
entering. You will wander for hours through
the corridors Of its columns, finding new
beauties at every step.
You will note that the great walls are lined
with precious marbles, and that the cornices
and the friezes of the arches are of gilded
bronze At night, when the thousands Of
lamps are lighted, when great stars Of fame
float in the air between the dome and the /
floor, when every pillar and every alcove is /
ablaze, and when the various galleries are /
walled with flame tSe wonders Of the mosque
take on a new grandeur, which, added TO the /
of the worshipers themselves, |
make a Ramazan night in Santa Sophia one |
Of the greatest sights of the world.
By the liberal use of backshish, accompa-
MED by my Mohammedan guide, / obtained |
admission to tho gallery of Santa Sophia /
last night. II was O'Clock when arrived. |
and the acres Of the floor below ma were COW !
cred with worshipsrs. In long, regular lines,
with their faces toward Mecca, sitting on /
their knees, were at least FIVE thousand No
In turbans and gowns, with
their bare or stockinged feet looking up at
the gallery, they formed long lines Of curious
color On the white mats away down there
under the floating flames.
From the back OF the church came the
shrin voice Of the Imam, who was lcadinz the
ievotions 1t was wonderful tenor. which
penetrated tie reunotest recessss Of the vast
mosque, and in response 70 which these FIVE
thousand ttIrbaned men rose and fell like
clock work in their devotion& They moved
as one man, and when they sunk TO their
Knees the striking Of ten thousand legs on the
door made q noise Ike the runbling Of can
ION IN the distance, and when they bowed !
their beads to the Hoor tbs sound came I'D as
.hough it had heen made By the fall of some
yreat weight rather than By the touch Of FIVE
thousand hesda II the front q sach vor-
hiper was placed bis shoes. and a. the clcas
If the services each Moba,nrnedan took Ii >se
n his hand and walked with them Gu. Of the
6. Carpenter.
suitable Music.
popin jav-Blob@ou. IL a man should de