Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1889-10-18
THE HOME OF THE TURKS.
.:.oNsTANTlNoPLE; THE GORGEOUS
CITY OF THE SULTAN.


CITY OF THE SULTAN.
ter-Feasting on Gold PIate-.Public OF.
ficials yyiaa Make More Than Their Sal
aries Out Of Bribns.
If Paris is France, Constantinop1e is Tur-
key. 1t is here that the sultan lives Here
are the headquarters OF the Turkish army and
from the government offices here go out tie
wires of political appointment which control
She lives and property of more than 80, 600, 600
people. Constantinople is the center of Turk
ish business and it is the pivot around which
the whole Mohammedan world revolves. Sit
uated, as it is, partly in Asia and partly in
Europe, it forms the connecting link of the
two great civilizations, and its population is
the most cosmopolitan on the face of the
globe. The Straits of the Bosphorus, which
connect the big Black sea with the little Sea
of Marmora, wind in and out like wide
river between Europe and Asia.
PICTURESQUE SITUATION
They are bordered by beautiful hills which
slope down in places almost precipitously to
the water, ami their natural scenery COM
pares very favorabiy with the best bits along
the Rhine and the Danube At the beginning
of these straits there is a lofty peninsula con-
tanning the area of two or three good sized
farms, the greater part of the northern side
of which is separated from the main body of
Europe by long inlet of water which winds
around like horn and which is known as the
famous Golden Horn of Constantinople. The
lower side Of the peninsula is washed by the
Sea of Marmora, and its upper edge blocks
the waters of the Bosphorus. Standing upon
its shores you can almost throw a stone int.
Asia, and by turning around you could, with
a revolver, shoot bullet deep into the body
of Europe.
1t is upon this peninsula that the greatest
part of Constantinople is built This part is
known as Stamboul, and it belongs almost
exclusively to the Turks. Upon it stand the
great bazars, above its thousands of Turkish
houses rise the tall minarets Of hundreds of
mosques, and the cries of its turbaned ped
dlers are mixed with the shrill tenor Of the
muezzins, who five times each day stand
upon the balconies of these towers and sing
out the hours of prayers. A bridge of boats
about mile long and as wide as Pennsylva-
MIA avenue in Washington connects this
Turkish quarter of tine city with ths Euro
pean shore, and over this bridge there Is con-
stantly passing a tE:ong of Turks, Christians
and Greeks, of brown gowned men from
Persia and broadcloth traders from Europe
An Italian writer in Constantinople says
that 100000 men go over this bridge every
day, and one new idea crosses it about every
ten years.
This bridge leads to Pera, which is the Eu-
ropean quarter of Constantinople. The bills
on the north side Of the Golden Horn are as
steep as those of San Francisco, Or of the
bluff ON which Ka.ssas City is built
Pera has European hotels with Swiss SER
wants, French cooks and electric bells, in
which you can be as comfortable as in any
hotel in New York. And the social dinners
of its people would compare favorably with
those of the other capitals of Europe AS a
diplomatic post the city of the sultan Is one
of the most important capitals of Europe
The complications which are at any time
liable to arise with Russia lead the English,
the French and the Germans to keep immense
establishments here, and the expenses of the
foreign ministers for entertaining runs into
the tens Of thousands of dollars year. One
of the legations uses at its state dinners gold
and silver plate which is worth 100000, and
the sultan feasts the diplomats on gold plate
and furnishes them Turkish coffee in gold
cups.
THE SULTAN's OFFICIALS.
The sultan has his great government de-
partments like those at Washington There
is department Of state, or foreign Office, a
war department, a department of public
works and department of education, of the
interior and of justice A large number of
these departments are in the vast building
known as the Sublime Porte which is located
near the great palace of the sultan in Siam
boul, known as the Old Seraglio. l visited
the Sublime Porte yesterday and met num-
Der of the leading Turkish officials l found
that many of them spoke English and that
all could converse in French. A cabinet min
lister who has charge of the newspaper press
of the empire, and who is to large extent
connected with the interior, told me that the
government was now encouraging the news
paper, and that the day would come when
each city in the Turkish empire would have
its daily paper
There are number of daily newspapers
in Constantinople- in English, some III
French and some in Turkish. The Persians
have a paper. The Greeks have their organ,
and there are also newspapers for the He
orews ana ar,iieiilahs' "A missionary press
pupnshes bulgarian newspaper, but l un-
derstand that with all these papers the CEN
sorship of the press is very strict and that the
greater par' Oh the artlcles publishes are
read over ny the government oIlcers before
ehey are permitted 10 pe printed. lhls Is es-
peciaiiy 50 WIN Tue bulgarian newspapers
as Tue urAs are iiiuch AFRAID OF revolutions
among uhe Duigarlails, ana they cut out
everything Chab relates 10 liberty or tends to
1le depreciation OIL tne government OF the
suIIah.
Inc TURKS are the governing class IN Iur-
Key ana IL Is wei ior inc country that they
are so. 1hey 40 not make very good bust
ness men, ana uhe most OF the business
OF the oteoman empire Is done by the
hebrews the Armenlans and the Greeks.
Inc Iurks are not accumulatlve OF lnaestrl-
GUS. Ihelr fortunes When made seldom pass
through more than one generation. The SONS