Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1890-05-24
commiseration.

commiseTation.
Excepting some pirates in Rhodes,
who were found hanging on trees in
front of the landing place cafes. one
fine morning, shortly before my arrival
In the island, and whose case was Qi1e
themselvesl, fancy promptly disposed
of without reference to Constantinople
/ am not aware of any execution hav-
ing taken place in Turkey since the
hanging of Hassan Bey, the mad officer
who ran amuck, Malay fashion, among
the ministers of state in the palace
yard. He was very speedily and IN
tremendously suspended to a lamp
post on the STEAMBOAT bridge over the
Golden Horn. They did not even
trouble themselves to cover his face;
eye-witnesses told me that the circum-
stance that attracted the most general
attention was the preposterous length
of his tongue, which protruded from his
mouth and stiffened so protruding
after Ae fashion of some of the gro
tesque gargoyles that adorn early
Gothic cathedrals-
In the event, then, Of the removal
of any public parsonage being deemed
by the Sultan's advisers a matter OF
state exigency, a cup Of coffee obviates
all necessity for scandal, and all occa-
sion for the possible popular excite
ment--to say nothing of European
criticism that would be provoked by
an execution, public or private. in due
course of law or b. order of the Sultan.
A prominent statesman dies suddenly
or after short and unaccountable i'll
less: and you hear his friends remark
ing under their breath, that the pacha
had taken cup of coffee"
The poisons used vary according to
the Importance of the case, and the need
for concealment or the reverse.
No great skill is required if the party
to be removed" be comparatively uu-
known, or if no reasons exist for avoid
ing an imm ediate denouement But in
the case of a parsonage possibly OF Eu'
ropean celebrity, the cause must not be
too rapidly followed by, or zoo clearly
connected with, the effect Some of the
eunuchs of The palace are credited witt
the secret of a drug 1.-THE knowledge
very probably brought by them from
Africa, whence they were purchased as
slaves), often used in cases of impor-
lance, the catastrophe produced by
which does not come to pass for couple
of months after the fatal cup of coffee
has been rendered and swallowed. il
was thus that was compassed the death
of Midhat Pasha, the able and honest,
but too hasty and inconsiderate reform
/ er. who gave Turkey her first brief Par
| lament, very soon and very rightly
! suppressed by the Sultan as totally un'
/ fitted to the circumstances of the EN-
pire and incompatible with the princi
pies OF Ottoman government. No
long before his death, poor Mid
hat, a most estimablr and pleas
ant Turk, and, like "Arabi the
! Egyptian" true patriot, wrote from
! his exile in Syria to friend of mine al
| Constantinople, mentioning the setting
! in of the rapidly-increasing corpulence
which is an unmistakable symptom that
this drug is at work, and saying that he
knew he had but a few weeks to live.
The Turk never INDUCES in unseemlJ
struggles against k5SH1et (fate); his des
tiny is always accepted with the most
exemplary resignation. From the com
mencement of his exile it was a matter
Of not .riety that the cup of coffee
would be given, sooner or later; so tina.
his many friends took it as a matter Of
course when the end came. None of the
European powers, whose light and lead
ing he trove to follow, interfered to get
the place of exile of their fallen disciple
changed to Europe and to comparative
safety. After all, half century earlier,
so complete political downfall as was
his would inevitably have entailed his
being bow-strung or beheaded; so that
she Turks must not be too harshly
judged for the shifts and expedients t.
which the daily increasing force of pub
lie opinion has driven them.
While my yacht was lying off Smyrna,
in 1887, | took advantage of the oppor
tunity to travel in the interior of Asia
Minor, in the old kingdom of Cresus
passing close to the tomb of his father,
Alyaltes On my way overland to Sar
dis ] visited the city of Manissa, the
ancient Maguesia, once the cradle and
the capital of the Ottoman Turks
On paying my respects to the Gov
ernor, since promoted to the Governor
shipof Trebizond, I found myself very
courteouslv received by no less remark
able parsonage than at once the Wig
orious principal political opponent Of
Midhat Pasha and the presiding Judge
at his trial, probably also the actual
contriver of his final disappearance from
81 20 oh OF vi u
a man of frst-rate ability, crafty and
astute far beyond the average even OF
orientals, stepped as they are from the
cradle IN discrimination, he gave me the
idea of an enemy to be dreaded. no mat
ter how long he might have to bide his
time-a foe mot to be denied" as 1.-The
fancy say of a fighting bull-terrier.
However, felt perfectly safe in the
consciousness of my own insignificance,
and had no fear or hesitation in com
plying as gracefully as III me lay, which
l remember was precious awkwardly)
with the customary formalities of Turk
ish reception etiquette.
So, before bowling my farewell, duly
swallowed the proffered painfully sticky
preserve-except what remained pend
ant to M mustache-and, without ques-
ton or scruple, took from the delicate
fligree stand in which it was served,
may be by the same fingers that prepared
Midhat's draught of doom-who can
say?-a very satisfactory and refreshing
cup of coffee. Captain f. S. Dugmore,
in n, Y. Ledger.
Frcnchman's Novel Vocation.
A new celebr ty is making his appear