Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1890-04-11

| his imprisonment in his palace is quite as
! strict as that of the ex-Sultan Nurad. wht
was Abdul Hanid's predecessor.
Murad succeeded to the throne June
1876, on the deposition Of Abdul Aziz. wht
! four days later was asSaSSinased Murad
| Is absolutely free from any suspicion oi
| cognizance with the murder. the traglcal
| circumstances of which almost entirely
! shattered his nerves No notice, however.
would have been taken of his disturbed
condition of mind had he not attempted tC
| introduce reforms, especially IN the expen-
| dltures of the imperial household. One OF
| his very first acts. indeed. was to reduce
| the monthly expenditures of the palace
and of the seraglio to $500, 900 a month.
instead of double and even treble that
amount. which had until then and con.
| tlnues to be now the sum needed for the
purpose. Economy on the part of a sultan
OF the Ottoman empire seemed unnatural
and uncanny, and when the numerous
parasites and hangerS-on of the imperial
household realized that their interests
would suffer by the reforms, they at once
persuaded the kislar aghassi. or grand
chief of the eunuchS-and as such one of
the highest officials OF the realm-to pro-
ceed to the SheIkul-lSlam and inform him
that Murad had become insane.
Now, the sheik-ul-lslam, as the chief &c
cleSlastical dignitary of the empire. has
power to depose a sultan from the throne
whenever he deems that insanity deprives
his majesty of the power of administering
the government. Accordingly, Aug, 81,
1876, a palace revolution took place and
Murad was depoSed in favor of his younger
brother, Abdul, Hamid, the present sultan.
Since then, that Is during almost sixteen
years, Murad. who is far more sanc than
Abdul Hamid. has remained strictly con-
fined in the palace of Teheragan, on the
shores of the Bosphorus. His only COM
panIons are the ladies of the harem. all of
whom are kept as close prisoners within
the palace precincts as himself No one
has seen him since the day of his DISPOSE
ton, and. as in the case of the khedive
lsmail. armed men patrol the waterfront
Of the palace, warning off all boats from
approaching within several hundred
yards of the shore.
Until three months ago Murad mother
the Sutana Nadine, lived with him and
watched over him with the most maternal
solicitude. Not a mCuthful would she per-
NIT him to eat or drink without having
herself Superintended its preparation and
tasted 1t previous to its being set before
him. Unfortunately for the prisoner. she
died in October, and with her demise
vanished all hopes of his recovering either
his liberty or his throne; for the present
sultan is in mortal dread lest the sheik-el-
Islam should proclaim eX-cathedra the no.
torious fact that Murad has recovered his
full mental powers. On the day that such
Il proclamation is made. Murad will he re-
stored ipSe facto to power, and Abdul
Hamid deprived of the throne of which he
Is de Jure, merely Il yellil, or regent, pend
ing his older brother mental malady. lr
deed. until the day of Murad'S death. the
present sultan claim to the throne will be
neither complete nor secure.
At the present moment Abdul Hamid's
position is more than usually critical; for,
since the visit of the German emperor, his
relations with the sheik-ul-Islam have been
exceedingly strained. The sheik, whose
name is Omar Lufh. is tGll, lank man,
with a repeIant. parchment-colored face,
and sternly opposed to everything foreign,
Both he and his fanatical clergy were op-
posed to the visit of the German emperor,
and were Mortified by the sultan public
attentions to the empress. Indeed. Omar
alone of all the great dignitaries of the OF
toman empire, refused to put in an APP
pearance at any of the ceremonies or tunc-
tions during the German majesty's pres
ence in the city
In view cf the above circumstances the
deaths of both Murad and of Khedive
Ismail may be expected to occur at any
The former is dangerous to
Abdul Hamid on account of his claims to
the throne, and the latter on account of
his vast wealth and cIeyerness. In the
case of each the death will be due to
something in the coffee, which was one
of Khedive Ismail's favorite methods of
getting rid of persons whom he regarded
as obstructive to his projects. If these
methods should appear medieval and i'm
probable to those who regard CONSTANT
nople as a European capital, within a few
hours distance by rail from Paris, Vienna
and Berlin. it Is only necessary to refer to
the case of the famous statesman and re-
former. Midhat Pasha, and of Sadyk
Pasha both men as we'll known ON the
Paris Boulevards and in the London salons
as at Constantinople. The autopsies in
such cases are always performed by Italian
or Levantine physicians belonging to the
palace, who are in the pay of the sultan.
Hence the official diagnosis of the death
never mentions the fact that it was due to
ssSOD, of hiDrr In tho coffnp -