New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-08-09
ABDUCTED BY THE KURDS.
AN ENGLISHWOMAN HELD CAPTIvE-CHoL-
ERA AT MECCA.
Constantinople. July 1G.

Tho GREAT Mohammedan feast Of the sacrlhces
lCorban Bairam), which commentaries the act VI
Abraham in taking bis son for sacrifice, as wen DIS
his finding of the ram in the thicket, is now oelns
celebrated Every householder who has tho
ability is expected TO provide and sacrifice raln
Prolific thickets not Astounding in this city. the
sheen markets are doing big business. Even the
moor have share in the exercises, being provided
with rams by their richer ncighboS. or at casC
having portions OF the sacrificed meat sent III 70
them in order that they may keep pace with the
festivities of the rest OF the nation Mecca Is
supposed to be the region where the ancient
patrarch was about 10 offer up his son lsninaei'
os the Mohammedans, with their usual misty
notions of Hebrew history relate the story.
Hence hundreds of thousands Of Muslin pilgrims
assemble at Mecca for the celebration OF thlS
feast; and now the cholera has broken out among
them The cholera in Mecca at this same perioo
last wear meant a miserable death to many thou
sands of people and q generous distribution I"
other places of the comma" microbe by pilgrims
returning from the scene OF the festlVai an"
plague. It must mean as much this year. for the
masses of the children of Nature who represent
the choicest fruit of Mohammedan civilization,
limit their hygiene to their own daily additions
and trust the garbage heaps TO Providence. Nor
with experience in mundane knowledge which
can lead them to protect the pilgrims against flthy
diseases The news that the cholera is at Mecca
is terrible news in ITSELF and it punges into sus-
pense all who have friends in the pilgrim band'
Measures adopted by the authorities TO prevent
manic hero will insure the continuance OF the
suspense until the returning pilgrims shall have
performed their long quarantine, and shall have
come home to give account of what has oetalleh
those who do not return If in the meantime
the grim scourge has not shown itself In this CITY,
all will be profoundly relieved.
Whether Constantinople is TO be visited TINS
wear by the cholera or not, is question which
must wait for its answer Not of this class IS the
question whether the foreigner is to he PAID III Ills
own coin when he suffers by the treaties that secure
his kind against interferences from the local author
tiles An English lady living in Persia had the
ill-luck to attract the notice of kurdish chlei-
tain. Kurdish subject, living on the frontier.
To see is to wish and to wish is to have with
these gentry. The chief got together some men,
pounced upon the young lady and carried hcr
off TO his lair. The frantic mother OF the girl
applied to the Persian authorities for aid, and
nursuit was organized Then the Kurds sent word
that it was not fair to pursue them for the lady
had already become q NIussulman. From this
answer it would appear that MusSulman giIl mas
no cause of complaint against man who SeizeS
her person At all events this was the interpreta-
ton given to the reply by the authorities and they
thought that it settled in favor Of inaction the
question of any chastisement for the Kurds. But
the English parents of the victim insisted on the
rescue Of their daughter, and the Persian authori-
ties consented to have her brought and asked
whether she had truly become q MuSsulman. ms
led 70 a furious uprising of the Kurds. Their
statement as good and pious Muslims, that this
voung LADY, had become Muslin ought to be ac-
cepted. and there was need Of interrogating the
lady herself The Persans, pressed by the Eng
lish consul prepared to take the lady from the
Kurds by force when the Turkish Government
mt in its veto. The Kurds are Turkish SUBJECTS
and under the treaties they not to be touched
by the authorities of Persia where they are living
This remarkable claim made the Persians hesl-
tate and the KurdS still masters of the sltua-
ton at the last accounts. Not few well-edu-
Gated Turks smile over this affair as nVey
illustration TO the English mind of the adage that
what is sauce to the goose is sauce to the ganuer
Tbev have too often been disguised at the escape
of English subjects from their own clutches
through the application of the laws Of
evtra-territoriality not to laugh in their
sleeves when they see the law defeat
an English claim The details of the state Of the
affair are meagre Us yet. But enough is known
n show that this ladys pitiful tragedy may have
vet more gT1esome ending unless an over
no,yering force is sent by the Persians to carry
out the English demand that she be allowed 10
| stand in the open air and choose her own fortune
| without a knife at her throat.
To the Westerner the postulateS md conclusions
| of the Oriental mind in such case as thlS uiuSC
necessarily be unintelligibe. To him there can
not be two sides to the question OF crime Oh inc
| part of q man who carries of woman IN thlS
| way nor 10 the question of the woh"h
Grievance. But the Oriental cautiously avoids
| any such sharp conclusions For instance per-
| hans the lady consents to the accomplished l1ct'
! Consent clears the abductor of moral wrong.
This Kurdish chief is one of the most Sahctlied
OF Nlusims. None pray at the I'VE stated hourS
| more diligently, and none starve III Tasting more
| desperately. Doubtless this man ana Ills people
would kill in the name of the Lord any one found
entity of the crime of drinking wine. But there Is
nothing contrary to the profession of pety i'll his
| obductino n oirl In fact, a pous Muslin may
| coioe or seize O new victim every week, and If
! bor relatives make no objection, the religious
| hierarchy has none to offer. The man still re-
mains in the full odor of sanctity, plous and
| noble snecimen of the sweet characters evolved
under the teachings of the great Arabian Prophet.
As such q state of morality among religious men
is unintelgible to the Western mind so TO the
Oriental the need of fierce demands for the res
cue of the lady is unintelligiblc. The Muslin
theory in regard TO women is that they need
rather TO be restrained than defended. woman
needs yelling and isolation and surveillance. But
she is naturally qualified TO accept with equa-
nimity and satisfaction any sutton assigned to
her by the fates or by his own enterprise. Cen
| turies of polygamous experiment have brought
| thc nopular mind among Muslims here TO believe
that no woman has feelings which long prevent
content with the situation produced by the law
less acts of q bold and masterful admirer Are
these view O osfwmanhood low? The Muslin
purchase of white slaves for his harem is conse-
Grated by the THUS saith the Lord" of the Koran,
which fixes the level on which he shall regard