The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1895-12-14
I'm EVBRYBODY'S MOUTH
Many Things of Interest Relating
to the Sultan of Turkey
and His Empire.
Son of a Christian Armenian Wo-
man and Yet a Despot
OF Despots.
Rightfui Successor to Maholnet
and Now the Most Conspicuous
Monarch or Earth.

Monarch or Earth.
| Abdul Hamid Khan, Sultan of the Otto
man Empire, head priest of the Moham-
medan church of the world, Calf or
| rightful successor to Mohammed, is today
| the most conspicuous monarch on earth.
Although the gaze Of the world is now
riveted upon him and his Sublime
| Porte,'' of all the rulers now occupying
thrones he is doubtless the least known,
| because of the great seclusion in which
he daily lives, says the Boston Transcript.
| One of the highest American authori-
! ties on Turkish affairs is DR.. Cyrus Adler
of this city, librarian of the Smithsonian
! Institution and curator of the Oriental
antiquities in the National Museum. He
has made special study of the history
and present customs of all Oriental ma
tions. AS commissioner from the United
States to Turkey and the Orient, on behalf
! of the Columbian Exposition has spent
PORTIONS of two years in Constantinople.
! During the summer OF last year he again
visited the Turkish capital. On all of
| these occasions he was accorded eXcep-
tional advantages for studying Turkey in
all of it's details, and because Of his scien-
tific and literary standing in this coun-
try he mingled in Constantinople with
persons of influence. He has therefore
learned from personal observation, and
from acquaintance with many OF those In
Turkish official circles, many facts con-
cerning the Sultan, the Porte, and the
politics o. Turkey, which should be OF
great int tefcest just at this time.
Sultan AbGul Hamid Khan, who has
| been seated upon the Ottoman throne for
| nearly twenty years., said DIR. Adler yes
terday, as he opened our interview, is
! today a, mann SO years old. His portraits
which we fire quently see published IN the
papers and magazines would indicate him
+! to be q young man Of about 81. This
youthful appearance of his pictures is due
to the fact that for some reason his Ma
| jesty has refused to have his portrait
taken since the time Of his coronation.
| The most recent Of these portraits is,
! therefore, twenty years old
| 1T is rurnored that Abduls mother was
! Christian, and. strange to say, an .Arme-
| nian, although on becoming one of the
wives of the Sultan's father she became q
Moslem. His Majesty is a. man of medium
| height, wearing a full beard, although
represented in his portr ats with simply
a mustache Though slight in frame, his
| broad shoulders suggest that he still re-
| tains considerable personal vlgor. HIS
| personality does mot Indicate him to be a
| man given over to luxury, but ON the
ether hand. when appearing in public he
| is usually clad in the modest field uni
form of an infantry general. Yet he is
man of great wealth. The royal lands
are said to be very large, and his per-
| sonal income mzist be enormous, if we
| ca1, Judge from the number of palaces to
| be kept up.
'tThe manner in which foreigners Or
dinarily see the Sultan is by attending
on Friday-the Mehammedan Sabbath
the ceremony of tSeiamlik, or prayers.
On this occasion his majesty comes out
with his officers to worship in the Ham,
idiah mosque, which he built for him
self near the Ye,diz palace, his favorite
abode in Constantinople. On one occa-
sion when I was allowed to view his
majesty / accompa panied our American
minister to a little building adjoining
the royal palace, where I presented my
card before being admitted to the am
bassadors' room, which is one Of the
magnificent apartments Of the imperial
| household An aide de-camp took our
cards, after which we were given seats
at one Of the palace windows before
which the royal procession was expected
to move on its way to the mosque. After
waiting a, half hour, which time was
whiIed away with cfgarets and coffee or
tea, there appeared number of car
riages containing the women of the Sui
tan's household, that were afterward
drawn up in the courtyard of the mosque,
which we could view from where we sat.
After the horses had been removed there
followed procession including series
of magnificent horses and carriages, in
one Of which sat a very tiret-looking
man, with a very kindly face that bore
peal to ones sympathy. This was Alb
dull Hamid Khan, the Sultan of the
Turks. AS he passed the window he
bowed to us, and later the aide-de- camp
informed us that his majesty sent his
salutations Thus ended this odd recep-
ton I have been with a number Of
people when received in this peculiar
way, who, though prejudiced against
Turkey and the Turks, invariably let
their hearts go out to this tired-looking
parsonage, undoubtedly the hardest
worked ruler in the world.
"The Sultan does not delegate any
great amount of authority to his min-
listers. He insists upon getting all sorts
Of details in regard to everything that
is going on in Europe AS an example
of the small details which he must con-
slider personally, every judicial sentence
imposed for a term Of imprisonment
lasting more than five years is brought
to his attention. He is the absolute
head Of the state. the absolute head Of
the AIolamnedan Church, not only CT
Turkey. but Of the world, and he is COM
mander-in- chief Of the army. He is Sui
tan of the Ottoinans and Calf, which
means the successor of Mohammed. 1t
is this claim that makes him SO formid-
able in the Mohammedan countries OUT
side of his empire.
.sThe Sultan's favorite palace, the
.Yeldiz' (Sts~D, is one of the smaller Of
the several royal abodes. He rarely Fen-
lures beyond its precincts. I saw him
outside but once during my visits to
Constantinople. This was: on the occa-
sion of the great feast of the 'kurban-
Bairam when his majesty gave a hand
shake to each Of the officers Of the gov