Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-11-30

The Tomb of n Sultan.
of enc color During q talk 1 had with
Gen. Wallace not long ago he spoke very
b ghly of this sultan. saying that he was
much greater man than he has been gen.
orally supposed. l was told that he did
great deal of work, keeping track of for
eigr affairs, as well those of his own
country, and that he had the foreign news
papers translated for him. He has been so
suri ounded, however, by officials and spies
that II mas been impossible for him to
KNOW what has tecn going on in his coun-
try, and 1t is a question whether he has
even peen able to control the factions
which make up his government. The whole
Turkish empire is honeycombed with Spies
ard Constantinople is city of intrigues
and iPtrigt ers. 1t is doubtful, in fact.
whether the sultan car command good
faith on the part of his harem, and he does
rot know that his favorite wife may not
prove false to him.
Curious Things About the SuItan's
SeraSlio.
1t will be surprising to many to know
that the sultan's wives are all of slave
origin. The danger of assassination from
the harem has made it the custom OF 'rur-
key for the sultan not to marry. This pre-
vents the political intrigues of a many
branched royal family, and all of the sui
tans have had slave mothers. Abdul-Ham-
seraglio, and as this number is recruited
every year by slaves from Georgia and
C;reassia. the imperial nareln probably con-
tains that number today. 1t is curious to
know what is done with such a horde of
wives in case of the death of a sultan. 1t
is said that the grandfather of Abdul
Ham-G sewed up nearly 200 of the wives OF
his predecessors in sacks and loaded the
sacks with shot. He then dropped them
into the Bosphorus. in order that there
might be no treachery among the ladies' of
the palace. l saw number of the harem
ladies during the sultan'S trip across the
city. They rode in cabs, the windows of
which were open, and though their faces
were covered, the wells were of the thin
nest gauze and / could see them almost
as plainly as though they had worn no wells
at all. They were not. to my eyes, extra
ordinarily beautiful, and not a few seemed
rather old. Each of the carriages was
driven by swell coachman. beside whom
sat sober-faced eunuch with long whip
in his hand, and eunuchs rode up and down
The line, jealousy guarding their charges.
A large part of the servants of the palace
are eunuchs. There is chief eunuch,
who has charge of all the women about the
sultan, and who is almost as important a
man as the grand viZier. He gets a big
salary, and his influence is such that he is
able to make fortune cut of it during his
Office. There are 1000 servants connected
with the palace of the sultan, and each of
fis favorite wives has servants of her own.
At the head of the harem is the mother of
tana, and who has something to do as to
picking out and training the sultan'S wives
This woman rules the harem. She has her
eunuchs and her servants, and one of the
principal days of the year for her is that
which comes at the end of the Mohamme-
dan Lent, or ramazan. She has a lot of
Georgian slaves brought to her months be-
fore this. She picks out fifteen of the best
looking. They are put upon diet, are
taught music. and are as carefully groom
ed as SO many race horses. Just about the
close of Lent she looks over the lot and
picks out the one who is to be what is called
the bairam bride of the sultan. This girl
so the story goes, is not seen by the sultan
till the night after bairam. which is the
Mohammedan Easter. His majesty finds
her in his chamber when he retires to rest
and the story told me at Constantinople
vas that the new bride had to crawl in
under the clothes from the foot of the bed
in token of her subsection. l made some
inquiries as to the cost of such girls, and
was told that the price of the slave de-
pended quite as much upon her accomplish
ments as her beauty. An ordinary slave
girl of desirable age ranging from twelve
to sixteen brings 500. If she is beautiful
she may be worth $2,roo, and this sultan
has had macy wives for whom he has paid
as nigh as 5000 Blonde beauties with
bring high prices. but black girls are sold
for song. l was told that the buying and
selling of slaves still goes on in Constants
nople, but that of late years such sales
have been under the rose
A Visit to the Sultan.s Treasury
The papers are full of the poverty of
Turkey. The debt of the country runs high
into the hundreds of millions, and all
things are taxed The customs duties never
get into the hands of the sultan. They are
paid to the foreign bond holders, and the
tribute from Egypt goes almost directly to
England. His majesty is supposed to be
poor. but his private expenditures have
amounted always to many millions year,
and there is vast amount of money tied
up in the jewels CT his treasury. 1t was
through the private secretary of the sultan
that / got access to his treasury. Guarded
by Turkish soldiers, and accompanied by
officers whose swords clanked over the
marble floors. / wandered about room after
room, filed with jewels and precious stones.
l feaste1 my eyes cases loaded with
enough gold plate to have broken the backs
of half dozen government mules, and 1
broke the tenth commandment many times
as 1 examined the jewels. which, by the
way. are kept behind glass. There is at
least peck of big diamonds in this treas
ury There are quarts of pearls Of all
shapes and sizes. from the little seeds as
big as the head of pin to the great rides
cent beauties the size of hickory nut
There is one famous emerald which as