Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1896-01-22

the harem is the mother of the Sui
tan, who is known as the Valide Sui
tana, and who has something to do ms
to picking out and training the Sui
tah's wives. This woman rules the
harem.
The papers are full of The poverty Of
Turkey. The debt of the country
runs high into the hundreds of mill
ions, and all things are taxed. The
customs du.ies never get into the
hands of the Sultan. They are paid
to the foreign bondholders, and the
tribute from Egypt goes almost di-
rectly to ENGLAND. His Majesty is
supposed to be poor, but his private
expenditures have amounted always to
many millions q year, and there is a
vast amount of money tied tip in the
jewels of his treasury: 1t was
through the private secretary OF the
Sultan that l got access to his treas
ury. Guarded by Turkish soldiers
and accompanied by officers whose
swords clanked over the marble floors,
I wandered about room after room,
filled with jewels and precious stones.
I feasted my eyes on cases loaded with
enough gold rlate to have broken the
backs of half dozen Government
mules. and 1 broke thetenth command
ment many times as 1 examined the
Jewels, which, by the way, are kept
behind glass. There is at least a peck
of big diamonds in this treasury:
There are quarts of pearls of all shapes
and sizes, from the little seeds as big
as the head of a pin to the great
irridescent beauties the size OF
a hickory nut. There is one
famous emerald which is as
big as your fist, and there are enough
watches, VIII oh are set with pearls and
diamodds, to fill two-bushel basker:
There is golden cradle, covered with
precious stones; in which the children
Of seven different Sultans are said to
have slept, and / counted d dozen
hand mirrors, with frames OF gold aud
settings 6f emeraids, fubies and aia-
monds. There is one arm chair as big
as that in which your grandfather
sits which is of solid gold, set with
precious stones, and which has satin
cushion upon it which is embroidered
with pearls. This chair is kept under
a glass case, and it has little gold
footstool in front of it. There is q
toilet table the top of which is made
of lapis lazuli and the feet of which
are claw-shaped, the claws being made
of diamonds, emeralds, rubies and
carbuncles. Big diamonds hang down
from the top of the table, and along
the edge Of it there is deep fringe OF
diamonds. :.
Another wonderful thing is the col
lee ton OF bed quilts, which are EN-.
broidered with pearls. Take the quilt
Of wide bed and cover it with pearls
Of all sizes, from those as big as a pin
to some as large as the fattest chest
nut. String thousands of such pearls
into all shapes, SO that they cover the
quilt with embroidery, and you have
some idea of the kind of bed clothes
under which the most famous of
the Sultans Of the past have slept.
And then the collection OF ar
morI There are numerous swords,
and upon one swcr l hit l counted ff-
teen diamonds, each of which was as
big as the top of mans thumb, and
there were other swords set with all
kinds of jewels. There were saddles
embroidered with pearls; with stir
rups of silver. There were pipes Set
with diamonds, and one case contained
the costumes of the Sultans of the
past, each of which blazed with pre-.
cious stones. OF the gold plate there
were dishes of solid gold big enough