The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1896-07-21

Why the 0smanli Prefer to Ne Buried .
That Particular Place

Why the 0smann Prefer to Ne Buried ~
| That Particular Place
"And why do the Osnanh prefer
Scutari as a burial place to any other -
| "sEecause it Is there the trumpet Of
the archangel viii be first heard Tbs
| true believers who lie at Scutari will
FIRST rise to answer it; next the faith
full from the other parts of the earth.
After that the Hebrews, and, lastly.
Eiaous, who follow other gods"
Thus spoke grave old turbaned
Turk, who stood beneath cypress tree
On the slopes of the w,orh-famed ceme-
| terry on the Sea OF Mar,oora.
~Al know" he went on, in calm.
judicial accents, shat when the last
days OF the world are drawing near.
| the Osrnanli will be driven forth from
Stamboul by the Frank. Then. for
space, there will be troubie and turmoil
On the earth: ell Sons of the Faithful
| will fly to Scutari as a refuge; there
they, the living end the dead alike. viii
await the Day OF. Judgment"
With that, thinking it was q hurt to
bis dignity TO parley longer with
him, saluted majeStically. then passed
slowly away down to the gates OF the
cemetery, leaving the stranger TO wan-
der at his pleasure through that forest
of tail t0mbstones standing erect.
The coup d'aeil rs picturesque in the
extreme. As far as one can see, the
long, slender shafts OF rsarble rise be-
ID 81 - ; he
presses-tae Tree Of Allah. the Oenanli
call it, which points its finger to the
sky-while the luxuriant vegctation Of
the enst clusters around the base o.
the slabs. emphasizing their snowy
whiteness and preventing them from
being too dazzling to the eye.
Each tomb bears its own decoration.
single leahet. the dropping petais Of
I, rose, or o graceful frond Of fern iDdj-
cate thst,a female form lies below. 4
turban or fez shows that the dead per
son was a. man. Lamps, ostrich eggs,
sashes, fringed and oolored tandker-
chiefs Of varied hue, all have their
own Specification; while hero and there
viii be sone tall stone, sculptured from
SA0 " Cllus itcsO4 SiSsu
relief, encircledfby a plumber of small
er ones, which proves that the father
of q family man of wesith---rests
here surrounded by his wives and chill
dren. A curved sciuItar shows that .
man of war reposes here; al anchor
marks tho sleeping ;place Of a sailor; q
wand Of Office proves that the dead
man held some post of command. So
On, till something is,Iearned of all, even
though one may notSbe able to decipker
the fantastic Arabic. characters which
tell with moro detail the history Of the
dead.
The terms inwhich the Turk expresses
his lamentations are often very pathet-
ic. especially when they refer to tho
loss of his wife or child.
Here is one, taken from the tomb Of q,
young girl, which effectually con,bats
the common western delusion that tho
Osmanh believe thst women are born
without souls or hope of future life:
The cold blasts Of fate caused this
nightingale to wing its way to Heaven.
There it has found its awaited bliss.
Zeinab Is the name of her who lies be-
low. and for her. Lababa, who wrote
these lines, offers humble Petition
Weep not for her. for. though dead,
che has become q sojourner in the!
Gardens OF Pa<adise."-St. Peul's.