Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1896-06-25


sultans family and furnished with al
the latest devices for inducing super.
fuous relatives to prematurely quit the
earth One OF the favOrite methods Is
to grind up a fine diamond or two and
put the dust in the superluous ones
food A bit of glass would serve as well
but the dignity Of the family must be
maintained, praise be to Allah! Other
methods are far less artistic; the ground
diamonds are reserved for harem favor
ties who are supposed to know state Sc
arets. In reality Fatima or Haidee may
know absolutely nothing about state
secrets, but II they are suspected let
them look out for ground diamond en-
trees. Abdul Hamid Khan takes no
risks; he constantly bears in mind that
Of the SO sultans who preceded him on
the throne of Osman only five died in
their beds. Moreover, his windows look
upon the vast Cheragan palace, where
his immediate predecessor ended his
days; or, rather, where they were ended
for him. Besides, if he makes mis-
take about Fatima or Haidee, he can
always square matters by building a fine
mausoleum to the misjudged lady's
memory. The traditions Of the Ottoman
dynasty are not reassuring to its col
lateral relatives. Any one having the
slightest acquaintance with its history
knows that iNfanticide has been coun-
tenanced by long-standing practice.
The succession is vested in the eldest
male of the imperial family, and until
late years all the males of the house
Of Osman other than sons of the sultan
were put to death. While the heir to
the throne is immured in a harem,
practically a prisoner, the male chill
dren Of the sisters of the sultan were
murdered. The brother-in-law of the
sultan had no male children. When
man married sultana it was under
stood that he was to kill his own sons.
This state of affairs publicly continued
until recently. The Turks try to con-
ceal the fact that it was countenanced
by the government, but circumstances
arise from time to time which force it
upon public notice. Indeed, there is no
reason to believe that the frightful Gus
tom is not carried into effect to-day
within the walls of the Yildiz. The
children of Ateya Sultana, sister of
Abdul Medjid, we're thus slaughtered for
reasons of state. The graves of the
murdered children are in Il "turbeh," or
In the suburb of Eyoub, at
the Golden Horn. The murdered limo
cents have received fine gepulture. The
sultans make point of doing that well.
They bury their victims in style. If
Abdul Medjid weak and self-indulgent,
and Abdul Aziz, spendthrift and de-
kept up this frightful custom,
why not their present successor, who
has neither the amiable qualities of the
former nor the courage of the latter.
One Of the sultan's titles is "Hunkiar,"
or manslayer. He has other titles.
These are some of them: Father of
Sovereigns, Successor of the Prophet,
Pontiff of the Mussulmans, Refuge of
the World, and Shadow Of God. But
or other "Hunkiar" is the
most taking of the lot. The restless
little birds that skim up and down the
close to the surface of the
water, and are known to the Turks as
the souls of the lost" must make the
"Hunkiar" quite uncomfortable at
times. The little birds are pointed out
by the boatmen as "Hunkiar" victims.