The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1896-02-08
OTHER side OF THE STORY r. |
.rlarion IF. Crawford Does Not
Think the Arr1ieniaIls s.
Are Angels.
Says They Are a Sharp, shrewd
Tarding Race and Utterly
Detested. s.i.e
+; --
An Interesting Story Upon Novel
Taking and How He Him
X, self Works.

One Of the best novels ever written
about Constantinople, as it is today, is
paul Patoff," by F. Marion Crawford.
read the story during my stay in Tur-
key, a few years ago, and reveiWedLit
since the sultan has been having trouble
with the Armenians, writes Frank G. Car
penter from Washington 4 just finished
the second reading Of it when met its
author here in Washington, and had a
most interesting chat with him about
Turkish matters. Mr.. Crawford has spent
months in Constantinople. During this
time he was very close to many of the
leading Turkish officials and had a good
chance to Study their civilization. He
has travelled over most parts OF Asia
Minor, and has been a number of times
through the regions between the Black
and Caspian seas. r~>
During our chat the subject Of the
massacres came up. Mr. Crawford evil
IDENTIFY thinks there are two sides to the
story, and that all the truth had not yet
been told. Said he: II have no doubt
but that the Armemans are being badly
treated but the stories Of the massacres
must, T think, have been exaggerated
This is not the first time they have been
prosecuted by the Turks. Why, there
are only 100000 Armenians, all told, and
these 800, 900 have, 1t seems to me, been
massac cred dozen times over during. my
personal recollection. Armenia is you
know, very close to Russia. II matters
are really so bad as they are painted,
it would seem to me that the Armenians
could flee across the boundary. The
Russians are glad to get them, and the
Armenians prosper among them.
81 met q great many Armenians dur
ing my travels throughout the East, and
I doubt whether they are innocent, con-
tlding, unoffensive Christians that the
American people believe them to be. My
experience with them is that they are
the sharpest, shreWdest and trickiest of
all the eastern people. They say in Tur-
key that it takes ten Jews to equal one
Armenian, and five Armenia.ns, to equal
one Persian in sharp business dealings.
They have many able men among them,
and doubt not that their leaders have to
a certain extent fomented this trouble,
hoping that the governments of Europe
would interfere, and that Armenia would
be entirely freed from Turkish rule
.e4 How about the kurds ?'' 7"s- 5-''#2a;'S
"The Kurds are a very rude, rough
people," replied Mr. Crawford. They
are fanatical Mohammedans, and their
religious feelins against the Armenians
is increased by their business dealings
with them. 7 The Araenians get the Kurfls
drunk aud then cheat them out of their
property. You must remember that the
Armenians are the merchants of that
part of the country. They do all the
business, and often get the better Of the
bargain with the unsophisticated
Kurds.''
.'How did you find the Turks?"
p .They are in many ways a. very decent
people replied Mr.. Crawford. ''I assure
you I would rather trade with a Turk
in any part Of the East than with
Christian. have the highest respect for
Christianity, but the. Christians of the
East are not like us. The business men.
among them are 10 large extent set
of sharpers, so much so that the term
oriental Christian in the minds OF East
ern travellers is almost synonymous with
that OF thief. The Turks are, as rule,
very .deyout. Nearly all of them read
the Koran, and even the men OF the bet
ter classes are. careful to conform to the
QSIdlLS ul CpGly yUGtJ "O4
shin. i. know of one very prominent
Turk. who is noted for his libera]ity,
who is. nevertheless, constant in his at
tendance on the mosques and who prays
five times a day. He has a costly rug
upon which he llneels when he turns his
face toward Mecca and makes his pray
ers. The rug is carfully watched that
nothing Inclean may touch it.. Ii dog.
4 t~
family would he excited and the house
would be turned upside down until it
was purified. The Iohammedans, in
fact. are more. rigid in the practice of
their religion than we are. They are.
not ashamed of their faith, and you may
see many merchants sitting and read
ing the. Koran in bazaars during the in
walls of trade. They will say their pray
ers when the time comes, no matter what
is going on about them. They keep all
the fast days. In Ramazan, which is the
Mohaanmedan Lent, it is against the
laws Of the Koran to eat Or smoke during
the day time, and. from sunrise to sun
set they will not allow 1norsel of food
to pass their. mouths They will not.
smoke, and many Of them will not swal-
low their spittal. Many of the better.
class of. Mohammedan contend that their
religion is better than our on account
Of its sanitary rules. It presc1lbes, you
know, the details Of mans daily life.
The Mohanmedan has to take a certain
of baths. He has certain habits.
Of eating and drinking. He 4shayes his
head with the exception of a lock on the!
crown. and he will not eat certain kinds.
Of meat @ f..s5!
..How about the sultan and the Turks
of Constantinople; are they very re-.
igious?"
t.You do not get a good idea OF the,
Turks from the people Of Constantine
pie.'' replied Mr.. Crawford. That city
is made up of q mixture Of races. The
Turks out In the country often have long
boards and fair faces. They are more.
like the Persians than like the peoplea0f:
the other nations of the Levant. ss.
sssAs for the sultan continued Mr.
era wford, The is not a Turkat least,
he is not one in the minds OF many peo-
ple throughout the Levant. He is sup
posed by some to be Of Armenian birth
and he has been nicknanaed the sArmen
ian coachman, from a story that his real
father was not the sultan, bnt an Armen-
Ian who drove one of st1ife .coaehessE Ein1