The Dakota chief. (Gann Valley, Buffalo County, S.D.) 18??-1913, 1896-05-14
TURKISH O~FFlClALcoM
~ american Painters E.,o-;,,.o
win the Police.

iiophinSon Smith cor,r;b,..
oie Neh'uFy a paper entitled "a p.r.on,
"iE conducted Arrcst in Co,,.n..
iople' giving his exporjencos ,r;+h .t
ponce IN that city. He was "personauv
cohuucted' by a ira-oman Of ,bo N;n
is'er OF Police to see thar ha d;d no.
SAe'ch any forbidden scenes Rut ho
managed to e!ude the vipiIa poo 40 a.,
oihciai on several occasions. as some ~
i'S ILLUSTRATIONS will show. or his in.
uerVlew with the Minister of polico Nv
Smith writes. MI
Al the end of a flight Of wooden s+ons
crowded with soldiers, a long, wide baIl
anu Il aihgy room, | found the chief
urasolhan of the Minister of Police
hot u dragoman after the order of Gas.
llhlr, but a dragoman who smoke sevar
languages and had the manner of 4
diplomat.
III Cohstantinople there are of course
~uraSolnans and dragomans. Each am-
passF mas one as an Interpreter. MANY
Oh them are of high rank. the German
being ii count. These men,
us translators, are intrusted. of course.
"lch secrets 81 great moment. Every
consulate has a dragoman, who trans.
iateS the JargOn of the East-Arabic.
lurKlsh. modern Greek. Bulgarian M.
tols. II the like-into intelligent Fny.
llsh, French, or German: and so has
every high native official with much or
little To do with the various nationoli.
Ties That make up the Ottoman empire
ana its n%eighbOrS. There are, 90. the
d guides called dragomans, who
interpret in many tongues, and who lie
in all.
When appealed to, this high-caste
uragoman of the minister said evasiyely
that he believed he remembered Cast.
nllr-he was not sure. It was nee.
essary, however, for me, before ap.
preaching his Excellency, to be armed
with n passport and il letter from my
consul %vouching for my standing and
Integrity. Something might then be
done, although the prospect was not
cheering; still, with a wave of his hand
and Il profound bow, he would do his
utmost.
instantly produced my passport
always wore it in my inside pocket,
eel my heart-and at once called his
attention to the cabalistic signature of
the official who had vised it on the day
of my arrival-three wiggles and a dot,
a sign manual bearing a strong resem-
blance to an anglcworm writhing in
great agony.
The next day-there is not the slight.
est hurry in the East handed in my
second document. ~emblazOned on the
seal with the arms OF my country, and
certifying to my peaceful and nOn-revO
%lutionary character, my blameless life
and the harmless nature Of my calling.
Seated ut Il common folding desk lit
tered with papers, surrounded by sec
rctarieS and officers, sat a man perhaps
fifty years Of age. with calm, resolute,
clear-cut face and an eye that could
havedrawn the secrets from the sphinx.
He was neatly dressed in dark clothes,
with plain black necktie. The only
spots of color about him were Il specB
of red in his ~buttonh0ie and the yer.
million feZ that crowned his well-mOd.
eled head. In his hand he held the con.
suls letter and my passport and visit.
ing card. For an instant he bored me
full Of holes, and then with a satisfied
glance motioned me TO Il seat. Casimir.
who had preceded me, was bent double
In profound ObeiSance, his head almost
on the floor. l returned his E~xcellency's
glance as fearlessly as | could. and sat
down to look him W. At this instant
a clerk entered with some papers and
advanced rapidly toward his desk. The
interruption evidently was inoppor-
tune, for the same eye that had compre-
hended my entirety shot an angry look
at the intruder, who stopped. wavered,
and then, shriveling up like a burned
leaf, glided back out Of the room. Not
a word was spoken by either. The
power of the eye had been enough.
When l crossed the Galata bridge the
following morning | was attended by
two men: n the ever-suppliant CAST
mir, carrying my outfit as t~riumphantly
as if it contained the freedom of the
city, and the other Il ~thick-set, broad
shouldered man with Il firm, deter
mined face and quick, restless eyes,
whom the gendarmes saluted with
marked respect as we passed. This
was Mahmoud, attached TO the minis
ter's personal staff, and now detailed
for special duty in my service. He was
responsible for my conduct, the char
acter OF my work. and my life. with
full power to strike down any II who
molested me, and with equal power TO
hurry me to the nearest lookup II |
departed a hair-line from the subjects
which, by the g~raciousness of his chief
l was permitted 10 paint. The sketches
on these pages would never have been
possible except for his ceaseiesS care