Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1896-10-26
A C0NSTANTlNOPLE MOB,
TERRIBLE WORK OF THE CHAPQIN
AND THE SOFrAS,
The Former the Rascals and Vaga-
bonds of the City, and the Latter
Theological Students.

1 ~
respondent of the New York
Tribune. The memory holds forever
after picture of frenzied faces,
strange garments and gleamingiknives.
The ear retains for a long time the
mad shouts of the pursuit or the ex.
ultant cry that accompanied the fin
ishing blow. 1t is not pleasant
memory. For the second time within
year Constantlnople has been given
up to pillage and murder. The demon
of massacre that stalked through the
city last September has returned more
terrible than ever, and he has found
his efficient ally in the Constantinople
mob.
In no city on earth can one pistol
shot call together mob that compares
in all savage qualities with the mob of
Constantinople. Time and again be-
fore and since the destruction of Jan
issaries it has turned the capital upside
down and made the streets of Stam-
boul run with blood. 1t does not
change with time. Generation after
generation it is the same in compost.
tion and in purpose. 1t has two OBJ
| iects in view: first, to kill Christians !;
secord, to seize their property.
The mob is composed of two gen
oral classes, the Chapqin- that is, the
rascals OF the city, belonging TO the
lowest class of the population, brutal
and vicious, and the Softas-that is,
theological students. The former, as
poor, lgnarant, ferocious and fanatic
as the hordes that Mahomet sent
against the city 450 years ago, are an
mated by the love of plunder and of
bloodshed. In their savage breasts
there is no feeling of mercy, but pos
tive delight in the shedding of blood.
They seek not only to kill but to
mingle in killing. Toward Christian
they have no sentiment of humanity.
They are of every race OF Asia Minor
that has adopted the religion of Me.
homet. In their dark faces and un.
couth garments we can trace the char
acteristics of Laz, Kurd, Circassian,
Georgian, Zeybeck and Osinauli. In
ordinary times they lead precarious
existence, living from hand to mouth,
working, when forced, as porters,
scavengers and laborers; but ready
at the first signal to turn their i'm
plements into weapons and join the
fierce cry, ''Down with the Giaoursl"
The second class, and the more
dreaded, is the Softas, Sofia or Sou
kite, as the word was originally pro.
nounced, means something consumed
in the fire, and is the name given to
the students OF the theological schools,
who are, supposedly, consumed in the
fire of zeal for knowledge. In Con.
stantinople there are, at n moderate
estimate, 10, 900 OF these Mahometan
theological students. They are camped
like a great army in the city OF the
Sultan, and at the faintest whisper of
reform or concession to Crete, Ar
menia or Macedonia, or at the first
rumor of insubordination on tho part
of the Armenians OF the city, one hears
the ominous murmur, "The Softas are
rising" Many cheeks turn pale at the
cry. 1t calls up too many scenes in
the streets of Galata and Stamboul of
helpless men and women struck down
by the heavy curved clubs in the hands
of these bigoted fanatics. In the riots
OF last Septt mber and in the recent
awful slaughter in Constantinople the
Softas were the principal figures.
Fanatic almost to insanity, cruel as
hyenas, animated by sleepIess hatred
OF Christians, they are the centre and
soul OF every Mosem outbreak.
Their method of warfare is distinc.
tive. They do not usually attack in
large bands, nor do they attempt seri-
GUS fighting. Armed with heavy clubs,
often curved into hook, they patrol
the streets in bands of from dozen
to forty, or lie concealed in narrow
lanes. There they watch for their
prey, and thence, at the sight of de-
fenceless man or woman, they dash
forth and club the poor wretch to
death and trample on lthe mangled
form. Hundreds have fallen in Just
this way in Constantinople. Occa-
sionally the band varies the amuse-
ment by plundering the house of some
poor, defenceless creature, and by kill.
ing the women and children.
The dress of tho Sofia is unmistak-
able, even in q city that abounds with
SOSpulliCos ihC hOlbu vi tO~ud1 Is CIuu,
| like his predecessors for several gen
erations, in loose fitting trousers of
brown that grow smaller toward the
ankle; colored cotton shirt, collar
less, and long, ample surtoot that falls
straight from the shoulders to the
tops of the heavy boots. The distin-
gushing mark of the Sofia, however,
is the band of spotless white cloth
wound around and around tho fez,
something after the fashion of tur.
ban. The face, which is smooth
shaven, is likely in reposo to be dull
and heavy.
The mosque is the centre of the Sof-
| ta's life. 1t is in a very real sense his
"alma mater" 1t supplies him not only
with knowledge, but also with food
and shelter. From the times of the
earliest caliphs down to the present
day, the imperial mosques have had
connected with them medressehs-tha
is, colleges, for the training of youth.
TTp1ar tba aarlv 40 oiinbo +ba h,nb c,o,