The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1897-11-11
THE SULTAN's SUBJECTS.
Extraordinary Variety of Races Over Which
the Sultan Rules.

the Sultan Rules.
There are no fewer than seven
main divisions Of races in the Euro
pean and Asian provinces. In Eu-
rope both the Greeks and Albanians
are as numerous as the Ottoman
Turks, each contingent numbering
about 1,30O,O 600, according to the
best authorities. Constantinople it
self has just as diversified mixture
as the kingdom generally, and only
385, 900 of its SIS, 900 inhabitants are
Mussulmans, the Greeks numbering
153, 900, but in Asia there are twice
as many Ottomans as all other
races put together. The Turks prop
ar consist of Ottomans, Yurouks and
Turcomans. The names have some
thing terrible in their very sound
to us, but travellers unite in describr
ing the Ottomans as honorable and
humane men, although they can
fight when it comes to blows. The
Turcomans live a pastoral life,
while the Yurouks are nomadic and
therefore not easily subjected to
law.
Although the Greeks and the AL
banians are regarded as belonging
to the same Greco-Latin race, the
latter are for the most part Mussul-
mans. Some of the Albanians are
Roman Catholics, and others are of
the Greek church, and the Two
slightly divergent sects hate each
other. But, whatever the form Of
faith, they prefer robbery as
means of livelihood to any other in
dustry. At the same time they are
Of a fine physical type and make
splendid soldiers, but they treat
their women like oxen, and, al
though they dress in rich clothes OF
the fashion of the Scottish high
lands, they have a horror of soap.
In fact, it is said that they put on
their clothes once for all and never
take them off. The Greeks have not
penetrated very far inland, but have
scattered themselves along the coast
Of both European and Asiatic Tur-
key, where they are always ON the
lookout to put money in their purse.
Together with the Jews and the Ar
menians, they do nearly all the trad
ing and banking of the country and
make a very good thing out Of i.
Armenians and their extermina-
tors, the Kurds, are both sprung
from Persian stock. The Kurds
live in the mountains and are not
precisely the kind of people one
would care to set about reforming.
Some say there are an even million
of them; others say there are over
2,OOO, 900. They keep the sultan IN
perpetual hot water, being very bad
Moslems, but they are very enter
prising, chiefly in Staying Arme-
mans and stealing their neighbors'
goods. When not thus engaged, they
rear cattle, sheep and goats, and
they differ in no way from their an
cestors as described by Xenophon.
Armenia was a portion of western
Asia, between the Caspian sea and
Asia Minor, but it has suffered the
fate of Poland, and the Armenians
are now almost as scattered as the
Jews. They number about 100000
and are intelligent people, with a
particular talent for trade and bank
ing.
The Semitic race has many fam
lilies in Turkey. There are the Jews
who, prosecuted everywhere, took
refuge in Turkey the Greek church
Maronites, who are the deadly foes
of their neighbors, the Druses; the
Druses of the Mohammedan faith,
brave and temperate men, who take
neither wine nor tobacco and who
detest the Maronites; the Chaldeans,
who are Christians of a sort; the
Arabs, Of whom there are 4, 900, 600
or 5000, 900 and who, though hold
ing the same religious views as the
sultan, are his inveterate enemies,
and the Syrians.
Then there is the fine race of Cir
cassians, who are differentiated
from most of the other inhabitants
by the fact that they work for liv-
ing; the Lazes, and the gypsies.-
New York Ledger.