The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1897-06-24
TURKISH MIXTURE"
The Extraordinary Variety of Races Over
Which the Sultan Rules.

pean and Asian provinces. In Eu-
rope both the GreekSand Albanians
are as numerous as the Ottoman
Turks, each contingent numbering
about 1900, 900, according to the
best authorities. Constantinople it
self has just as diversified a mixture
as the kingdom generally, and only
3s5, 600 Of its 875, 900 inhabitants are
Mussulmans, the Greeks numbering
153, ZOO and the Armenians $50, o00
But in Asia there are twice as many
Ottomans as all other races put to-
gether The Turks proper consist of
Ottomans, Yurouks and TuroOmans.
The names have something terrible
in their very sound to us, but trav-
elers unite in describing the Otto
mans as honorable and humane
men, although they can fight when
it comes to blows The Turcomans
live a pastoral life, while the Yu-
rouks 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 as cordially as Parnellites and
nti-Parnellites; but, whatever the
form of faith, they prefer robbery
as a means of livelihood to any 9th
er industry. At the same time, they
are of fine physical type and make
splendid soldiers. They treat their
women like oxen, and although
they dress in rich clothes of the
fashion of the Scottish highlands
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. In the event of war the
Albanians would probably fight for
the sultan. The Greeks have not
penetrated very far inland, but have
scattered themselves along the coast
of European and Asiatic Turkey,
where they are always on the look
out to put money in their purse. To
gether with the Jews and the Arme-
mans, they do nearly all the trading
and banking of the country and
make a very good thing out of it.
In spite of the sultan's misrule the
Greeks immigrate in increasing
number every year, which makes
one think that they must be a sim
gularly imprudent people or that
Abdul is not so very much damned,
after all.
Armenians and their extermina-
tors, the Kurds, are both sprung
from a 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
1000, 900. They keep the sultan in
perpetual hot water, being very bad
Moslems, but they are very enter
prising, chiefly in Staying Armenians
and stealing their neighbors' goods.
When not thus engaged, they rear
cattle, sheep and goats, and they
differ in no way from their ancestors
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 2, 500, 900,
and are intelligent people with a
particular talent for trade and bank
ing. The Kurds would probably
fight on the side Of the Turks, and
we all know what side the Armeni
ans would take.
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 Mahommedan 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, 600, 600
or 5, 100000, 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 living; the
Lazes, and the gypsies. 1t is sup
posed that in the event of war the
Lazes and Circassians, as well as the
Fartars, Yurouks and Turcomans,