The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-11-06

and they do say" here he dropped his
voice a little. that when the fires don't
come along often enough of their own
accord the touloumbajis help things
out with oil and matches"
"wnat, set fire to buildings?"
The porter nodded. why, that's
nothing, the government does that
itself when it wants a street Widened
or some old quarter rebuilt. II you
want TO see where the fire is we can go
up on the roof"
So we went UP, and sure enough, off
to the southeast was a glow in the sky
ana tongue of flame shooting up. The
city lay wrapped in its strange night
beauty, cypress trees rising above the
red-tiled roofs, the Bosphorus to the
left, the Golden Horn at the right, and
slender minarets lifting their heads
dimiy whichever way one turned.
Look. there" said the porter, "a
single light is shining from the Galata
tower. which means that the fire is in
STEAMBOAT, not here in PeTa- If it were
on this side Of the Golden Horn there
would be two lights. Now, listen, yoU
can hear the beckjis calling
Sure enough, from the street below
came the long sing-song cry of night
Waterman: Yang-hur-var-r-r SIAM
bol-da-a-a- Yang-hur-var-r-r. SIAM
boi-da-a-a. -fire-in--
Stanbou-ou- And then the ring
ing of his iron-shod staff striking on
the cobble stones. And forthwith,
from the street adjoining, came the
same cry, with the same ringing blows
of the staff. Then from another street,
and still another. from dozens of
streets, all about US, sounding fainter
and fainter, until the cries were lost
in the outskirts, "Yang-hur-var-
STAN bol-da-a-a." All the beckjis in
Constantinople were waking the Sleep
ers with sturdy lungs and vlgilant
slaves.
why do they make such a racket"
I asked, and why do the dogs howl
sO?"
The porter shrugged his shoulders.
1.-THE beckjis cry out and pound the
streets because they have nothing else
to DO; the dogs howl because it is their
nature to-"
How do the beckjis know where the
ire is? They can't all see the tower,
can they?"
NO; they find out by kilograms that
are sent from the central station all
over the city. Besides, each beckji
hears his neighbor call. and SO the
word is passed on"
We stood talking, and presently along
the street below came q whitehead
company of runners going at full speed.
They ran beautifully, with long strides.
mons. Their brown legs were bare to
the knees.
who are they?" I asked.
"They are irregular touloumbajis.
VINO carry the hand-pumps. When the
alarm comes they spring up all over
the city and start for the fire on q dead
run. They 90 like deer, as you can
see, and turn aside for no one so that
bad accidents often happen. The reg
ular touloumbajis have a certain small
salary paid them. or. at least, promised
them, by the government, but these
fellows have no salary at all. They
are merely allowed to sleep in disused
mosques and must depend entirely for
wages upon what they can steal. With
them it is a case of first come first
serviced. and that is why they hurry.
Also because they like to show off
their Importance. You can tell them
because they wear white breecnes and
Will knock you down with the greatest
pleasure If they get an opportunity"
About minute or two after the pas