The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1899-04-11
sULTAN's TREASURE HOUSE.
Turkeys Ruler Has Many Millions
Locked Up.

The papers are full of the poverty of
Turkey. The debt of the country runs
high into the hundreds of millions and
all things are taxed. The customs du-
ties never get into the hands of the
sultan. They are paid to the foreign
bondhOlders, and the tribute from
Egypt goes almost directly to England.
but his private expenditures have al
ways amounted to many millions a
year, and there is a vast amount of
money tied up in the jewels of his own
treasury.
1T was" says a recent traveller,
through the private secretary of the
sultan that l obtained access to this
treasury. Guarded by Turkish soldiers
and accompanied by officers whose big
swords clanked over the marble floors,
l wandered about room after room fill
ed with jewels and precious stones.
For one whole morning | Toasted my
wondering eyes on cases loaded with
enough gold plate to have broken the
backs of half a dozen government
mules, and l broke the tenth COM
mandment many times as l examined
the jewels, which by the way, are all
kept behind glass and under lock and
key.
There is at least a peck of big dia-
mOnds in this treasury. There are sew
eral quarts of pearls of all sizes and
shapes, from the little seeds as big as
the head of a pin to the great iridescent
beauties larger even than an ordinary
hazel nut.
There is one emerald which is as
large as your fist, and there are also
enough watches which are set with
pearls and diamonds to fill a two BUSH
el basket. There is a golden cradle COW
cred with precious stones, in which the
children of seven different sultans
have slept, and I counted dozen hand
mirrors with frames of gold and set
tings of emeralds, rubies, sapphires
and diamonds.
There is one armchair as big as
that in which your grandfather sits,
which is of solid gold set with precious
stones, and which has q satin cushion
upon it which is embroidered with fine
pearls. This chair is kept under glass,
and it has little gold footstool plac-
ed in front of it,
There is a toilet table, the top of
which is made of lapis lazuli, and the
feet of which are claw shaped the
claws being made of diamonds, emer-
aids, rubies and carbuncles. Big dia-
monds hang down from the top of the
table, and along the edge of it is deep
fringe of diamonds.
Another wonderful thing is the col
icCllOl VI Deu qllllS, WHICH are elIlDTOl-
dered with pearls. Take the quilt of a
wide bed, and cover it with pearls of
all sizes, from those as big as the fat
test chestnut down to the size of a
pins head. String thousands of such
pearls into all shapes, SO that they
cover the quilt with embroidery, and
you have some idea of the kind of bed
clothes under which the most famous
sultans of the past have slept.
And then the collection of armor!
There are numerous swords, and upon
one sword hilt l counted fifteen dia-
monds, each of which was as large as
mans thumb, and there were Other
swords set with all kinds of jewels.
There We're saddles beyond number
embroidered with pearls with stirrups
of silver. There were pipes set with
diamonds, and one case contained the
costumes of the sultans of the past
each of which blazed with precious
| stones.
"Of the gold plate, there We're dishes
of solid gold large enough for a baby
! BATH and there were plates, cups anC
saucers, tureens and pitchers, mas
sive and heavy, made of this precious
| metal.
1.-The entire collection-and I tina
day saw only a part-filled a humble
of rooms, and it must be worth man.
millions. 1t contains the accumulatet
treasures and relics of the sultans o
the past, and when the Turkish empir
is finally divided up among the ruler
of Europe there viii be a great scram
| BILE for the most precious objects IL
these treasury vaults"