Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1901-07-25
THE SULTAN At HOME.
Something About the Private
Life of Turkeys Ruler.
FEARS DARKNESS LIKE A OHILD.


"" ".se Government Has at Last
Salts ~actoriIy Settled the American
InGeG.nIty Claims, Are Brilliantly
Lighted as Soon as the Light Fails
Now that the long standing contro-
versy with Turkey over American in
demnIty claims has been settled salts
factorily to the state department at
Washington by the payment of $4,000
to Mr.. Leishman, the United States
minister at COnstantinOple, the follow
ing facts about the sultan's private life.
taken from a little work recently issued
in Paris under the title of Abdul Ham
Id H." are of timely interest. We have
reasons for believing its statements
to be authentic, says the London Daily
News
The sultan of Turkey and his sur
roundings have become perforce lit
tie "westerniZed" on the surface. The
ladies of the palace make use of Pari-
sian dress materials. The commander OF
the faithful buys the latest invented
guns for the armory Of the Yildiz
kiosk. But beneath the skin there
IS no more of civilization, as we under
stand it, than ever there was. The roy
al income, for example, which is one OF
the largest in Europe, is collected by
oriental methods and subject to orien-
tai offerings. Let them steal so long
as they serve me-" Is the imperial mot
to, and so long as the minister or court
Ter does not make himself so obtrusive-
ly rich as to invite the Jealous scrutiny
Of the ruler he Is free to make his prof
1t from either public or private purses.
The personal life of Abdul Hamid,
however, is one of the most striking IL
Illustrations of this phenomenon or
light veneer Of western habit Oyerlay-
ing a score Of things totally oriental A
tyranny Is the natural system Of pol1ty
In the east, and in Turkey 1t IS not dis
sembled. But the personal existence or
the tyrant is passed in doing eastern
things in western way. Among the
most important Of the sultan's la0ors
is the hearing of the reports Of his spies
In all parts of Europe, but newspaper
cuttings are the form Of information
with which he most likes them to fur
nish him. His staff Of secretaries Is
large enough for the most hard worked
and devoted guardian Of the state, but
they are principally employed, and in-
cessantly, too, with the private con-
Germs, whims, suspicious and fancies or
their master. Tireless as his activity
Is, and careful as he IS Of each mo-
ment of time, very little Of his energy
Is directed toward national affairs, and
public business Is nowhere more de-
layed and neglected than under this
busy ruler.
Concerts, plays and cinematograph
entertainments are favorite means
with the sultan of dispelling the cares
Of a throne, as they are with most
crowned heads. The services Of his
own dramatic and operate troupes are
often in request, and any company that
may be visiting Constantinople Is usu-
ally commanded to favor him with
private performance. But 1t Is charac-
teristic Of the eastern notion Of royal
dignity that all mention Of these enter
tainments Is strictly forbidden In the
Turkish press, and 1t is rare that any
one outside the family Of the sultan Is
invited to witness them.
1t is said that he habitually drinks
some cordial before receiving embassa-
doris and visitors in order to give tenn
pOrary brilliance to his eyes and COM
plexiOn, for the "Sick Man" cannot
bear to be thought an invalid and has
never yet allowed his severest attacks
of Illness to be publicly announced.
He even goes so far as to doctor him
self for most Of his ailments. The pitt
liable state of his nerves makes the
night a recurring terror to him. He
fears darkness like a child, and the
whole Of the apartments occupied by
him, with the surrounding gardens, are
brilliantly lighted up from the mo-
ment the light fails. Silence, too, Is
terrible to him, and he can only sleep
with the noise Of his guard tramping
before the palace In his ears. From
his sleep he will start up to summon
an interpreter for a dream or to go out
and sweep the horizon with strong
glasses. Usually he Is sent with did,
Guilty to sleep by the reading aloud Of
his brother or a favorite servant Next
to the reports Of his spies. the litera-
ture that appeals most strongly to his
taste is that of the sensational novel,
and the more horror there Is to stimu-
late morbid taste the better Is he
pleased. 1t is characteristic of him
that the only sport in which he excels
is rifle and pistol practice. At this he
could show the way to most men.
These are few of the details regard
Ing the life Of Abdul Hamid which we
have gathered from the work OF Ados-
sides Bey. He has no cause to love the
sultan, whose persecution of the young
Turks drove him from his country, but
we believe his account to be faithful,
and we have selected only such matter
as seemed unlikely TO be tinged by
prejudice.
Chinese Go Slow.
Professor Starr states that the edu-