The San Francisco call., 1901-10-06

body. and which has the advantage Of caus-
ing horrible suffering. yet rarely proving fatal
however. several prisoners subjected to It. un-
able to stand the pain expired in the execu-
toner's hands Another punishment, also
and more atrociously refined. consists in the
application Of eggs. boiling hot, under the arm
pits. There is agony more intense, 1t Is
said. and the suffering it causes upsets ones
constitution so profoundly and wrecks so ut
terly the nervous system that the unfortunates
condemned to submit to it are soon seized with
madness
1t to this torture. they say.
subjected the eunuch Mouzaffer Agha, exiled
last year to Mecca on the ridiculous charge
Of having dvulged Yidz secrets to the Brit
ish embassy. Deprivation of sleep is also
punishment often inflicted by Marshal zekki
Pasha at the military school. and it often oc-
ours that the unfortunate cadets punished il
this way become mad
We might enlarge this subject and
crate a hundred other barbarities of which
Yildiz is the theater. We will confine our
selves, however, TO the statement that every
torture the most classical and the newest. the
most brutal well the most refined and
scientifically Chinese, is afectonately cuti-
vatod in this garden Of punishments.
NJ Dorys says that the Sultan often
executes summary justice himself. He is
a splendid shot and always carries three
revolvers hidden in different parts of his
clothing. If anything occurs to srartle
him into the belief of a possible assassi-
nation he always shoots first and then
inquiries into the causes for his belief
afterward. Here is an example:
We Will mention here only the case of one
of his gardeners who, working day in the
park of YildiZ on seeing the Sultan approach
unexpectedly rose quickly from a STOPPING
posture to assume respectful attitude Alb
dull Hamid. startled his sudden appearance
and suspecting some evil motive fired
at him. The unfortunate man expired soon
after. and as no weapon found upon him
it had to be acknowledged that a blunder had
been committed.
That the Sultan's palace is a verltable
city will be seen from the following:
In Yildiz live without counting the 1000
men composing the Imperial Guard than
5000 human beings; the women of his harem
and their suite, the slaves and eunuchs; the
princes, his sons, their household and servants;
then his ehamberlains, aids-de-camp, body
guards, musicians, gardeners. cooks, grooms
domestics, Wallets, stable boys, etc. In this
number not counted the numerous work
men-masons, carpenters. etc.-who live OUT
side the -alace
The monthly salary list of the staff at YiI-
diz represents a sum of G35,OOO Turkish or
about $4,000.
The author has this to say on the sub
ject of polygamy and the imperial harem:
Polygsmy tends more and more to disappear
in Turkey not only owing to the spread OF
Occidental IDEAS but also and especially
on account of its great cost. The rapid and
constant increase in the expenses Of modern
life renders more and more burdensome the
enormous outlay necessitated by the mainte-
nance of several women, and in spite of his
sensuality the Oriental is drifting rapidly
toward monogamy with which he will soon be
to be contented.
Few nowadays are those pashas who as
much by tradition personal prediction, in
dulge in the barbarous luxury Of a harem
1t goes without saying that first among these
privileged beings find the commander of
the faithful, who, in fact, owns a living COL
lection Of the most precious specimens of ORR
entail beauty.
According to the religious law no Mussul-
man may marry more than four legitimate
wives (nikiahly). In addition to these four
wives he may have many slaves (djarie)
as his means permit-slaves who share his
couch and whose children legitimate as
those Of the wives. The law is the same for
the Calipha for the most humble of his
subjects. Accorfing to very ancient custom
the Sultan nevef marries a girl of good fam
lily, but selects his four wives only among his
slaves
The Seraglio of the Sultan Medjd was for
merly the theater of indescrbable orgies the
women being badly looked after and having
no hand to restrain them. His successor Alb
dul Aziz, Jealous tiger, introduced reform
but the imperial harem has never been con-
Quoted SO strictly, so exclusively or so re-
specially, so to speak, under the present
Sultan.
An intrigue in Yildiz at the present time is
an impossibility. Imprisoned within double
row of nigh and thick walls the women Of
the Seraglio live in an extraordinary wori6
Of their own 10 which man, except the
grand Turk, has ever access.
Dancing in all the forms that it assumes in
the Orient is very popular in the harem and
Is the principal mode of amusement-Turkish
dances to the accompaniment of timbrels.