Daily Kennebec journal., 1902-03-25

even though most of the guns are mo6err
ana an enormous amount of money ha <
oeeh expended in reconstructing and arm
ing mem IN recent years in order to make
Constanunople impIegnable.
Landing at Constantinople is an excit-
ing experience. The ships anchor ont in
lhe stream, and passengers, with their
W W,Gss"se, are taken ashore in rowboats.
NO traveller is allowed to land without d
passport, If he is resident of Turke,.
ne must nave permit granted by the po-
Iice Is ofiiclals OF the town in which he lives.
III ne IS a foreigner his passport must be
Vlsed by the Turkish consul or minister
al the port of his departure.
Nhen the steamer comes to anchor the
sdhsplanK is at once surrounded by
motley crowd Of boatmen, bowling like a
lot OF demons and grabbing at the lug
gage OF the passengers. If you haven't a
courier to look after you and your be-
lonSings the best thing is to give YOUR
self up to Cook, the travellers friend and
protector. If you have written ahead IL
engage apartments at any of the hotels
drdSoman, or Interpreter, will be sent
down 10 meet you and help you through
the custom-house, but Cooks men always
come aboard not only at Constantinople
but at all the eastern ports and are 4
blessing TO tenderfeet.
As each boat load is passed toward the
landing place it is stopped midstream by
policeman, seated in the stern of d
turkish caique or canoe, who counts the
number OF passengers and the number of
pieces of baggage. What this is done for
1 was unable to discover, but the most
reasonable theory is that it is intended as
| check upon the police in order that no
stranger shall enter the country without
| their knowledge.
The guidebooks which are closely CEN
sored by the Turkish government, thtt
| they may not contain anything offensive
or reasonable 10 the sultan, state very
plainly that cOurlerS and drdgOmanS from
| the hotels can arrange with the GUS
| toms officers so that the inspection of
| luggage will be only formal. The only
| thing tnat they are after is books Their
| orders are very strict in that respect.
| They are positively forbidden to pass any
| books, newspapers, manuscripts or sealed
parcels, all OF which must be submitted
TO examination by the censor, who de-
stroys all works pertaining to the Mus
| seman religion, the personality of the
sultan. the foreign relations or the inter-
| nal affairs of Turkey. Guns, revolvers, and
| that sort of thing, which are prohibited
| in most countries, are admitted without
objection in Turkey. We We're advised to
conceal all our guidebooks, notebooks.
manuscripts and tnat sort of thing in the
| bottom OF our trunks in case of an emer-
gency, although our dragoman, or guide,
|
| be opened. When they were landed and
| carried into the dilapitated and dirty old
wooden building of one story used for a
| custom-house all the trunks, bags and
| rug rolls were arranged in row upon d
| bench and the dragoman proceeded calm
| ly to negotiate with the inspectors. How
| much he paid to pass them l do not know,
| but it was not large sum, and we were
|Soon sent on our way rejoicing.
k
The baggage of passengers leaving Con-
stantinople is examined quite as closely
| as that which comes in, and the same
process occurs. The custom officers Of
ten demand larger bribes for outgoing
Ithan incoming travellers, and will threat
ZEN to detain their luggage if the money
/ Is not paid. A@~
| The same corruption and the same prac-
/ tices exist in other branches of the GUS
i tom-house, only to a greater extent. I'm
| ported merchandise is seldom inspected.
| Merchants doing business in Constanti-
| nople usually have regular arrangem ent
with the customs officials to admit their
goods without examination upon the pay
ment of certain sums. which cover both
the customs duties and the bribeS. These
practices must be known to the higher
| officials, because they have nearly all
been promoted to the positions they Oc-
| cupy, and they require certain amount
| of revenue from each inspector or APP
! praser every month. The latter must
/ raise it the best way he can. There is a
| regular tariff. OF course, and fixed rates
1
Use, but it is seldom observed, even in
the cases of strangers.
All travellers in Turkey must have "tez-
kerehs," or travelling permits, which are
granted upon application of the minister
or consul of the country from which they
| come, and are an acknowledgement on
| the part of the Ottoman authorities of
their responsibility for the safety of the
bearer. Natives have ordinary passports,
but no man can land at port or buy a
steamship or railway ticket with
| ont showing a document of this kind.
which not only is protection to the trav-
eler, but also gives the police authorities
an opportunity to watch suspicious per-
sons.
| The United States diplomatic and con-
sular officials in Turkey receive almost
| daily applications for certificates from
| Armenians who claim to be naturallzed
but there has been so much fraudulenl
| naturalization that they no longer issue
. them unless they are satisfied that the
applicant is a bona fde citizen OF the
| United States stopping temporarily IN
Turkey. Certain Armenians in New YORK
San Francisco and other cites ioi
years did a fraudulent naturalization
| business and for large fees obtained pa
pers for Armenians in Turkey VINO mad
| never been in the United States. II is an
, easv thing for a man to make Application
in any of the courts under any name ano
again make a second or third or fourth OF
| repeated applications under other names
later without being detected. When the
| napers are issued they are forwarded &c
| Turkey to the persons whose names thes
bear. and the latter use them n9 WneneVe,
: | necessary. Not long ago such fraGdulen'
papers were abundant in Turkey, pn
: many Of them have been taken from the
? holders and retained by the United States
officials. When a man claiming to be .
naturalized citizen of New York cannot
| tell the name of the street upon which M
; lives and does not know the location o.
r Brooklyn or Jersey City; VINO never heart
| of Washington, Grant, Mckinley ol
: Roosevelt. and cannot give the name o.
!. the long street which runs from one enc
o | 70 New York to the other, 1t is pretty
certain that he is not entitled to the pro
{ tection of our government, but ha'
abused its hospitality by obtaining ma
, turalization papers under false pretenses
. William E. Curtis in Chicago Record
8 Herald.
e DESKS WITH HIDING PLACES.
f GROWING Demand for Secret Compart