Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1902-04-05
CITY OF DOGS.
A Million Ours |nfest Con-
stantinople.
The Streets Filled With Noisy, Filthy
Dogs.
Unnoticed by Natives but Drive
Unnoticed by Natives but Drive
Strangers Wild.

Feb. 2S.-The dogs and the firemen OF
Constantinople are famous. ana always
excite a great deal of interest among
tourists. There are two popular errors
regarding the dogs-that they are fero-
cious and dangerous, and that they are
the city scavensers and have a contract
for cleaning the streets. which are equal
ly false. The dogs are wrctched. harm
less, cowardly ours, which never bite I'M
less abused or driven into a corner. and
then only in self-defense They bark con-
tinually, however, particularly in the
night, and newcomers will be disturbed
in their rest for two or three nights lin-
| til they become accustomed to them. In
this respect as in several others they are
great nuisalices.
So far as street cleaning is concerned
| they undoubtedly contribute more to the
filth and unhealthness of the city than
| they correct these conditions. because
| their work as scavengers is limited to
| roofing and scratching around for NOR
sells of food in the offal and other ilth,
| and thus they keep 1t stirred up when II
would be less offensive if it were let
| alone. AS you perhaps know, there are
no sewers or drains in Constantinopie.
Everything in the way of rubbish. sarp-
age and other refuse from the houses;
| which, in civilized countries is carried
| away through sewers, is thrown INTO lne
| streets. The streets are also used as W.
ter closets by large proportio4, 90 3ar AZ de.
| cency than for health.
| In this filth the dogs of Constantinop.t
| find their subsistence, and they hummer
is precarious. Each street has its own
band, which is very jealous of iutrud-
and when 5 you b hear thnt s,ns
! stranger has strayed into section where
he does not belong and is being evicted.
The dogs are ownerless. There may be
few hish-bred animals Kept in the houses
by private owners, but the great mass Oh
/ them have no home but the street and no
owners but the public They are allowed
| to live for superst1tlous reasons Inc
Moslem inhabitants look upon them as a
religious institution, as the protcSes oil
the prophet, and while they do not give
them any care they would not injure
them under any circumstances for fear OF
bringing misfortune upon themselves. A
Mohammedan hackman or cartman would
sooner sacrifice his right hand than dr1ye
| over a dog. He will get down from his
box and wake up cur that lies sleep
ing in the middle of the street rather than
drive over it, but usually flicks his whip
gently to remind it that it is in the way.
| The animal being awakened, yawnS and
stretches itself i'll an indifferent manner
and then slowly moves toward the side
walk The children are taught to be mer-
ciful to them and to believe that they are
under the special protection OF the
| prophet.
The butchers throw their scraps into
the street every morning at certain
hour, and the dogs that belong in that
locality are always on hand to snatch
their share of the morsels. Bakers cut
up stale loaves and toss them out in Il
similar way. Hotel and boarding house
keepers are equally thoughtful in putting
out their garbage cans but nobody ever
offers them shelter or attempts to cure
them of the mango, with which the ma
jority are afflicted Many of them are re-
pulsive sights. They live e' rely upon
| the streets, each dog having some shelter
of its own during the storms of winter
and where it leaves its filters of puppies
until they are old enough to look out for
themselves When they die their bodies
are left lying in the road or are kicked
out of the way by pedestrians.
They are mostly yellow, coarse-haired
wolfish-looking beasts, with long tails
and pointed ears.
| 1t is said that the number of dogs in
Constantinope is diminishing because the
waste places in which they formerly
basked and bred are being rapidly built
| over, but other authorities claim that this
is a mistake and that the number is in
creasing A stranger would assume that
the latter is the case, because they seem
SO numerous and occupy so large part
of the narrow sidewalks and streets. 1t
Is not safe to kick them out of the way
because you would be sure to disturb
colony of fleas which might take refuge
| upon your own persons, even if the cur
did not turn and snap at you. Old resi-
dents will tell you that it is not good pol
icy to kick dog because some Moslem
might see the act and resent it. The ma
| tives are SO accustomed to their presence
in the streets and to their nocturnal bark
ing and bowling that they take them as
matter of course, like the other null
sanccs of the city
| The dogs have a high degree of intelli-
gence. They know their rights and in
SSt upon them, and the manner in which
| each cur holds and defends his own ter
rtory is remarkable. The occupants of
the same street never quarrel with each
| other, no matter how numerous or how
hungry they may be. but lie curled up in
| hlInchpS on
affectionate manner. But let a strange
animal appear in sight and everyone is on
the alert instantly. There is scurrying
of feet a series of low grows a rush
toward the intruder and then tumult
of barking and yelping and shrieks of
| agony from the injured. 1t may end in
is not often allowed to escape alive and
| his mangled body will be found after
| wards in the roadway.
| Abdul AzZiz, predecessor of the present
sultan, was great reformer and, among
other reforms, proposed to eXterminate
| the dogs of Constantinople. Policemen
Were sent around with poisoned meat.
| which was scattered freely throughout
were blocked by dead dogs, which were
not removed. but their bodies were al
| lowed to lie and tester in the sun. Thus
| the entire atmosphere was polluted and
] a plague followed with a loss of many
thousands of lives. Instead of attribut-
ing the epidemic to the unquestionable
| cause. the superStluOus turks construed
it as the penalty pronounced upon them
| by the prophet for the massacre of the
innocent. Since then no further attempts
| have been made to eXterminate the ours.
which have been held more sacred than
| ever.
There is a story to account for the
presence of the dogs in Constantinople
1t is said that in the middle ages their
barking awoke the garrison of the city
and warned it of the approach of an en-
envy. so that it was able to make a sue
cessful defense. At that time. the legend
goes, the reigning sultan issued an order
requiring all dogs to be held sacred as the
prophet had made them the vehicle of the