The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-07-13
CONTINUED from last sunday,

!
General Oates furnished an Advertiser
repartsr with, further notes on his recent
travels abroad. Resuming the story
where 1t ended in last Sundays Adver-
tiser II Is as follows, to wit:
Il will endeavor to give your readers
some idea Of the Darvish Mahomedan
style Of worship. No women engage In
It: the sexes worship separately from
each other and In different MOSQUES. In
that up the Golden Horn at the Sweet
waters they were all men with few
half grown boys The mosque was as
large as a theatre. They first assem-
bled on the large platform and were
seated In semicircle on the floor. Old
and young sat fiat on the floor with their
| legs folded tailor style. No seats are
allowed In any of the mosques, they all
sit on the floor. The high priest read
from the Koran-which is their Bible
in sing song tone and at intervals all
the others would join In the chant, then
they would throw their heads back and
look upward and then lean forward and
kiss the floor. After awhile they came
down from the platform and all in the
room ranged Themselves in rows facing
to the east and kneeiing chanted prayers
at intervals leaning over and kissing the
floor. The next act was, having re-
moved their shoes. they marched around
the room barefooted and when each one
approached the high priest who stood 10
the east, he would stop. put his big
toes together with the right on the left
toe and salute the priest and then pass
ON. They went around this way two
or three times. They all wore tall brim-'
lesss white or yellowish hats. Just alike.
They stuck the hat on the back of the
head similar to the manner in which
circus clown wears his. Their orchestra
or music was stationed in the gallery and
consisted of three persons. The music
was as BAD as that of Chinese theatre.
Nothing called church music was ever
so villianous. nothing like 1t or even re-
motley akin to 1T ever offended Chris
tan ears lin the last act all of the
worshippefs appeared In boomers. red,
white. yellow and blue. The one In red
led the dance and the floor manager
started him to whirling as he passed the
high priest and all the others followed
suit. They would stretch out their arms
on each side of the body with the palm
of the right hand turned up and that of
the left hand down. They laid the head
far back on the shoulders, shut their eyes
and turned to the left and spun around
like tops all at once and passed around
and around the room for thirty minutes
and then halted and after rearranging
they went ON another whirl for fifteen
minutes. How on earth they could stand
that rapid whiriing in the same direc-
ton so long without falling was difficult
for me to understand.
There is an other sect called "The
Howling Dervishes." Their methods are
very much the same except that instead
Of whirling they howl in a very doleful
and unearthly manner. They are all
Mahomedans. but different sects of the
same general faith. We visited several
Mosques of which 'grhe Blue Mosque
was the largest. 1t was built with
seven minarets or spires and one of them
had to be taken down because that num-
Der made 1t a rival of the great Mosque
at Mecca which is the parent church and
must never have a rival. Mahomet the
founder of the religion and author of
the Koran was its founder. He taught
that There Is but one God and Mahomet
Is his prophet" He used to hide him
self in caves for days pretending to be
communing with God and receiving the
law from Him which he would bring
forth IN manuscripts. The order grew
rapidly. One Of the maxims of the law
was that all who sacrificed theiP lives
in the advancement of Gods holy church
would go at once to heaven. This blind
faith made the Mahomedans warlike and
courageous and during the thirteenth
and fourteenth centuries 1t looked as
though they would overrun the civilized
world.
We visited st. Sophia which was a
massive Christian church built in the
twelfth century. When the Turks cap
tured the city they converted it into a
mosque and effaced or removed every
painting or statuesque Of Jesus and the
Virgin Mary but can there now be seen
aFvxk
them some traces still. There was as
serlbled a large number Of worshippers
all men Of course. 1t seemed to have
been a sort OF free will meeting as the
leaders seemed to be self=constituted. OF
all the chanters one loud mounthed fellow
seemed the most noisy. After a time the
meeting broke into eight or ten groups
with one leader In. each to read and ex-
pound the Koran. We then put on soft
overshoes and followed our guide all
through the great mosque passing be-
tween and among these groups all of
whom seemed to be very devout and very
much In earnest. They are a lot of
archaeological religious enthusiasts. The
Sultan is the head ofNthe church as well
as the nation. He holds that the Koran
allow him to have all the women he wants
wives and ladies of the Harem'' and the
designates how many the Grand Vizier,
the Pashas and other djgnitaries, civil
and military may have. He has
several hundred land takes a new one
every year, If no more, and Of late years
since he has gotten old he selects girl
of fifteen or sixteen years. old. Mahome-
tan parents think it great honor to
give their daughter to the Sultan, or one
of his great officers. Marriages in high
circles are now almost unknown. Under
the law all children born in a harem are
legitimate and are considered the chill
dren of the Sultan, the Pashaw' or other
dominates their legislative council and
his will is the supreme law of Turkey.
good many of the ladies of the harem."
are not Turks but Caucasians, French,
German, etc, who in a wild spirit of
venture or enterprise, have become in
mates Of the harem to enjoy the luxury
and ease OF such a life.
Constantinople, a city of about
one million Of population. was
founded by the Roman Emperor Con-
stantine and is most beautifully situated
on the north or European side of the
Bosphorus. which is a body of running
salt water from three-fourtns of one
mile to three miles In width 1t connects
the Black Sea, which Is nineteen miles
east, with the Sea of Marmora on the
west. some ten miles from the city. The
water flows slowly from the one sea to
the other and is never stormy or rough
and Is deep enough to float the largest
ship ever built. There are arms to this
body Of water projecting in some places
l.. - L.,