The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1903-12-19
DELlGIr IN EL.J)odGO.
Turkish Merccnariex without Pay
Take Great Pleasure in MUIR.
der.ns Christians.

When with perioo.cal regularity the
Ottoman governments as Sna..en up, and
the same old eastern question" con-
fronts the nations wan lrS possibilities
tor the most wioespreaoing disaster, the
question invariably as-eC by the read
CTS OF the reports is: What is the I'M
DERIVING cause?" Iu broad terms it may
be said TO be the WEAKNESS OF the central
government, but the elements of this
weakness are TO be found in the various
turbulent factors which so TO make up
the body polite, states the Brooklyn
Eagle.
The personnel of these mischievous
elements includes the Circassians and
kurds of-Asia Minor. the Bedoins of
Syria. the Albanians of European Tur-
key, all wild-eyed, lawless and terroriz-
ing, yet not to be compared in corruption
and virulent malignity with the most dis
turbing element of all, the sleek, smooth,
rotund Turkish officials who have fin
ger in every political pie and grasping
hand in every pocket that is to be ritled.
The bashi-bazouks. or irregular SOL
diery, get no pay from the government
except rations and transportation, but
are expected to make their own living
by guerrilla warfare. They are almost
always in connivance with the higher Of
ticials, who remain discreetly blind to
their misdeeds as long as their own
hands are filled with backsheesh. Their
presence is invariably the sign of blood
shed. They scent the scene OF carnage
from afar, and no place is too distant, no
atrocity too great for them to attempt.
In all the great nlassacres their serv-
ices have been utilized, like that of the
Greeks at Scio in 1922. in Syria in 1861,
Bulgaria in 1876 and in the more recent
Armenian massacres. When the doom
of the fair city of Harput was pronounced
by scored trade from the palace. from
every direction swarnled the bashi-ba-
zoulls, eager to be in at the death. They
brought with them all the necessaries
for the work of destruction, even to the
kerosene which they poured upon the
woodwork to accelerate the work of the
torch. Then schools and churches, the
work of patient toll on the part of the
American missionaries and native
Christians, were consumed in day, and
darkness fell upon city desolate and in
ashes
To-day these same thugs and murder
ers have been transported to Macedonia,
as the probable scene of the next great
massacre When from time to time
their atrocities become so fragrant that
the European ambassadors feel called
upon to protest the sultan virtuously
disclaims all responsibility for the law
:essness of mob" over which, alas, he
has no control" Like each of the vari-
GUS clans Of the Kurds, the bashi-bazouls
can easily be distinguished by his cos
tune. His shoes, or "yemenys" (mean-
ing leather) are red or black His golf
like stockings, which leave the knee ex-
posed are deliberately embroidered in
black, his short Turkish trousers are OF
homespun, while about his waist is a
short sash of wool or silk, surmounted
by leather belt in rich colors and EN-
bossed in red. This is divided into three
or four sections in which he keeps his
revolver, his chibouk or pipe, and his
yataghanf always kept sharp The
bashi-bazouks never carry daggers as
the Circassians do. A cartridge boz
hangs from the side as also small sill.
yer snuff box. They wear two jackets
the under one with short sleeves and the
outside one with long. At the elbow in
an opening in which they carry in q
leather bag written quotations from the
koran as talisman to protect them from
the bullets of the adversary. About the
neck is a chain of silver coins from
which is suspended powder box The
head is close shaven except for tuft Of
hair left on top, so that if anything hap.
pens to them on the battlefield the ange
will have no trouble in catching hold o.
their hair to snatch them up to Para.
disc. Only the aged are allowed to wea!
boards The fez is stiff. high Tur!-isl
affair. burdened with an abnormal,
heavy tasaci.