The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-09-20
By ALBERT SONNICHSEN.
Copyright, 1903, by Albert sonntchsen.

seems to take them out of the realm
of the ridiculous.
L recall an incident in the harbor
of Trieste, Austria, which shows how
much an efficient officer means to
Turkish sailors. We We're anchored
out in the middle of the bay. A Turk
ish steamer lay within hailing dis
lance. Her captain, an Austrian, had
come aboard to visit our captain, who
was also an Austrian. 1t was about
IL o'clock at night and the captain
of the Turk was still down in our
cabin being entertained by our skip
per.
Suddenly we heard a tremendous
row aboard the Turkish steamer. Men
were running to and fro on deck and
shouting like mad. Pretty soon we
saw a dart of flame leap out or a
portfolio of a nidship house.
The captain of the Turk came rum
ming out Of our cabin and sprang INTO
one of our boats. We Immediately
pulled for his ship as hard as we could
work the oars Meanwhile, the noise
and confusion increased. A few min
utes later as we clambered up the
Turkish steamers gangway after her
skipper, we saw what the trouble was.
A lamp had been upset in the petty
officers quarters and set fire to some
cloth trimmings or curtains, and put
all hands into a panic. No rational at
tempt was being made to extinguish
the fire. The bos'n trotted up and
down, calling on Allah. One quarter
master was making an heroic attempt
to check the flames by throwing wa
ter on the outside of the deck house
with a glass. Another man had taken
refuge in the main shrouds, where he
was bawling forth unintelligible ad-
= IL
sailor had thrust his head through
house pipe and was stuck there, unable
to get either out or in, while two others
were undoing a boat flashing with fran
tic haste, forgetful of the fact that
boat, attached only by a painter, float
ed alongside.
But the coming of the Austrian
skipper made an instantaneous change.
AS he landed on deck he let out a
fearful roar Instantly the panic
abated. Each man stood quiet. Then,
in a calmer voice. the Austrian gave
out a succession of orders, and in five
minutes all hands had formed into a
well-organized bucket brigade and were
passing water to the burning house.
The fire, by this time, had gained some
Roadway, but in half an hour it was
under control, and before midnight all
was quiet again and order restored.
The Grim HumOr of the Turk.
1t was a Turkish sailor in colloquy
with some Turkish soldiers that gave
me the impression that the Turk has
an undercurrent of undemonstrative
humor which enables him to see the
funny side of things without smile
The incident occurred at the mouth of
the Bosphorus opening into the Black
Sea.
We had attempted to enter the Bos-
phorus after sunset. This was at the
time of the Greco-Turkish War. when
unusual precautions were being taken.
AS we approached shore the land bat
teries opened fire with solid shot at us,
obliging us to anchor.
Next morning our skipper was sum-
lnoned ashore. We went along in a
boat, and. as we waited at the quay
Turkish soldiers came down from the
garrison and subjected us to a lot of
raillery. One of our men was a Turk
himself and interpreted their remarks
Your captain will be hung as a
Greek fiiibuster." announced one SOL
der, solemnly.
Perhaps" suggested another. ''he
will only be made to pay the expense
of Being shot at. We charge thou
sand masters for each shot. which is
cheap, when you consider that it is war
times.'
my belief is" said another, very
darkly, that you are all Greek pirates
and have come here with the intention
of investing the fort. and we are per-
fectly justified in slaughtering you at
once
To all of which our Turkish ship
mate renlied in kind, with not a sug-
gestion of a smile about his 1ips
The Mild Looking Bashi BaxOuks.
AS all the world knows, the Turks
are infinitely better as soldiers than
sailors. 1 once saw battalion of
Turks at drill at Scutari, and their
tactics were faultless. But the drill
master was coal-black negro-not an
Arab, but an African negro, with egg
shaped head, woolly hair and thick
protruding lips. He had those troops
under perfect control They seemed
to understand his every movement and
obeyed each command with the unity
of a school Of herring.
In this battalion was a company of
Bashi Bazouks. MY preconceived idea
of a Bashi Bazouk-he who has been
committing wholesale massacre in Mac
edonia-was that he was a big. black.
bewhiskered creature with a murder
Gus face. The sentry who kept us
from going too far up the parade
ground was a Bashi Bazouk, but it
required a great deal of convincing
talk to persuade me that he was any
such thing. In the first place, he had
light brown hair and blue eyes, and
an innocent light mustache over thin,
weak lips. When you spoke to him he
grinned sheepishly and acted like an
embarrassed country pumpkin come to
town to see his city relatives.