Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1905-06-17
HI he Captain of the
81 10Y Janizaries
38 By JAMES NJ LUDLOW
80 BY DcI kk.dsCa b Jp.M Ludlow
By JAMES NJ. LUDLOW
Ccpyish. 1890. b. james NJ. Ludlow

turtles Of glory and shame; of heroic
conquests and pusillanimous compro-
misses with other powers for the priv
iege Of existence, exhibiting on its
throne the virtues and wisdom Of
Theodosius and Justinian and the
vices and follies of emperors and EN-.
presses whose names It were well
that the world should forget
But the historic Importance Of the
siege was matched by the thrilling In.
terest which attaches to its scenes.
The last Of the Constantines, from
whose hands the queenly city was
wrested. was worthy Of the name borne
! by its great founder, not perhaps for
his display Of genius In government
and command, but for the pious de-
voton and sacriHcial courage with
which he defended his trust. A band
Of less than 10000 Christians, mostly
Greeks, and few Latins whose love
for the essential truth Of their religion
was stronger than their bigotry for
sect, withstood for many weeks the
horrors which were poured upon them
by a quarter Of a million Moslems.
The Bosporus was blocksded six
miles above the city by the new
fortress, Rumili Hissar. the castle Of
Europe; answering across the narrow
strait to Anadolu Hissari, the castles
Of Asia.
A fleet of 800 Moslem vessels crowd
ed the entrance to the Bosporus to
resist any western ally Of the Chris
tans that might have run the gauntlet
Of forts which guarded the lower en-
trance to Marmora. At the same time
this naval force threatened the long
, water front Of the city with over
whelming assault. The wall which lay
between the sen Of Marmora and the
Golden Horn and made the city tri-
angle looked down upon armies gather
ell from the many lands between the
Euphrates and the Danube.
Miners from Servia were ready to
burrow beneath the walls. A great can
non cast by Urban. the Dacian. who
had deserted from the Christian to the
Moslem camp, gaped ready to hurl Its
stone balls Of 600 pounds weight. II
was fianked by two almost equally
enormous fire vomiting dragons, rs the
new artillery was called, while four.
teen other batteries OF lesser ordnance
were waiting to pour their still novel
destruction upon the works. Ancient
art blended with modern science In the
attack, for batterlng rams supplement
ed cannon, and trenches breast deer
completed the lines of shields. Nov
ing forts of wood antagonlzed across
the deep moat the old stone towers
which during the centuries had hurled
back their assailants In more thar
twenty sieges. The various hosts OF
besiegers In their daily movements
were like the folds Of an enormous ser
pent, writing In ever contracting cir
cles about the body Of some helpless
prey. From dawn to dark the walls
crumbled beneath the pounding Of the
artillery. but from dark to dawn they
rose again under the toll Of the sleep
less defenders.
Sometimes when the Christians
( whose fewncss compared with the as
saiiah's eoinpeiied them 10 serve po'i
aay ana hisht' were aiscour"seu D!
incessnht danger ana fatigue hgl'
FORM IN heimet ana preastpiate mo'ec
among thehi, regaruiess Oh arrows nn.
bullets Of lead, now STOPPING to stancl
the wounds Of the fallen, now mount
,hg the parapet, where scores Oh stou'
soiuiers shieideu her Win their pooie'
ana naileu ner presence WIN ,he shou ~