Los Angeles herald., 1905-09-03
TURKISH JUDGE DIS
.CUSSES PRESIDENT.
ROOSEVELT'S BOOKS

|
William Noble a citizen of Indian
Territory. while in Jerusalem recently
with a party of friends met with
rather novel experience which will long
remain in their memory. The party
was en- route to the Mosque Of Omar,
which stands on the former site of King
Solomon's temple. All at once heavy
shower of rain commenced to fall. Not
being provided with umbrellas on this
occasion, all members of the party
sought shelter in the nearest doorway,
the door standing invitingly open. To
their utter astonishment they were un-
expectedly ushered into room where
a Turkish court was being held.
The Judge was dignifled Turk, who
wore long black whiskers and had on
long, reddish looking robe. which swept
the floor. Although deeply engaged in
the case that was being tried before
him, the Judge found time to smoke
from large water pipe. which stood
on the floor near by. His honor was
Judge and jury combined. A number Of
advocates, witnesses and spectators
were sitting or reclining on mats
ranged around the room, while the
Judge sat in high chair and the law
yer stood while making q plea for his
client. With the exception Of tie visit
ors, the entire assembly were Turks
and Hebrews, all Of whom wore long
.l,aer n16 "a
Hebrews turbans.
The prisoner at the bar was a Jew;
he was charged with stealing a coat
from another Jew. The evidence. given
in Arabic by the witnesses, seemed to
convince the judge that the prisoner
was guilty, as he was sentenced to nine
months in Jail. The trial was just
being concluded when the Americans
! arrived on the scene. Immediately the
Judge arose from his seat, and, ap-
preaching in a dignified manner, offered
each of the party his hand, saying in
excellent English that he was happy to
be honored by their presence in his
humble court room. He then adjourned
court for the remainder of the evening
and invited the party to remain and
have some refreshments. For fear of
being adjudged in contempt of court
they remained with him, sitting on the
mats on the floor like they had seen
the natives do.
After coffee had been served by the
court bailiff the judge asked them
I where they We're from, how they en-
joyed their trip and what they thought
of Palestine. They told his honor that
they were from the United States, had
had a very pleasant trip and admired
Palestine, but would like to see 1t
cleaned up. The judge stated that the
cleaning process would be brought
about little later on, but, like the
Biblical saying, it was not safe to
put new wine into old bottles for fear
of breaking the bottles, so it would be
dangerous to put new ideas into prac-
tice until such time as his people had
time to properly digest them.
In answer to the question how he
happened to speak such good English
the judge said that he had learned the
English language from his children. he
! having seventeen children and several
wives, who had attended the American
| missionary schools in Constantinople
and had learned the English language
that way.
The Judge stated that, although he
was Turk and subject of the sultan,
he was an admirer of President Roose-
welt, whom he regarded as the greatest
diplomat of the age. He showed a COM
plete set of the presidents books
printed In French, which he said he had
read through several times. He also
stated that his only regret was that he
did not have one of the presidents
Speaking of our election system, he
said that our policy of electing presi-
dent every four years was a bad one.
He thought when the United States had
as good man as President Roosevelt
that we ought TO emulate the example
of Mexico and keep him In office for
! life, He made inquiry as to how our
judicial system was conducted. They
! told him how our learned judges held
court, with the jury system, and that
! they were only allowed one wife and
seldom had as many as seventeen
children. His honor replied that he
would not like to be a Judge In the
United States unless he could have all
his wives and children with him.
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LIS cERInIIC nEEENHE