Evening star., 1906-09-09
snec,s, Corre.poudence Of The star.

dTamauc ana ifnpOSSipic otohicS VI
true life that ever stepped out OF
the pages OF the Arabian Nights
and wandered by some mischance into the
present day and hour. The principal char
acters in the drama were. on the surface.
polished. cultivated men. who might have
been received In society anywhere-Constar-
tinople, New York, London or Washington.
Underneath the surface they prove to have
been contemporaries of Othello and Iago.
The drama, of which probably we have
not yet seen the last act. has already re-
suited In the murder of the prefect Of Con-
stantinople, the execution of the master OF
the ceremonies at the palace and his uncle.
the military governor of Scutari. and the
practical extinction OF one OF the great
princely houses OF Turkey.
II all began in a trivial fashion q few
months ago, when Ahmed Aga, factotum
for the rich and powerful Redvan Pasha,
project of the city. came to live In Shishli.
Q suburb OF Constantinople. not far from
the Yildiz Kiosk, and, as iH-luck would have
It, In the same street In which resided ABB
durezzak Pasha, master of ceremonies at
the imperial palace. Redvan. 1t Is charged,
used his Office to feather his own nest by
methods not altogether unknown in Amer
lea. The bakers guild. for instance, paid
him 100 Turkish liras day to be protect
ed when they violated the law against the
selling of bread under weight. Ahmed was
the man who ran the graft department
for him and did most of the dirty work.
Naturally he saw to 1t that he got a good
rake on for himself. And thus 1t came
about that he could afford to live in style
In big house In swell street near the
palace. -...--
But despite the fact that the neighbor-
hood was a fashionable one, the street, like
most of the streets In the capital. was
wretchedly paved. Ahmed used his pull to
get that part Of the street In front of his
house repaved at the city's expense. Abb
durezzak sent him message requesting
that the pavement be extended to his own
house Ahmed wanted to know what there
was In 1t for him. The response was not
satisfactory. Then Ahmed discovered that
the funds apportioned for street improve
ments had been exhausted, and the master
OF ceremonies would have to wait until an
additional appropriation had been obtained,
or pay for the extension of the pavement
out Of his own pocket.
y
Ahmed was Turk of humble origin, while
Abdurezzak Pasha was head of the great
and powerful Kurdish family of the Bedr
Khans, which, some fifty years back. under
the leadership of Abdurezzak's grand
father, had organized such a formidable
revolt against the government that the sui
tan of that day had found 1t expedient to
purchase peace by bestowing some of the
DeSL DllletS at MS disposal on the CnleIS
of the Bedr Khan By the beard Of the
prophet. Abdurezzak swore that ne would
teach Redvan's insolent upstart underling
a lesson. On some pretext he decoyed
Ahmed into his house, and had him unmer-
cifully bastinadoed and placed him In igno-
minious confinement.
Ahmed managed to get word of his sorry
plight to his chief. Redvan was not the
man to leave of his stanchest followers
in the lurch. He did his best to induce
Abdurrezzak to set Ahmed free. He even
offered to pay a big sum &c. o. D.)-for
Ahmeds release. But Abdurrezzaks de-
sire for revenge was stronger than his Gu
pidity He refused to let Ahmed go. Then
Redvan took the law Into his own hands.
He armed number OF the city scavengers
with clubs and revolvers and set them TO
effect AhmedS deliverance. A lively fight
took place between the scavengers and Abb
durrezzak's servants. One of the kurds
was killed and several of Redvan's men
were wounded, but Ahmed contrlved to es-
cape In the confusion.
No public inquiry was held into the mat
ter. though everybody knew of the affair.
Those intrusted with the enforcement OF
the law in Constantinople never think of
troubling important officials for such trife
the death-accidental or otherwise-of
rivals serving man.
The fray had been fought almost beneath
the walls of the imperial palace itself, and
the yells of the combatants had reached the
sultan's ears. He demanded a report. 1t
then became question which had the big
gest pull with the sultan. AbduIrezzaks
proved the stronger. 1t Is said that Redvan
was saved from banishment only through
the influence of his mother, who held an
important position In the imperial harem.
He lost the favor of his royal master, which
meant, of course, that 1t would not be long
before he would be deprived of his job, too.
-
This did not satisfy Abdurrezzak He
summoned a family council OF the Bedr
Khans to determine what further steps
should be taken to punish the man who had
slain a member of the clan and insulted its
dignity by attacking the house of Its leader
with mob of the lowest menials in Con-
stantinople-scavengers. In the delibera-
tions the reading part was taken by Abb
durrezzaks uncle, All Shamil Pasha, mill
tary governor of Scutart, man infamous
even in Constantinople for his brutality and
unscrupulOuSneSS.
Ala Shami demanded a life for a life
Nothing iess than the death OF the prefect,
he declared, could atone for the loss of the
Kurd and the insult done the Bedr Khans.
BY his Vehemence he carried the more tim
orous members of the council with him.
The vote for Redvan's death was unani-
nous.
Abdurrezzak, the suave and polished mas
ter or ceremonies, the adept in all the in
tr1cacies of oriental etiquet, lost no time
In carrying the sentence into effect. He or
dered one of his servants who had taken
part III the HSHt against the ScaNenSers to
make the necessary preparations for the
murder of Redvan. This man engaged three
other Kurds to help him and they were
taken into Abdurrezaks s service at fifteen
midjidies G12J0) monthly Assassins are
creap in Turkey.
RedVan had a country villa at Guez Tepe,
village In the Scutari district, with a sta
tion on the Anatolian railway and it was
decided to kill him on his way from the
train to his villa rather than in Constanti-
nople. The sparser population. ard the fact
that the locai troops were under the COM
mand of Ali Shamil would it was thought
render the commission of the murder easier
The four Kurds were dispatched to Guez
Tepe after AbdurrezZak had provided them
with revolvers. cartridges and money. and
had personally pointed out Redvan TO them
and given them their instructions.
II was no secret that the Bedr Khans had
sworn vengeance to the death against Red
van. 1t is probable that through his police
spies he obtained something more than an
fnkling of the precise nature of the plot
against him. He appealed to the palace for
protection. but the sultan still frowned upon
him. Then. Turk-like, he resigned himself
to his fate, after making his will AMI dis
posing of most of his property.