The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-12
Joys of Oriental Slavery.

From Appletons Magazine.
 "I was born in Roumely, where my father was a nomade chief" she began. The mere word Roumely to those who are born in the East is full of suggestion of ballads of valorcps deeds and super natural doings Aishe Hanum became to my mind a more romantic figure than before.
 q remember quite well the way we lived. All we possessed was done up in bundles, for we moved from one place to the other constantly. At night if it was rainy or cold the men would pitch the tents; and while the women and chil- dren slept inside, the men would sleep outside, one always on guard But gen. erally we all slept under Allah's own eyes. Life was like a dream, and like q dream it quickly vanished. My father died, leaving my mother alone to cara for six little hungry mouths. We left the mountains and walked for days to reach a town. When there my mother took to doing all kinds of work to support us. I was only six years old. All l remem- Der of that time is like another dream, only this time a bad one and 1t lasted longer, though as days and nights count, not as many as five hundred 1 think. My mothers life became a sad one, and there was no longer sunshine and music. We lived in a little house which to me was like a wooden box, and soon we all became i'll. and were very miserable. do not think Allah meant his people 10 live In houses. He made the world so beautiful that we might live In 1t and be happy. To this minute I cannot &C., custom myself to live In one room. That is why I have this big space"
 In fact she had taken three rooms, six teen by twenty, and had them thrown to- gether, slender columns supporting the ceiling. I was wondering what she would say If she saw a few of New York's apartments, where even Allahs sun Is not potent enough to pierce high walls and enter.
 "One day, however my mother came to us with joy in her face and said to me: My children, your father must be having in his favor the ear of the Prophet. Here oones to us miraculous help. A rich Hanum wishes to buy six or seven little girl slaves. l am going to sell you three little girls, and with the money go back to the mountains to bring up your brothers as true Roumeli- otes not like mice fin a city,
 We were very happy. did not know at the time what slavery was; but my mother explained it, and we were glad of the chance given us.
 I must explain here that slavery In Turkey Is not what the. word implies to Christianity. A slave in Turkey is like an adopted child. to whom is given every advantage according to her talents. If she is beautiful, she is brought up like young lady and is given as a wife to q noble and rich man; if she is plain and clever, she becomes a teacher; if she is plain and not clever, she learns to do the manual work, sewing or domestic labor. According to the Koran, a slave must be freed after seven years of servitude and be given a dowry of no less than $25O. Slaves always fare better than if they stayed at home. Generally they are drawn from the people who have been slaves themselves or from orphans. To a Turk who is poor, selling his children into slavery means giving them adyan- tages which he could not possibly give them himself.
 Were you sorry to leave your mother?' I asked.
 How could l be sorry" was her re- ply, "since I was giving her back 10 her mountains and her sunshine? My two little sisters and myself journeyed for days and sometimes on the backs of ani-