Omaha daily bee., 1908-10-25
NEAR VIEW OF ABDUL HAMID
Intimate Sketch Of the Crooked and
Shady Ruler of Turkey.
HIS VOICE ALONE ATTRACTIVE
OF His Career which Re-
duccd GRAFT to a Science and
Made spying "a Decorated
Profession.

The sultan OF Turkey, Abdul Hamid, dur
ing his reign Of thirty odd years. has been
the sport OF some European monarchs, the
tool OF others and the byword OF mankind
What manner Of a ruler ne is may be in
fcrred from the fact that be reached the
throne by dlsposing OF his elder brother
and Selling the machinery OF government.
But how he looks and ac.s in public and
private are not generally known. just now,
with Turkey a factor in the Balkan dis
%turbance, with the progressives in control
and a constitutional government in the
formative stage, an intimate sketch Of the
sultan is instructive and timely. Such "a
pcn picture IL contributed TO the Novem-
Der number Of the American Magazine by
Nicholas c. Adossides, formerly an attache
Of the Turkish foreign office. son OF
Adossldes Pasha, and who has enjoyed I'M
usual facilities for observation Of the ruler
and the Turkish system. In part he says:
Abdul Hamid. the sick man, is the most
mysterious parsonage OF our time, No other
has so occupied the imagination Of the
world. no other has been so feared and
so hated, no other has been 30 much the
theme Of the contemporary historian. What
titanic eplthets have been hurled against
the unhappy sultan OF Turkey. who has
Teigned for thlrty-three years, throned on
The fear OF his subjects!
Rather tail and exceedingly slender, ABB
dul iIamid has the unstudied stoop Of the
c~onsumptive. Ills face Is 'wrinklel parch-
mcnt. as II 1000 anxietles and suspicious
dad left their impress there. His features,
besides cruelty and cunning. denote intelli-
geuce and cowardice. The eyes, OF almond
shape, by far the most interesting detail
OF his person, are dark and piercing. aged
with eternal suspicion. They denote high
intellect. extraordinary intelligence, subtle
refinement and pitless cruelty.
The thin upper lip and the thick, sensual
lower Indicate a combination OF passion.
irascibillty and selfishness. His nose Is
%aquiline and lends 20 his face the appear
Hnce OF a bird OF prey. The chin. though
hidden by a beard. is weak and indecisive.
The suItan's Remarkable Voice.
The voice, however, bellies the face. 1t
is marvelously subtle and insinuating.
melodious in It's modulations, and fun OF
dulcet tones, With this remarkable voice
rAbul Eiamid has been able to seduce nearly
everyone who has approached him, even
his antagonists.
The sultan is an invalid, a degenerate OF
the higher order. Descended from slckly
princes whose lives were spent half in
The gloom of a prison. half in the wanton
luxury of the serai; son. grandson and
g~reat-grandson of lazy slaves of different
races; himself the child OF a consumptive
mother and a tubercular father. he belongs
10 an enfeebled dynasty that is afflicted
with every kind Of disease, both Of body
and mind. to the point of actual insanity.
A Famous Headsman,
In Turkish the official term for the title
OF grand vizier II sadri-azam, an Arab
word, which means porter; and, while
the derivation remains the same, the
original sense has disappeared. The
grand vazlers Of Abdul-Hamid carry
nothing on their shoulders except the
everlasting dread Of a disgrace that
may come upon them at any moment.
The entire burden of the empire being on
the master, they are nothing but figure
heads. Hence it has happened that Abdul
Hamid has in thirty-three years disposed
OF SO enormous a number OF ministers that
they form an endless procession, a vast,
unending ministeriorama and thus it hap
pens that one is not surprised nowadays
at meeting in Constantinople so consider
able a number Of degraded hlghnesses and
excellencies in retreat. Who is there who
has not been more or less grand vizier for
a year, a month, a week or a day? Yes,
even for a day, like Ahmet Vefyk Pasha,
who. when grand vizier for the first time,
held the office for twenty-four days and
on his second elevation for twenty-four
hours.
on the other hand, the personnel OF the