Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1908-12-12
Fabulous Wealth Hidden
In the Sultan 5 House.

| that of a series of jeweled rainbows
| which dazzles the eyes and recalls the
wondrous tales of the Arabian nights.
THE JEWEL ROOM.
| The second room is called the Jewel
| Eoom Nobody gives such magnifi-
! cent presents as sultans and shahs.
Some idea of this will be gained by the
fact that. in this second room, are q
dozen crystal vases, from % to 80 inch
es high, filled with pearls, emeralds
diamonds. rubies and sapphiresal
Through the dazzle of these jewels can
be seen stones of hugh size which arg
again set with smaller Jewels in Won
derful designs of flowers and beasts.
Not even the most beautiful Partisan
work can come near this and those who
have shops in the Rue de la Paix can
not imagine anything approaching the
magnifcence of color and the delicacy
of workmanship that make the gems
cast into those vases. that stand III
small room in Constantinople, unique.
In the middle of this room is a cup
board, crystal of course, containing q
perfect collection Of every kind of Mo-
hammedan money, from the most am
cfent times to the present day. And
yet, rich as this collection is, it could
not buy the stones in the vases oppo-
site. Besides the coins, is a collection
of flutes, studded with silver and
precious stones, which the Coliphs, CON
trary TO the koran's decree. play upon,
In casket adorned with huge rubies
lie two pearls Weighing IS gammes
In another casket, studded with dia-
monds, is a large ruby as large as n
pear This was the gift of Persias
shah TO Selim on his coronation day.
In yet another casket is a diamond OF
the first water weighing 81 carats,
which probably once adorned the
Byzantine crown. A child playing on
the sands, once found it in Avian Seraj
where, in Roman times. it was lost In
the midst of some great public ,cere-
mony.
PIECE OF THE CROSS.
Many priceless relics came to the SUI
tans from the Byzantine dynasty.
There is a large piece of Chrst's GROSS.
given to Constantine the Great by the
monks of Goigotha. From the same
source came the sponge and the crown
of thorns used mt the crucifxion. 1t
Is not generally known that the head
Of John the Baptist, given to Salome
by her stepfather, and his hand are
also in the sultap's treasure house. Bur
such is the case, and they now lie.
ghastly relics surrounded by the orsie
of light color and gold.
The galleries of the treasure rooms
are lined with cupboards in which re-
pose hundreds Of ieweled dresses ana
drinking cups. The enornolls guam
tlty OF The latter is explained by the.
eastern custom of sending IL rich drink
ing cup with every present to the sul-
tan. Therefore. the eye is almost
blinded by the dazzle Of goblets ana
vases from Venice and the west, from
Holland. italy, SitSony, China. India
Persia and Japan. From the latter
country arc cups guaranteed To fall
into pieces should poison be poured
therein. Besides these are an un-
countablc number OF arms, from Eng
and, Toledo and from Persi all
historical from the sixteenth century
to the present day. tDne clock, sent in
1910 from the Austrian Emperor 10
Mohammed !, PLAYS II fresh minuct
every hour, or a different tunes with-
in the day.
GARB OF THE. AGES
Perhaps the most Impressive pa;t
of this collection are the "A costumes
once Worn by sutans. The first dat,
from the year 1453--the last from 1888
The magnitcence of these dresses de-
fes description. Each is worth hun,
dreds of thousands OF dollars, even ii
You count only the value of the huge
stones that adorn them. to say moth
ing OF the gold with which they ave
sewn and embroidered Each dress is
different in shape. color and design, tte-
cording to the taste OF It's royal owner.
The walls of the galleries are hung
With portraits OF dead suttaus. paints
ed after death. J6St 10 the Treasure.
house IS the THU rnou. of 4schmed [
and his library. l5it the few strung
ers who visit these rooms pay it little
attention, dazzled as they are by the
spiendor they have already seen.