The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-04-25

We are now under the flag that bears the star and crescent. The thousands of dogs for which Constantinople is noted make night a terror to those who have nerves. The legend runs that in the dim and distant past the barking of dogs awoke the sleeping soldiers who guarded the city and warning them of the ap- proach of the enemy. The young cres-
 cent man and stars enabled them to cope successfully with ther foes. NOW the Turkish flag bears the star and crescent and dogs by the thousands occupy the streets of the city. The animals are born on the streets, live on the streets and dle on the streets without a master To kill one, however, Is an objectionable offense
 Driving along in carriage yesterday l took out my watch and in % minutes l counted exactly 300, most of them asleep on the sidewalks and streets. People step over them and teams drive around them
 Each dog has his particular home on the street and often a dozen or more live to- gether. You might ask how they live. I asked the same question and was told
 that at night the garbage cans are emptied from each house, and the dogs
 begin to feed, bowling and fighting until. every scrap Is disposed of. A short while ago a glove manufactory of Paris offered
 the Sultan 100000 francs (s400. 0o0) for all
 
 indignantly refused.
 Constantinople, now a city of 1500, GOO, i, was founded by a Christion-Constantin
 the Great. Later on it was overrun by
 the Turks. who hold 1t to this day. F'rl-
 day Is the Mahommedan Sabbath, and it
 was our good fortune to witness what Is
 called the Sultan's procession to Mosque.
 We left our hotel at 10 clock in order to
 secure good position for the event which
 was to occur about 12 We drove to the
 Sultan's palace and harem, but as we
 were not invited in, we, with thousands
 of others, took our places on the outside.
 The Sultan was to ride from his palace
 with few of his favorite wives to the
 Mosque. distance of about three blocks,
 where he was to engage in his weekly prayers. Long before he came out the
 military, with all its pomp and parade, appeared with bands and banners, men
 and horses swords and sashes, marches and countermarches until finally a solid wall of guns and swords and men 1anl1ed
 every step of the way from the palace to the Mosque. Patiently we waited. until finally away up on the minaret of the Mosque appeared figure who in the
 most weird tones imaginable called the Sultan to prayer. First came the military band, then the high officials of state In glistening carriages, then. three gold mounted carriages drawn by the most beautiful stallions I ever saw, carried
 six of the wives. Black eunuchs on foot | attended them. Then came the Sultan | in an open carriage-an old, decrepit, ca- 1 daverous weevil-eaten man, with one foot in the grave lowing to his soldiers
 and officers who were shouting and pray l ing for his long life to continue.
 Fortunately I had a position within a few feet of the carriages and the wives | of the Sultan being very lightly yelled 1 l could see their beautiful faoes-and l beautiful they were. No one knows the
 number of his wives. nor how he can interest them all. He only takes his fa- vorites with him to the mosque and even | then they are not allowed to enter while | he Is at his devotions. Thousands of | spectators were there; five bands made | music for the crowd and holiday was pro- ] claimed, all to see one old man with | more than half hundred wives go to say | his prayers.
 1 The bazars of Constantinople are one of | its great sights. The grand bazaar covers | many acres and has 100 entrances and 1200 | passages or streets, with over 4000 shops or bazars and all under one roof Here ] the ladies of the party delighted to visit. | The most eautful creations of needle | work in the world were to be seen there | Many got lost in its intricate winding and | some Imaginable incidents occurred Con- | stantinople is famous for it's mosques Es- 1 Pocldlly lil6 HiOSquS Ol St. SOpIld, WHICH
 easily leads all the rest Originally it was built by the Christian Emperor of the Roman empire, Justinian. For nine cen turies 1t was used as Christian church when the Sultan of Asiatic Turkey de- cided to capture Constantinople and make it the capital of his empire. In 1453 he
 did this and ever since the magnificent church, St. sophia, has been used as a Turkish mosque. When we went to see It we were stopped at the door and had
 slippers fitted on our feet before we could
 enter. The Mohammedans all stop on the outside and wash their hands and feet at | the fountains provided, then go In bare | foot. While the Moslems almost worship Mohommet, and read the Koran, still they believe in the Bible and one supreme God. 1 Their religion as laid down in the Koran prohibits the use of intoxicants and strange to say the only place in Con- stantinople where whisky could be bought was in the modern hotels occupied by American and European tourists, who pro- 1 fessed to represent an enlightened and ! Christian people.
 Leaving out the polygamous practices l of the Turks I believe there are many I truly good Christians among them. I | found them generous and kind-hearted to | fault. They are as a whole certainly ! more zealous in the discharge of what they deem their Christian duties shan we are. Yet the "unspeakable" Turk has a | bad name and do not doubt that much | of 1t comes from those high in authority. l For instance, the countries of Europe will | not risk the Turkish post. They all have | their own postoffices there. In my hotel | l could mail letter to America by either | the English, German, Austrian, Russian, Italian or French posts.
 At present the experiment of a new