The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1909-07-08
BLGEN ZACHARYT SWEENEY
|FORJ1EP CONe5UH -GENERAL AT
CCIYcSTANTINOPLE

yitsch. rode to
the Ottoman center and claimed to be a deserter and
having important secrets TO reveal to Amurath in
On being led to the Turkish sovereign he knet II to
pay him homage. and then stabbed Amurath with a sud
den and mortal stroke Of his dagger Mlosch sprang
from his knees and being gifted with activity and
stroggth cleared himself Of the enemies throngcd
around him. and found his to where his horse had
been left but before he could remouut the Janssarles
oyerpowor,d him and hacked him to pieces Amurath
realized that his wound was mortal but had sufficient
presence of mind give orders n charge of his re.
serves which decided the victory in favor OF the Otto
He died pronomcing the death doom Of King
Lazarus, who conquered. But that was not the
saddcst death of tie day When Prince Baiazet realized
that the victory the Christians accomplished
and he acknowledged by his fathers generals as
their sovereign, he Immediately ordered his brother.
Yacoub who had fought yaiany by his side, to be
seized and put to death He justified the act by saying
that "Sedun is than murder" saying that has
caused many ottoman sultans to commit acts Of
cruelty since that time
Baja2ot commenced his reign upon a battlefield, and
followed up the against the Servians with such
yigur and that he named Nilderm, or
"ThuuderboL" After completing the Seryian war. Baa
returned to Asia and increased the territory of the
sultan by conquest Of several adjoining states Cara.
mania which had long held out independent state.
acknowledged Baja2et sovereign Gutted with vic.
tory and rapidly augmented power, Baja2et gave him.
self to sensual excuses of the fouleGt kind. He
the first OF the Ottoman princes who violated the
prohibition Of the koran against the of wine. All
Pasha his fayorcs general set his master the example
OF Drunkenness and the nfamy OF these two lives suly
the pages of Oriental history Dajazet startled from
his rcyes by crusade of Christian chyalry of Franks
tan The Christian army marched against the Ottomahs
through Pennsylvania, Waachia and Sorvia. They
captured Widdn, Orsoca. and invested Nicopolis but
Baja2c marched against them and ngoriousy dispersed
After the conflict Bnjazet pitched his tent in front
Nicopols and rode the field Of battle. When he
the number OF his dead soldiers II cnragcd him so
that he said: Il win have this slaughter well avenged
on the prisoners" The next morning the Christian prs
the number of ten thousand led out with
their hands bound behind them and with halters around
their necks After allowing "a Christian mobiles from
among the prisoners their liberty the sultan the
signal for the slaughter commence, and the unhappy
captiyes fell in front of his tent
The battle Of Nicopolis was the hghwater mark in
the power of Baiazet. He made preparations to
invest Consantinope. The Byzantine king searched all
Europe for assistance and descended to the humi
alton asking aid from his odtme enemy the pope of
Rome, but all in vain. Just at the moment when 1t
seemed that Baazet the point OF entering Con-
stantnople cuud in the eastern horizon in the
shape of Tamerlane the Tartar who though 70 Of
age, had succeeded in uniting number Of conquered
provinces into strong empire and had marched against
the dominion Of the Ottoman empire, captured the
ancient city Of Syas, and put the inhabitants to the
sword killing others Prince Ertoghrul the OF
Bajazet who when he heard Of the death of his son.
hurried at the head OF his veteran troops against Tanner
lane. He seemed. however, to have lost his usual
ton and sagacity; with only 10000 he swept for
ward against army of 100000 and to show his reck
essness engaged in grand hunt in the neghborhood
of Angora until they entirely exhausted Return.
ing to his quarters he found that the willy Tartar had
taken possession of his camp and poisoned the stream
his weary and thirsty troops had to spend the night
without water The next day he led the dlspr:ted
to battle and while many OF them gave n good
OF themselves others exhausted that they gave
themselves to the enemy, and the field Of
Angora where his ancestor Ertoghrul nearly two hun
bred years previous had laid the foundations OF the Otto
empire, he overthrown, and HIS empire shat
tered to fragments Bajazet, with one OF his sons,
captured, and made show In the rumDha pageant OF
,ig IIa In tian1l nd
there current story that he had been placed in
iron cage Thus the empire of the Ottomans that
had swept Asia and large part OF Europe till 1t
had earned the title. Wrath OF God, suddenly erm
mated. and the Ottoman power seemed gone forever.
Nothing characterizes the rule of the Turk as Its
recuperatlve power Often has 1t been seemingly over
swept from the face of the earth but mrhe
diatcly there arises again mighty power having the
same spirit as its predecessor Moha<,med L. the Of
Bajaze took the shattered fragments which his father
left and began the work OF building up the Ottoman
power The Greeks said OF MIN that he was as perse
verng camel" He was the youngest san. and