Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-04
WHEN ALLAH WILLS A FIRE
Then is the Really Great Chance of
the Turkish Fireman.
ToPsY TURvEY1sM THEN ON TAP
To strive 60 Put out the Blaze would
be " sin, and Therefore Loot is
h Firemsa's object, with
BlRckmaiI to Follow.

LII ABih o. was VI
an rishman visiting Turkey recently sug-
gested that II there was but one way of
doing a thing the Turk would do 1t the
opposite way. 1t does seem indeed that
every idea of the western world is reversed
in this topsy turvy city.
The Turk mods his head when he means
to say no and has a way of shaking, or
rather swinging, II for yes. He writes
not from left to right, but In the other
direction. He takes off his shoes, but never
his 9ez, when he enters a mosque or n
home. "Ysvash" (slowly) is his word on
the street instead of the American cry,
''step lively"
He rides in a creeping street car with a
ticket punched for the place at which he
gets on. To cut a piece Of wood he rubs
II on a saw. which he holds between his
legs, and until recently he has killed Chris
tians while guarding the lives OF dogs
in fact I heard recently Of an old English
man, a coachman for an embassy, who
was done away with by poison because, dis
turbed by the nightly bowling Of street
dogs. he had shot several that lived In his
street.
Until recently salt could not be brought
into the country because there is a monop-
oily here. Firearms we're prohibited, though
WGAN 9tN1 RPEAAA VIZ h"t oNhttN1H
Education was dreaded by the people as
well as the government. Steam machinery
and electrical appliances were forbidden,
the first for no given reason, the second
because the word dynamo too closely
esemble dynamite. Dictionaries contain
ing the words elder and brother were
censored because Abdul Hamid usurped the
throne from his elder brother. Words OF
chemistry were debarred because HOO could
mean only |Hamid second zero"
Old Order stiII Holds.
Nor has everything been changed with
the coming of the Yonug Turk and his
western IDEAS acquired In exile in Europe.
Because of Moslem prejudice among the
masses the old sultan remains upon the
throne. the dogs still blockade what side
walks there be; for the purpose OF extorting
backsheesh ones luggage is still examined
when leaving The country, and the mad
fire brigade still ~scatters dogs. beggars and
pedestrians in its ridiculous chase through
the streets.
There is nothing more typical OF this
extraordinary country than the fire bril-
gade of Constantinople. which Is the model
OF all the others throughout the empire.
1t possesses and displays strikingly all the
failings of Mohammedanism and the Turk
ohi SluPtulbys CuplullN ana COrruD-
ton, bravery, arrogance. cruelty and the
rest. Until these firemen are gone there
can be no real hope of reform in Turkey.
for only their passing will mark a true
change of attitude in the nation.
For the moment the new government,
which permits the discussion Of the dog
problem in the Parliament. would hardly
venture upon that of the fire brigade for
fear that the thousand rival bands com
posing 1t would unite in opposition, would
even attempt to destroy large sections of
the cityt For the reactionaries, who would
ike to revive the old order. have already
given the city a lesson In this thing.
Every night and almost every day the
weird, unearthly call of the red coated
runner with the spear. the emblem of duty,
is heard in the streets of the capital. One
must hear this call to know what It is.
IL can neither be described nor initiated
by a man not OF the east.
A WOnderfuI warning.
The effect it has upon one hearing It
for the first time is distinctly OF warning.
though not a word of 1t is understood.
But the warning is not of an element. il
would seem. that man knows and is ca
pable OF conquering; IT is of something
supernatural, in which the Almighty plays
a part. 1t is a sound that only a man
with a deep belief in the other world could
utter. 1t is not loud, but you cannot fail
TO hear It, and no matter what the hour
OF day or night. 1t will come upon a still
ness. for all the city seems to hold its
breath to let the runner call.
There are two great ancient towers in
Constantinople. one on the heights of Pera.
whence the Romans In their day surveyed
the Bosporus. the other on the high ground
Of Stamboul, rising even above the minarets
OF the mosques upon the seven hills. At
the summit of these towers. up a spiral
staircase of 800 steps, which the stranger
climbs taper in hand. stands always a
watcher looking round the horizon.
A white triangular flag with a great red
ball upon the center is lifted as a signal to
gunners in the Anticipated harbor forts and
their cannon announce the discovery OF a
fire. Every one at the sound knows that
a fire has been sighted, but for ten or
twenty minutes no one knows where it is
TIL the call begins to ring through the mar
row streets.
The men at the top OF the towers have
descended and the word has gone round to
a score OF relocated, often bare-legEed.
men, who grab their four-foot spears and
start each in a different direction, to let
the city know in what section the fire would
seem TO be. Everybody steps aside for the
runner with the spear. who makes his way
generally from mosque to mosque. where
the call is taken up by the muezzin, who
chants 1t from the minaret. or at night by
the beckJi, the Waterman.
ldie Turks Blink . BIT.
Meantime all idle Turks arouse them
selves from their coffee and cigarettes to
move as far as the corner Of the nearest
OF the highroads-of which there are but
two or three in either STEAMBOAT OR Pers.
At the bends in the road these Turks and
some Greeks take up their stand TO watch
the race OF the firemen Shat has begun
strangers, too, are in the crowd.
A captain on a dwarfed nag leads the
better companies. which number from
twenty to forty men. The chief is dressed
in everyday clothes. often European except
for the fez. for his work is only TO bargain
with the owner of the burning building and
direct the men. as no Turk ever works II
he is able to make some one else serve
him. The crew-clad generally In the slim
NEST OF short trousers. striped or spotted
undershirts and Usually barefooted or wear
ing light slippers-come carrying a diminu,