Evening star., 1909-06-27

where The officers on his staff are often
tired to death, but Chevket Pasha, with
his calm, dry face. walks about and gives
orders at 2 o'clock in the morning with
all the alacrity Of a man who has Just
risen after a good nights rest.
''Chevket Pasha has time for every
thing and never sleeps" said a prom
inent Turk the other day. He must
find 1t out"
Chevket Pasha received his military
education in Germany. AS he returned
a we'll trained soldier. the ex-Sultan Alb
dul Hamid was afraid of him and de-
termined he should have no position of
trust. Abdul Hamid was always afraid
of new ideas and foreign education. be-
cause they caused people to criticise his
proceedings So Mahmoud Chevket was
sent into the province OF Macedonia with.
nothing important to do while men who
had risen from the ranks and had had no
more military education than private
were put over his head. But, though
virtually an exile In Macedonian villages.
Chevket did not let the grass grow under
his feet. Not only were his troops well
trained, but he instilled in them much
of the discipline which he had learned
in Germany. True, he could not make
the government pay his men, and often
he was not paid himself Neither could
he supply the whole of the Macedonian
army with rifles. But. living with soldier
like simplicity himself he devoted the
proceeds of quite a large fortune to the
betterment of the troops he had under
him. The result was that in few years
the men of the Saloniki regiment were
as different from the other Turkish troops
as day from night. Commanders who
had energy bided their time and did
their best with what they had. 1t was
among such men that the Young Turks
ESfn ho
years of preparation preceding 1908. As
Macedonia was full of capable. semi
exiled officers, this province became the
cradle of last autumn's revolution.
Many a commander followed Mahmoud
chevkets example and prepared his men
as best he could. Not all had the energy
and capabilities which he possesses.
Many stories are told of him while he
commanded a regiment in Saloniki. The
greatest difficulty he had was in making
The officers punctual. Time is the only
thing which has no value In Turkey. ls
a saving with lot of truth IN II. Wheh
he got his brigade he determined 10 make
the officers more punctuai. one In par
ticu,ar used TO attract his attention. He
would keep his men waiting half an
hour for him in the morning, put ne sol
his lesson at last. One day. at a very
early hour, CheNRet fdsiid diiifVo a. a
garrison whence the men were TO march
into summer quarters. Every one was
at his post but the colonel. an ofncer or
the old Turkish school. Chevket Pasna
took ND his position near and ordered the
men to await their colonel, for, used 10
his way of driving comfortably AFTER
them they were about to set of. The
coloners carriage was seen TO drive up
to his quarters; but he himself did not
emerge till an hour after all the other
regiments had gone. His astonishment
on seeing his men still there, when ne
was about to get into the carriage. was
only equaled by his dismay a. the sight
of Cheyket Pasha. on horseback. calmly
watching the troops. He began TO blurt
ont something about being i'll when the
pasha CURLY told him to mount one Of
the soldiers horses and lead his men
ont to camp. He himself accompanied
them, without opening his lips for the
whole way When they reached camp he
turned toward Saloniki, without saying
a word TO the colonel who felt uncom-
Portable the whole day. In the evening
a messenger arrived at the camp. lead
ing a horse and holding a packet In his
hand He gave horse and packet to the
colonel The packet contained large
American alarm clock with q few lines
from the pasha. "As / hear you have no
saddle horse. / send you one OF my own.
The alarm clock you will find useful IN
the mornings" The colonel took the
presents and the hint.
When the revolution broke out last au-
tumn Chevket had the Macedonian army
ready to march on Constantinople and
enforce tie constitution with the sword.
He Is no believer in bloodless revolutions.
You cannot have revolution without