The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1909-06-10
BILKINS IN TURKEY
The Sultan Gives the Major
a Royal Good
Time.
EXAMINES TURKISH TREASURY

The Major Grows Skeptical-Con-
stantinople and Its Curious People
The Sultan and His Numerous
Wives-When Dogs Barked at the
Moon-A Great Railroad Project
and What It May Accomplish
Sights In the Turkish Treasury-A
Peep at the Harem and It's In
Constantinople, Turkey,
June 7, 1909.
Correspondence of The Caucasian
Enterprise.
OWN ter the recent uprisin' In
| Turkey durin' which some thirty
thousands ov people air sed ter hev
Turks love ter bragg, thought at
one time that I'd leave that country
off the list. But had an idea that
hit liz worth seein' an your readers
air entitled ter the best In my shop.
| After much hard travellin', which
seemed ter make Bob nervous an
nifty tired, we finally reached con-
stantinople. / find that hit IL
large an very strange lookin' city.
So l am not goin' ter complane on
account ov the distance an the
trouble 1 had in gittin' here
The ladies here air very guide look
in an the men bein' sorter scarce
OWN ter SO many wars, the ladies
hev a fashion ov wearin' wells over
their faces when they appear in pub
lick. But 1 notice that the most ov
the young an real purity ones wear
very thin wells. Another reason
why they wear wells liz that they hev
in Turkey the Sultan, which IL an
other name fer King, an he hez a
law or rule which entities him ter
az many wives az he kin afford, or
more, an he naturally picks out a
few hundred ov the purtiest ones in
the land. The other ladies feel like
they air more Or less ugly, real back
numbers, an 80 they wear wells ter
hide their faces.
Ov course this custom IL accordin'
ter law, fer the Sultan makes the
laws. Hit iz supposed that they git
the idea from Solomon an others
who lived in ancient days. Solomon
liz sed ter hev had seven hundred
wives. But I hev awlways believed
that Solomon made hiz reputation
az the "wisest man. in hiz young
days an then drifted into the mar
ryin' buZiness when he began ter git
childish. In tawlkin' with the Sui
tan ov Turkey I couldn't git him ter
admit that he regretted havin' so
many wives. But I could see that
he wears henpecked look that will
be On hiz face when he dies Hit
wouldn't hev bin safe fer me ter
hev had Betsy with me here. She
would hev given the Sultan a piece
ov her mind erbout this marryin'
buziness. I tried ter git the Sultan
ter tell me jist eacktly how many
wives he hez now, but he smiled an
sed that hit had bin several years
since the census-takers had bin er-
round an he had forgotten the exact
number. The Sultan liz purity well
posted in perlitical methods. How
ever, he promised ter take me er.
round ter see the ladies durin' the
afternoon.
IL The Sultan took me fer look al
hiz horses, an I found that he hez &
! great number ov fine horses, some o,
the finest in the world. In fack
the Sultan IL well-fixed in every way
J thugh many ov hiz subjecks hev no
= a days rations ahead. Turkey liz /;
= rich country, however-that IL, tn,
Sultan IL rich, if I may be erlowet
ter repeat.
The city ov Constantinople iz di
+ vided into two parts, the Turkish an
the foreign, fer foreigners air no
h allowed ter live in the Turkish city
q At any rate, they do not The cit
: hez a fine harbor an hit liz sed tina
, every vessel in the world, large an
n small, could anchor near the city
!. Constantinople liz near the boundar
J. line between Europe an Asia, an
h Turkey wuz big country, she coul
a control awl ov that part ov the world
# AZ hit iz, she keeps some ov ther
# a-guessin'. But Stamboul liz so we
w located that it liz probably the natr
O raj gateway. That city guards th
"a water communication between th
4 Black Sea and the Mediterranean
O. an while 1t il not so important 9
n a city. it could be fortified so az |
N divide awl ov that part ov the worl
The Persians captured that plat
time an ergin an lost hit; so d
the Greeks. Phillip of Maeedon trie
e. to capture the city an might hs
e. done SO but fer the barkin' ov do,
re- at the risin' moon. That gave ri
of ter the oft-repeated expressio
,r- Dogs barkin' at the moon," an h
Ic- caused the Turks ter adopt the or
be cent az their national emblem.
A great railroad IL now bein' bu
to connect Europe with India
will be several thousands oy mil
in length an will run through Co
- stantinople. 1t will probably eau
ON some ov these people ter sit up a
he take motifs, fer hit will open up cou
uv try whar only the ignorant live, VIII
,g the lion an the tiger air the RI
Nv kings-ov the forest-an' whar t
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