The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-05-11
New Sultan Also Flows a Fur TOW in the Lawn in Front
 of Palace
ANCIENT CUSTOMS ARE
 OBSERVED IND BROKEN
Ceremonies Corresponding To Corona tions Pass Off Without Accident and Congratulations of All
 Nations Are Extended.

Constantinople. May 1o.-Mehmed V ended his coronation day by blowing furrow in the lawn at Dolma Bagtsche palace, symbolically at least. by hold ing the blow handles for fraction of n minute while two horses dragged it a few yards. In carrying out the an cient testimony Mehmed V showed him self to be sound of body and fit to bear the physical burdens of the em- pire.
 It had been a day both of fulhllment of ancient customs and of breaking them. Christians for the first time were admitted to the small mosque at tached to Ayoub mosque, and allowed to see the ceremony of girding the sword of Osman upon the Sultan. Among 30 persons present were Buck man Pasha. an American, and Woods Pasha, an Englishman, both of whom are in the Turkish service. They were impressed with the beauty and the solemnity of the ceremony, which with the chants of the priests lasted only 20 minutes.
 As the Sultan crossed the courtyard Of the mosque to enter his carriage, white turbaned nadia, or teaching priest, caused a moments excitement by running forward with a petition which he tried to hand to the Sultan. at the same time talking somewhat wildly about the Koranic law. Two soldiers caught him and hurried him out of the yard.
 
 reactionary plots. passed peacefully and without sign of disturbance. Lights are blazing in the minarets and mosques of Constantinople tonight; the ships in the harbor are outlined in electric bulbs and the city generally is celebrating enthusiastically the girding of the new Sultan
 Brief Ceremony.
 This ceremony corresponds to that of coronation in the European countries. It lasted only few minutes and the ancient rites of the spiritual power con siging the temporal power to the Sul- tan was witnessed by no foreign eyes. The Sultan proceeded in a launch from the Dolma Bagtsche palace to the mosque which stands at the waters edge, where the rite was performed.
  Shiek- Ul-Islam, the members of the cabinet, the chiefs of the army, the two higher grades of ulemas and many other officials, he drove to the Top kapou palace about six miles distant, to kiss the robes of the prophet.
 At the Ayoub mosque Mehmed V drew the scimitar of his ancestor, Os- man I, the founder of the Ottoman empire from it's sheath and standing in the square in front of the group of buildings called the Sublime Porte, he raised the weapon on high and by this immortal act took oath of the Turkish empire.
 outburst of Shouting.
 The action of the Sultan was followed by an outburst of shouting from the people massed beyond the lines of the surrounding troops, together with fan fare of trumpets and a rattle of mus ketry as the soldiers fired a salute, but above all this noise rose the sharp and clear voices of a chorus of school boys chanting .'Midhat Pashas Hymn of Lib erty."
 The scene was the strange mixture of historical eastern observance and mod ern with civilization. Mehmed. the first Sultan in four centuries who has had blue eyes and fair hair, was dressed in western uniform of olive green khaki. Within sight of the square were the By zantine walls surrounding the city and the Genoese tower of St. Sophia, two striking suggestions of the fifteenth cen .ury history. In further contrast was the fact that his majesty, chosen by tho constituencies to rule the empire, stood upright in open carriage fresh from the most fashionable manufacturer of Paris and raised on high, with dignified gesture the ancient sword worn by 34 of his ancestors and carried by 28 of his forebears since the conquest of Constan- tinople It was remarked also that Meh- med was the first beardless ruler of his line; he wore only pointed mustache.
 Religious Leaders.
 Tn addition to the Sheilx- -Ul-Islam and the ulemas there stood near Mehmed representatives of the principal religions of the empire. These were the Greek patriarch, the chief Jewish rabbi, three Armenian notables and representatives of the, Bulgarian exarchate and the Grego- rian Protestants The old Moslems in the crowd were astonished to see these ..despensed'' individuals participating in the elevation of Mehmed to be Caliph of the Caliphs,i but there was no ex- nlanation of this and loyal cheers alone sounded as the Sultan placed the his- toric weapon with its hilt of sparkling jewels in the scabbard and the procession moved onward.
 The sword of Osman was taken at an early hour this morning from the treasure house of the old seragho and carried to the mosque by Shilibi or the Holy One of Konia." Chelibi is grand master of the Melevee, or dancing dervishes one of the most ardent of the dervish orders. He is reputed to be a direct descendant of Jella- Deddeen, who founded the order in the thirteenth century. He Is a man with modern ideas and has introduced Agricultural machinery among the people. \ Incidentally, he sees to 1t that the Amer ! lean agents selling these instruments get