Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-23

Murad v. was raised to the throne made
vacant by the deposition of Abdu Aziz. at
the end of May. 1876. Three months later.
he himself was removed from the throne,
and a pail Of mystery descended upon him
which has never been raised. Hundred
tongued rumos declares that he stlll lives,
the lawful sovereign of Turkey. commander
Of the faithful, Kaliph OF Islam, in the
marble dungeon of the Cheragan palace.
And to this day no Mohammedan boatman
will willingly approach the forbidden
ground on which the Cheragan stands. on
a cliff above the Bosporus. Whether Murad
V. lives Is certainly known only to Abdul
Hamid, the younger brother, who holds
his throne. But this much is certain:
Murad, soon after the suicide of his maniac
uncle. was stricken with mental depression,
perhaps braln-fever. and a commission OF
doctors. with Abdul Hamid's physician at
its head. declared that he was hopelessly
insane. The Sheikh ul Islam. the religious
head Of the Moslem world. thereupon de-
clared a regency, and It is as regent for
his brother Murad that Abdul Hamid still
holds the throne. Thereafter the pail Of
darkness began to descend upon Murad.
Gradually he was isolated from his friends
duu lOIHitT HIlllStSTS, anu at lbSI even
from his wife and mother. and rumor has
it that he still lives in the Cheragan dun
geon, his life only spared because the
seers had told Abdul Hamid that he would
not long survive his brothers death.
The Incarceration of the elder brother
took place at the end Of August, 1876. At
that very time a ftiRhtful struggle was
going on among the Balkan mountains be-
tween the Christian Slavs and the Moslem
Turks. De IAveleye tells a horrible story
OF tortures and implements. and records
that the Austrian consulate at one frontier
point asked the Constantinople government
not to impale Christian Servians at a GER
tain place, because they were visible from
the windows OF the consulate. The Porte
apologized. and therea fter impaled them on
the farther side of the town. Fire and
sword ragged through the Balkans as
fiercely as In the worst days OF GenEhis
Khan and the Tartar raids. The uncon-
quered warriors of Montenegro Joined hands
with their Servian brothers. The Chris
tians of Bulgaria we're up in arms. And
the world rang with the tale OF the Bull
garian atrocities'' which filled all northern
Turkey with a carnival of cruelty and
destruction. Meanwhile whispers were rife
lnrougn COnstanLnoThe tnat Murad V.
had completely recovered both health and
mind. and that his brother Abdul Hamid
was guilty OF the high crime Of usurpa-
tion. made possible by the cruel imprison-
ment of his hated elder brother.
The Berlin treaty, in the summer Of 1878.
dismembered the Turkish empire. Austria
took the two rich provinces of Bosnia and
Herzegovina. servia became, an independent
kingdom. Wallachia and Moldavis. nom
inally a dependent principality for the last
few years, became a kingdom, with the title
of Roumanla. Bulgaria was raised TO the
position of a principality. which Just fell
short of complete independence. A part
of Bessarabiss adjoining Kisheneff of evil
memory passed into the hands of Russia.
England got Cyprus under an indefinite
protectorate. Greece got nearly the whole
OF Thessaly. But, TO compensate, Mace
donia, with its largely Christian popula-
l A. --- NLA..N -. 49, - -