Evening star., 1909-06-13

be called away in the middle of the
SOUP. II seemed as though Abdul Hamid
wished 10 tease his courtiers and min
isters' as much as possible.
The Austrian workman is not the onlv
one who advises Mehmed to eo ana
see his country. The Young Turks have
decided that he must do 1t The sultan.
II is said, refused at first. .T am ton
Old to begin to travel" he said. ..If
could find out something about the peonIe
by going about / would Indeed. I vould
like TO dress as a pilgrim and see them
as they are. If I were younger. But I
am so Old that have no time A royal
journey teaches a sovereign nothing.
can better serve my country by sitting
here and working, because. if do travel,
snail only see AS much the officials
want me to see. and no more" But
though the question has not yet been
decided, the ministers will Jrobahy ad-
wise him to &C. He will travel by a
special train to Saloniki and then 80 to
Asia Minor Their object is 10 show tie
masses that they have a sultan and a
Caliph who has been girt with the sword
Of Osman.
Though fond Of an exclusive Turkish
life. he has brought up his sons to lie as
European Is the eX-sultan would allow
The two elder princes look like Enro-
peans. and have been abroad. The Young
est IS still in the harem, which he will
leave fer good in a few months He
will then have foreign and Turkish tutors
though the study of Persian is not to be
neglected. Mehmed Y, like so many
Turks. prefers to work at night AS the
Turkish day begins at sunset this IL
easy TO understand He likes TO call
his counselors together at about ten
IN the evening and sit with them TIL
daylight-just the ex-sultan did But
the Young Turks. who have decided to
make parliament sit from eleven till five
have told the sultan that they prefer
to have all their deliberations over by
midnight.
In his gardens he has thousands Of
birds. kept in aviaries He goes out
with his Youngest son and can watch
them for hours together. Like most
orientalss the splash of fountains glad
dens his heart. He likes to stroll about
among the flowers and pets And he
does this today he did when 4 bdul
Hamid regned at Yildiz Kiosk. During
his brothers reign he was not allowed
to go to a mosque for fear he should
meet people and talk TO them. Now.
when he goes, he tells the soldiers to let
the public come into the part where he
prays. "All are equal before Allah.' ne,
SAYS. One day. on his way back from
Selamlik. he noticed little child weep
ing by the roadside and asked what was
the matter with him. 1t appeared that
his toy boat had cdpsized and sunk The-
sultan sent a soldier to get another one,
for him.
One thing that struck him un-
favorably about the streets of the city
he had not seen for three decades were
the dogs. who live in the streets and
feed on the refuse. I'VE must get rid
of these dogs he said to old general
who was in his carriage. They are
hungry and ill-treated. 1t is not just
that they should be This remark did
thought a sultan ought to be bothering
about other things. So he answered.
Yes sire. But first We must get rid Of
the two-legged dogs who spy about the
place When more of then hang on
yonder bridge I'll about the four
legged ones. And the sultan was
silent.
Altogether. he is more or less under
the Young Turks thumb. There is an
old priest in the palace. who declares,
with froUn, that his master will soon
have enough of his sultanship. They
took him out of one prison and put him
in another" mutters the old man. The
only difference is that whereas. before.
he had one jailer, now he has hundred"
And perhaps the old man is right
Copyright in America and Great Britain By
Curtis Brown