The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1909-08-04
lished in this city, of their restora-
ton to their families and friends:

ton to their families and friends:
THE government" it says, '''first
sent kilograms to all parts Of Ana
tolla In which were to be found Cir
cassfan refugees or colonists likely
to have daughters, sisters or rela-
tives in the harem Of Abdul Hamid.
They were summoned Immediately to
in order to take back
into their own country the ladies of
the harem who belonged to them. For
several days these Circassian viii
layers have been arriving in the city,
wearing their picturesque costume,
kinsfolk is tn,.~ Asto..a:
Tears, caresses b.. sr1caI - en-
thusiasm and excitementeiax :.
The girls recognized fathers, l.
ers. uncles or cousins; they kissed,
they wept, they uttered exclamations
of Joy at the recovery Of the dear
relatives from whom they had been
separated for so many years.
They asked for news of their
mothers, their sisters, their brothers,
and their friends. Some there were
who did not know their relatives,
from whom they had been taken
away In early childhood. The recog-
milton was only made by reference
to family names and names of. the
villayets from which they had been
exiied."
Glad to Get Away.
The young women are described as
being heartily glad to leave the per-
petual seclusion of the harem for the
liberty of peasant life.
These ladies', who lived like prin-
cesses of fairyland, in sumptuous
and ate off plate, who aoated in gild-
ed shallops on enchanted lakes and
still were unhappy, are suddenly
snatched by social revolution from
the shores of the Bosphorous and
sent back to the isolated villages of
Asia Minor. Here their only dwelling
will be a thatched cottage, their only
pastimes the cultivation of the soil,
the milking of cows, the herding of
cattle.
Their evening meal will be a piece
of maize bread, with bowl of skim
milk, but they will nave health. Death
by consumption or the tuberculosis
diseases of the harem will not be
theirs. They will live happy lives.
surrounded by love and affection"
Yildiz, the home of Abdul Hamid
for thirty-five years, has been thrown
open to the public, visitors being ad-
mitted through turnstiles at 1 shill-
ing head, an overcharge, says an
English correspondent who has in
spected the place, for all that is to be
seen. He asserts that the much
vaunted pleasure grounds of the sui
tan are without beauty or attraction
of any sort. There is nothing be-
yond what can be seen in any pri-
vate garden. The paths are narrow
and the shrubs meager, and the park
of Yildiz is as great fraud as the
palace itself.
Yildiz Looks Like. Hospital.
The writer continues: There are
lovely palaces at Constantinople-
perfect architectural gems in pol
ished marble and gold-but Yildiz
looks more like a modern barrack
hospital in stucco and plaster. There
is not one palace, but many two
storied buildings, lying scattered
about the park, and few of them have
the slightest pretensions to any
beauty of design or decoration.
''The rooms themselves are mostly
small, with very narrow doors-wide
enough only for a man to squeeze
through, and in every one, besides
the parrots, used to lie a revolver
Any intrusion led to chorus of
chattering and the feathered brigade
served like watch dogs.
"The harem Is long and ugly,
low, barracklike construction with
strongly barred windows. Through
these the gaping crowd can see a
collection of curiosities.
There are vases of great beauty
and extraordinary knickknacks Of
every description. Over against the
harem is the artificial lake, or, rather,
canal, which runs for about half a
mile through the park. 1t is marked
off by various landing stations named
after the villages in the Bosphorus
touched by the daily steamers. 1t was
here that the fair prisoners, who
could not enjoy the real thing, were
wont, accompanied sometimes by the
sultan himself, to make imaginary
trips to Therapia or Beicos on an
ungainly and hideous water bicycle
made to hold about a dozen passen-
gers.
There were draw bridges here and
there to heighten the illusion, but it
is almost inconceivable to a western
mind that any civilized being above
the age of ten years could have found
in navigating this canal"