Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-10-29

man selected for this duty.
Afterward it was reported that they
had been exposed for sale at Paris, and
that some of the choicest gems had been
already purchased by American million
aires. But no official report has fvei
been made concerning any of these tran
sactionS. The fate as we'll as the number
and value of the jewels is in the mist.
Sultan's Passion for Jewels.
Abdul Hamid was economical in dealing
with the necessities of life and eXtrava-
CANT in trifles. 1t is known that he fire.
auently purchased expensive gems brought
to him by dealers OF Paris and other Eu-
ropean cities.
He had passion for such things as
had the rajahs of India although he sell
dom wore jewels upon his person. Most
of his purchases are supposed to have
been given to the favorites Of his harem.
When those ladies were dispersed after
the abdicatiOn it is probable they car
ried off everything of value they pos
sessed or could lay their hands on. There
seems to have been a general grab game
in the YildiZ Kiosk the day following the
departure of the eX-sultan for his gilded
prison III SalOniki.
A man who has intimate relations with
the treasury department tells me the
Jewels We're sold en- bloc to London
dealer for large sum. which was inn
mediately turned into the treasury. cred
tied to the account of the eX-suitan, and
that the money has already been eX-
pended in reorganizing the army and for
other military purposes. The proceeds of
the securities which the ex-sultan was
forced to surrender and of all the prop
erty recovered from him have gone the
same way.
Green Vaults of Constantine.
These jewels were the private property
of Abdul Hamid and were never in the
known as the Green Vaults of Constan-
tine, one Of the palaces of the seraglio
where the sacred relics of the prophet are
also kept
These buildings are inclosed by an inner
wall of the seraglio, beyond the court of
the JaniZaries and beyond the old Church
of St Irene, erected by Constantine the
Great, which was converted into an ar
mOry instead Of a mosque by the Mos
lens
In the museum of the armory is the
scimiter used by Mohammed II, at the
sacking of Constantinople, when he over
threw the Byzantine throne; the sword of
Scanderbeg, the armor of Tamerlane and
the tomb of Constantine and other en-
perOrs.
Beyond the orta kapou. or sacred gate,
that leads to these places, no one can
pass except Dy special 1rade bearing the
signature of the sultan himself. This
trade can sometimes be obtained as per-
sonal favor by an ambassador; but it is
an expensive affair.
The visitors are always escorted by two
or three aids-de-camp, who expect fees OF
at least S. each. Eunuchs and aghas and
other officials intrusted with the protec-
ton of the sacred places must also he
paid, each of them similar amounts. IL
is impossible to enjoy the distinction OF
-tcsti f|,x, har
or fifty dollars.
Fantastic Splendor.
The group of buildings is extremely pic
turesque. Some of them are dignifled and
some are fantastic. They represent the
architectural caprice of dozen sultans,
and give one an idea of the barbaric lux
ury in which the early Moslem rulers of
Turkey lived.
In one of the kiosks you are shown Il
room where the ENJOYS and ambassadors
of European sOvereigns were required to
change their ordinary garments for robes
which. the sultans sent out for them to
wear when they appeared before them,
and you can inspect vast kitchen where
the food of the court and the janizaries
was cooked.
The kitchens are rooted with domes,
perforated to let out the smoke and odors
instead of having ordinary chimneyS In
the olden days, and when the sultans
lived here. it is said that forty thousand
steers and corresponding number of
sheep goats, calves, geese. ducks, capons
pigeons. fish and other supplies were re-
quired annually for the occupants OF the
place.
There is a room where several grand
viZiers were beheaded and a window
where in 1903 the dead body of Sultan
ool,, o,,A Al loo
0 few days later the corpse Of his assas-
sin followed him.
They show you a screen where the sui
tans used to sit and overhear the dis
cussions of their ministers unbeknown
to the latter. Apartments occupied by
an ambassador sent here in 1865 by
Queen Elizabeth, seeking assistance of
the armies of the sultan against her
enemies in Spain, are to be seen.
The Chirkau Scheriff, or Hall of the
Holy Garments. cannot be approached by
unbelievers. 1t is the most sacred place
in all the Moslem world, because it shell
tiers the mantle of the prophet Mollam-
med, his staff, his scimiter, his stand
block of stone and two hairs from his
venerable beard, which are inclosed in a
casket Of gold.
Jewels in Wild Profusion.
What is even more interesting to the
ordinary visitor is the display of jewels
which are kept in two small rooms, ar
ranged without taste or any plan of in
stallation. There are perhaps several
thousand of precious stones. Many of
them are uncut and all of them unset,
kept in a most careless way in porcelain
salad bowls that will hold a gallon each.
Five such bowls are filled with loose
diamonds rubies, emeralds. sapphires.
turquo!ses and other sems-perhaps half
a bushel altogether. One emerald weighs
two Kilograms and another is almost of
the same size. They are said to be the
largest in the world.