Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-09-22
Ladies of the Harem.

Ladies OF the darem.
| These ladies all together had 16O chill
| dren of various ages, and were looked
after by 127 eunuchs and slaves. 1t is
| asserted that the old sultan never even
saw many of them and many of them
never even saw him. They were mostly
gifts from pashas and others who sought
the SutanS favor, or daughters of rich
men offered by their fathers, Or invited
to become inmates of the harem for po-
litical, personal or other reasons, for in
! olden times place in the padtsha's ha-
rem was the greatest honor a Turkish
woman could achieve. 1t was customary
for Abdul Hamid to give women away to
his favOrites and to others whom he de-
sired to honor, just as if they were horses
or dogs.
Some years ago, when 1 was in Damas-
Gus, the wife of the governor died. She
was fine woman. and her husband was
devoted to her. Being aware of this Abb
dull Hamid sent him two of the most
beautiful houris in his harem as a con-
ISOLATION.
Three or four of his favorites, the moth
ers of the princes whom he acknowledged
publicly, resided in cottages apart from
the rest of the harem each having her
own establishment, with carriages and
horses, practically Independent of the
rest, but all the women on the place were
under the general supervision of the sui
tail SlStcT anu the cnleI eunuCn. aga
Pasha, gigantic Arab, as black as coal,
who occupied that confidential position
for nearly twenty-five years.
When Abdul Hamid was banished he
took five of these ladies to Saloniki, with
their cooks and maids, to share his exile,
| and at least two, perhaps three, still re-
| main with him. The rest, as l told you
in letter from Saloniki, refused to re-
main and returned to Constantinople.
All of the sultan's wives who have
rhildron occtcp nod
in Constantinople by the government and
granted pensions Some of them have
saved enough out of their allowances to
enable them to live in luxury for the
rest of their lives, and their children are
with them. Those without children were
sent back to their parents and those who
had no place to go have been taken care
of by connections of the imperial family.
Thus the sultan's harem has been scat.
tered, and l understand that one of the
ladies has reached Chicago, where she
found refuge with relatives.
Sixty carriages and several hundred
horses from the sultan's stables were
granted to the ladies who remained in
nized in the parks and in the streets
by Abdul Hands cOat-Of-arms upon the
panels of the doors.
Altogether. including the guards, Yil-
dix Kiosk had a population of between
three and four Thousand, but 1t has been
pretty we'll cleaned out. Only 800 soldiers
are on duty there now, and the principal
villa has been renovated and fitted up
as a summer residence for the sultan,
who occupied it. for the first time two
weeks ago.
The present sultan is not a man of
luxury. He is contented with very little
display, although, having been a prisoner
of his brother for the greater part of his
life, he is making the best of the OppOr-
tunities that remain for him to have a
good time. The grounds of the park are
open to the public by his wish, and he
drives about with the greatest enjoyment.
He turned back into the treasury one
half of the allowance made for his sup
port by parliament, and the most ex-
travagant request he has made was for
three cows to furnish milk for himself
and his family.
Looting the Yildiz Kiosk.
After the arrest and deportation of
Abdul Hamid, Yildiz Kiosk was plumber
ed and ransacked by the Young Turks
| and the guards, very much as the palace
of the Tuileries was looted by the COM
mune at the overthrow of the French
empire. And no doubt many articles of
value were carried away before order was
| restored and arrangements made for the
protection of the poperty. Many pieces
! of bric-a-brac, jewels, rare coins and
other articles represented to be from
the ex-sultan's collection. are offered for
sale by curio dealers in Paris and Lon
don and Paris bookseller has published
catalogue Of several hundred rare books
which he asserts came from Abdul
Hands library.
| AS soon as order was restored q Gus
todian was placed in charge and a COM
mission was appointed to make thorough
| search of all the buildings. because it
was believed that much treasure was hid
den away. In teh apartments Of the
sultan were found several safes contain
ing stocks and bonds and other securities
| Of great value, title deeds to property and