Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-09-20

they have become an intolerable nuisance.
They are not SO bad in the day time.
They lie on the sidewalks and in the
roadways sleeping in the sun, and 1t is
considered sacrileSious to disturb them.
But at night. after the garbage of each
hotel and restaurant and cafe is deposited
outside the doors according to custom,
they make night hideous with their bowls
and snarls as they dght over the food.
Conducted With Secrecy.
They have been the only scavengers Of
Constantinople for centuries, but, under
the new regime. among the several mod
ern ideas that have been allowed to filter
through established customs, the ex-
tinction Of the pests has been decreed,
and is being gradually accomplished. as
the officials suppose. without the knowl-
edge of the common people. There is a
delusion that the ignorant Mohammedan
population might interfere and overthrow
the government il dts intention to ex-
terminate the dogs became known. Hence.
whatever is being done Is concealed with
the greatest caution.
The dogs have had their own government
for centuries. They are nearly all Of the
same breed. wolfsh-looking ours, and
most of them are AFFLICTED with mango
and other diseases. They are divided into
clans, each having its leaders and it's
and snarling that disturbs strangers at
night has been caused by pirates or guer-
rillas, which have crawled over the
boundaries and have tried to snatch q
bone or a crust that belonged to some
other dog. These pirates are numerous,
and they go about poaching upon the pre-
serves of the regular organized bands
with the hope. l suppose. of doing better
in the way Of food and lodgings than
by adopting regular haunts and habits.
Nightly Barking and Howling.
All night long the barking and the
bowling. the snarling and the growing
is kept up, and 1t is particularly offensive
in the neighborhood Of large hotels. which
throw out more garbage than the occu-
pants of private houses. and thus sup
port larger number Of dogs. In the
rear of the Pera Palace, the largest
hotel In Constantinople. are wide open
spaces, q park and a cemetery where
the dogs drag the food they snatch out
Of the garbage piles and tight over it
all night. so that the strangers who ask
to be lodged on that side of the hotel in
order to enjoy the superb view Of the
Golden Horn are kept awake all night,
night after night. by the disturbance.
Many extraordinary tales are told about
the sagacity of the dogs and their habits
and customs which are as interesting
az those Of the Turks or the Kurds.
They are as much of an institution as the
seraglio or the Mosque of st. Sophia.
Killing the Dogs Opposed.
The present municipal government be-
gan about a year ago to capture the dogs
with nets in the street during the night
and carry them away to pens outside of
the city, where they were poisoned. This
practice was discovered promptly and Wig
orously opposed by the working classes
Of the population. On several occasions
the dog catchers were set upon by mobs,
which drove them away and opened their
carts ana released the prisoners. COM
promise was made. however, under which
the municipal authorities agreed not to
kill the animals, but to convey them to
an island in the Bosphorus. where they
could lie unmolested.
The Koran prohibits the taking Of ami
NAL life, and although the Mohammedans
do not obey its teachings any more scru-
injunctions Of their Bible. certain of it's
laws are more carefully observed than
the edicts Of the sultan. There is no OBJ
lection to taking human llfe. indeed.
there In q fanatical sect of Moslems or
ganixed for the purpose of DISCRIMINATING
the Christian population: They have been
suppressed with great difficulty. and, as
everybody knows. hundreds of thousands
of Christians have been massacred in
bulgaria and Armenia and elsewhere
without the slightest conjunction by men
who will not kill kitten; The Turk does
not drown q litter Of kittens or puppies
as wa do. but throws them into the field
or among the rocks to die of exposure
and starvation. and that is precisely the
way the ofYicials of Constantinople are
setting rid of the dogs. Instead of adopt
Ing some quick and painless method they
are allowed to starve to death.
Taken to Barren Island.
In the Sea OF Marmora. seven or eight
miles below Constantinople, is q barren
and rocky island, upon which, in ancient
times political prisoners were kept. There
is scarcely a blade OF grass or any other
living thing upon 1t, and no fresh water
except the rainfall which collects in pools
among the rocks. As IT does not rain for