Perth Amboy evening news., 1911-03-23
ABDUL The TIMlD.
The Crafty Turkish Despot Wore
a Crown of Terror.
HIS PALACE LIKE A PRISON.

Unutterable-His Dread of Asssssi-
nation and His Horror of the Dark.
For long years Abdul Hamid had
been haunted and %torInented by the
nightmare of death. In every shadow
be seemed TO see an assassin. All his
! vast power could not bring him one
moment of peace and happiness. Not
for one moment was Turkeys mon
arch at ease.
Year by year his fears had been
growing upon him. He had a terror
of the dark. At night Yildiz always
blazed with lights. His sleep had be-
come restless. and be would waken
at the slightest sound. Sometimes he
would come out Of his sleep with u
start, frightened by a nightmare, and
that would mean hours Of wakeful-
ness. At such times be would find the
solitude of his room unbearnble, and
be would send for a sorcerer. who
would explain the dream, or a slave.
who would read to him from n of
his favorite books. those giving de-
tailed accounts of transformations. exc
cufions and other horrors.
He was always armed. His clothes
were lined with enormous pockets.
which served him both as a~rsenais
and archives and bulged with pistols
and rolls of spies reports.
Everybody at Yildiz was afraid of
being shot by him. He was likely to
fire at the slightest action that might
seem to him suspicious. There Is 9
story that n day a gardener working
In the park of Yildiz. on seeing the
sultan approach. rose quickly from n
stopping posture to assume a respect
full attitude. Abdul Hamld. startled
by his sudden appearance and suspect
ing some evil motive. at once fred at
him. The mar fell dead. Later. as no
weapon was found on his body. 1t had
to be acknowledged that a blunder
had been committed. Such is the tale
told by the son of the late Prince of
Samos. who was n of the sultan's
ministers.
Yfidfz. scene of innumerable horrors.
had been built by Abdul Hamid him-
self. and he had made 1t more like a
labyrinth than a palace. Ii was the
terable. Surely 10 sane mind planned
1t. To guard against conspirators get
ting a plan of his residence its master
was continually changing Its internal
arrangements. walling III doors. open
ing new ones. narrowing passages. d.
viding rooms by partitions. making
windows and closing them again II
wus a constantly changing maze.
To spare himself the danger Of cross
Ing the era veled path that separated
his apartments from his harem he had
linked his residence by flying bridges
to the hafem on the one side and to
the imperial theater on the other. This
theafer was a gloomy little place.
where the monarch would sit entirely
hidden from view In his box while ac-
tresses and singers from Paris and
other European cities entertained him.
He never came into view. never ap
piauded. and the visible audience CON
sisted of a few members of his family.
The building used by Abdul Hamid
as his private residence looked more
like a prison. for all the lower win
dows We're securely barred aud the
heavy Iron doors were of great
strength and capable of being firmly
boited inside.
Every room In the palace was pro-
vided with a couch on which the sui
tan could sleep If he felt Inclined. No
body ever knew In what room he
would sleep on any given night. Be
fore retiring TO rest he would some
times call his attendants aud say TO
them: Keep a good lookout | am
going to sleep tonight In this room"
Rut be would Invariably sleep some
where else.
On the roof of the imperial apart.
ments was an astronomical observa-
tory which had been fitted up with an
exceedingly good telescope by a Pa.
risian firm. This observatory was a
~favorite place with the sultan. yet he
took not the slightest interest In as
tronomy. The telescope was there to
serve his own purpose of espionage.
for he used 1t almost exclusively fer
the purpose of watching the residence
Of Prince Yusuf Izzedin. eldest son of
Abdul Aziz and heir presumptive to
ed upon the heavens.
But sometimes from his lonely look.
out the monarch saw stranger things
han the residence OF Prince Yusuf.
things that no other human being had
eve dreamed OF. There We're times
when his morbid Imagination played
curious FRANKS with linn.
II was on the day following an at
tempt upon his life by one Ali souavi
and a revolt at Tcheragan. both of
which incidents greatly upset him.
that Abdul Hamid hurried down from
his observatory with a wild look In his
eyes and called his first secretary. who
at thai time was All Fuad Bey. he
led the secretary to a window, and.
pointing to the sublime porte SOM
miles away. he said. trembling with
fear;
.Did you zee them7 They have met
Ponder 10 proclaim ny downfallt"
"Who?" asked the startled secretary.
SHY minister's" exclaimed the sui
tan. "My own ministers are now in
the act of d%eehroning me-. Can't You
nee them?"
This statement was quite unfounded
ana 1t was d long time before the seq
rotary could calm his frightened mar
ter.-Philadelphia Ledger.
This Cuckoo.
In the mfddla ayes the cncknn WIS