Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1911-02-23
ABDUL The TIMID.
The Crafty Turkish Despot Wore
a Crown of Terror.
HIS PALACE LIKE A PRISON.

Yildiz, a Place of Mystery, Was the
Production and the Abode Of Fear
'unutterable-His Dread Of Assassi-
nation and His Horror Of the Dark.
For long years Abdul Hamid had
been haunted and tormented by the
nightmareHof death. In every shadow
he 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 he would waken
at the slightest sound. Sometimes he
would come out of his sleep with a
start, frightened by nightmare. and
that would mean hours Of wakeful.
ness. At such times he would find the
solitude Of his room unbearable, and
he would send for sorcerer, who
would explain the dream, or a slave,
who would read to him from one Of
his favorite books, those giving de-
tailed accounts of assassinations, exc
cutions and other horrors.
He was always armed. His clothes
were lined with enormous pockets,
which served him both as arsenals
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 a
story that one day gardener working
In the park Of Yildiz, on seeing the
sultan approach. rose quickly from a
STOPPING posture to assume a respect
sui attitude. Abdul Hamid, startled
by his sudden appearance and suspect
ing some evil motive, at once fired at
him. The man fell dead. Later, as no
weapon was found on his body, it 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 one of the sultan's
ministers.
Yildiz, scene Of innumerable horrors,
had been built by Abdul Hamid him
self, and he had made 1t more like a
labyrinth than a palace. 1t was the
production and the abode Of fear unut-
terable. Surely no sane mind planned
it. To guard against conspirators get
ting plan of his residence its master
was continually changing Its internal
arrangements, walling up doors. open
ing new ones, narrowing passages, d.
viding rooms by partitions, making
windows and closing them again. 1t
was constantly changing maze.
To spare himself the danger Of cross
ing the graveled path that separated
his apartments from his harem he had
linked his residence by flying bridges
to the harem on the one side and to
the imperial theater on the other. This
theater 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-
plauded, and the visible audience con-
sisted of 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 were securely barred and the
heavy iron doors were of great
strength and capable of being firmly
bolted inside.
Every room in the palace was pro-
vided with 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 and say to
them: keep good lookout. I am
going to sleep tonight In this room"
But he 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 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 for
the purpose of watching the residence
of Prince Yusuf Izzedin, eldest son OF
Abdul Aziz and heir presumptive to
the throne. Its glass was never turn
ed upon the heavens
But sometimes from his lonely look
out the monarch saw stranger things
than the residence of Prince Yusuf,
things that no other human being had
ever dreamed Of. There were times
when his morbid Imagination played
curious pranks with him.
IL 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 wild look In his
eyes and called his first secretary, who
at that time was Ali Fuad Bey. He
led the secretary to a window, and,
pointing to the sublime porte some
miles away, he said, trembling with
fear:
''Did you see them? They have met
yonder to proclaim my downfall"
"WhoT asked the startled secretary.
"My minister's" exclaimed the sui
tan my own ministers are now in
the act of dethroning me. Can't you
aaa than, 30