Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-05-05
|BELLES OF TURKEY
NOW GO UNVEILED
ConstantinopIe Women Adopt
and Exaggerate FASH
ions of Paris.
BY CONSTANTINE BROWN.

SpeclaI correspondence OF Inc Star
and the Chicago Daily News.
| CONSTANTINOPLE. Turkey. April
i4.-Once Constantinople had a great
ATTRACTION for foreigners-the Turk
I ish lady. The mystery of women
! passing drought the streets heavily
yelled caught the romantic traveller
! and often gave the Greek Interpreter
| a chance to make few hundred dol
| lars. Under an oath of secrecy he
! would promise to show the traveller
genuine harem. Next day he would
bring the unsophisticated foreigner
fez, and in the evening would take
/ him through the narrow, dirty pas
| sages that are called streets In Con-
stantinople. and after an hour of con-
tinuous walking. bring him to small.
dirty-looking cottage.
Here it is" he would whisper.
| Hold fast to your knife and be ready
! for any eventuality."
! Inside large room several women
would appear and dance a so-calIed
oriental dance. while the delighted
| foreigner drank Turkish coffee. The
whole performance would not cost
, more than 800, and the traveller felt
| the satisfaction of being for once in
his life inside harem. Next day he
might learn that the harem was moth
! ing but the interpreters own house
and the dancing women merely his
wife and sisters and friends. Still. he
! had the sensation. al least for half
an hour. of being real adventurer.
Faces Now Unveiled.
Nowadays even that has gone The
! Turkish husband is proud of showing
his wife without veil in the streets
of Constantinople. and at the tea par
ties given by members of the imperial
family the wife there are no more
wives) of the prince receives her Eu-
ropean guests. men and women. with
her hair under gauze veil. but her
face uncovered. Turkish ladies' of to-
day fox trot and one step as much
as American girls and don't enjoy it
any less.
Drinking is prohibited by the Koran.
Still. in the house of the modern Turk
| one may drink to his hearts desire.
An imported American cocktail re-
celpt book has its place of honor be-
| tween the Koran and the latest
has a prominent place among the old
family silver and on the huge trays;
instead of sherbets and Turkish de-
light. whisky and sodas or Manhat-
| tans are served by an old eunuch. who
gazes with bewildered eyes at his
mistress surrounded by smart Ameri-
can sailors or monocled Italian Off
GERS. He is the only remnant of old
Turkey.
Dirty Streets. Dirty Politics.
Constantinople is as dirty as its pol
! tics Nobody ever goes to the trouble
OF cleaning the streets; only nature
does 1t, either by means of strong
winds that sweep away the dust, or
by heavy rains that wash away the
mud. The British have started to clean
up politics by putting in Jail the poll
ticlans. There are those who claim it
is only half measure-that only the
antiBritish are jailed
The center of political intrigues and
propaganda is the main hotel here.
; the Pera Palace. One meets there all
kinds of people. from the monocled'
French diplomatist to the fierce look
| ing subject of the new republic of
7! Azerhaidjan. The little bar is crowded
! with British officers armed to the
(! teeth. Cossacks who pay 1000 rubles
mouth. American sailors who come to
/ get wet after dry lunch on board
ship. Greeks drinking for the sake of
( heir country. Russians who complain
that America does not understand the
i Slav soul. and, instead of supplying
=, the refugees here with ample funds.
J gives them only food clothes and
shelter. French who curse President
! Wilson and ask you to have another
/ cocktail. They are all mixed together,
varied and most interesting crowd.
/ But the principal figure is the little
! Levantine who has no religion. coun-
try or creed and is now in the pay
; Of the Turk as he was yesterday in
Germany's pay. He wears fez and
. has a clever way of approaching for
eign diplomatists or newspaper men
| who have just landed in this cosmo-
! politan town.
In the bazaars most of the dealers
are Greeks or Armenians. The Turk
! is too dignified to pull a prospective
customer into his shop. ask him 500
| for an object worth scarcely $40 and
finally sell it for $12.