davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Washington times., 1937-10-09
81 Sultan

came enrolled as members Of
the corps.
Thus in time the percentage
Of utterly useless men and down
right scoundrels was very con-
Siderate, and early in the nine.
tenth century the number on
the pay roll had reached the
enormous figure of over 10000.
The efforts Of Selim III to Or
ganize q new force ended in
failure, and it remained for
Mahmud II. (1808-' 39) to crush
the corps once and for all.
Mahmud had already wit
messed the appalling horrors Of
a january revolt. This expert
ence engendered in his soul the
firm determination to eradicate
the entire corps forever, prepar.
ing the way by every means pos
Sible.
Honors and brides were be-
slowed in certain quarters, while
others who proved troublesome
soon found their way to the
BosporuS never to appear again.
The power of distant pashas was
undermined, and the janizarieS
were thus deprived Of the help
of disconnected provincial allies.
BY 1926 Mahmud was ready.
The rising had been carefully
provoked by the government.
and the janizaries marched to
the Etmeidan square and re-
versed their kettles in the usual
manner to signify a revolt.
Finding that their agha had
deserted to the government,
they attacked his palace and
abused what remained Of his
harem. Thence they went to
the porte and burned the ar.
chiveS and destroyed every.
thing they could lay hands on.
But their end was in sight.
The seaShore was guarded, the
Seraglio was full Of armed gar
deners, and the new army was
pouring into the city.
The prophets sacred standard
was unfurled, and q curse and
sentence Of eternal dissolution
on the janizarieS was pro
nounced.
The Washington times., 1937-10-09
Kettle on Standards

The names Of the officers were
all connected with the culinary
art. Thus the agha was known
as the head soup distributor:
then came the head cook, fol-
lowed by the head water carrier.
Their standard was emblaz-
oned with a huge kettle, which
merits some detailed considera-
ton. It is hard to say exactly
when these kettles began to play
such an important part in the
history Of the corps.
In actual fact, the kettles were
mess caldronS covered with a
lid used for the distribution of
the food. Each barrack had a
large regimental copper, while
the ordinary sized kettles were
distributed in the proportion Of
one to every 20 janizaries.
And SO the kettles came by
degrees to be symbols of military
pride and, like our drum, were
piled in front Of the tent of the
agha when the janizaries were
in camp. On the march the ket-
ties were carried by recruits in
relays, and their loss during a
battle was a lasting disgrace.
In times of peace the jani-
SarieS assembled in the second
The Washington times., 1937-10-09

AS the Acropolis is to Athens
and the Capitoline hill to Rome,
so is this hill to ConStantinople.
It is known as the first hill"
and it crowns the end of the
finger of land that separates the
Sea of Marmora from the inlet
called the Golden Horn, the
latter being named for its curved
shape and its profitaoleneSs as
an ancient fishing ground.
The date 1883 is one of the
most important turning points
in history, for it marked the
final blow to the tottering East
Roman empire and the coming
to power of the Ottoman Turks
in Europe.
['The Ottoman Turks. led by
Ottoman l., had reDolted from
their bardbric mother tribe, the
SeBuk Turks, some Sir genera
tionS earlier in Asia Minor.
Ever since they had been
SwGrmino westward, Dith the
conquest OF European ConStdn-
tinople their principal GOAL
The great seraglio built
shortly after this time made the
city more impregnable than
ever.
Ia description of this great
fortress surrounding the i'm.
per;dl hdrens should start at the
main gate, Which enters into
the first court, often knotDn to
Europeans as the Court of the
J1nisGrteS.l
The Washington times., 1937-10-09

the power Of the janiZarieS be-
came tremendous, and not less
than six sultans were either de-
throned or murdered through
their agency.
The original corps, being COM
posed of Christian captives,
soon realized that the sultan
was their new father and that
everything they had, were, or
could ever become, was entirely
in his hands.
So long, therefore, as he led
them into battle and retained
the warlike spirit of the early
sultans the military morale was
maintained and the corps be-
came the finest standing army
in Europe. But when the sui
tanS exchanged the battlefield
for the harem, regulations be-
came lax. the original spirit of
the corps was neglected, and all
kinds of abuses soon turned this
fine body of men into the
scourge and bane Of the Otto
man empire.
i = 4
Until 1874 the number never
exceeded 10000 all told, but
irregularities started under Mu-
rad III, and by the end Of the
century the jsnizarieS totaled
The Washington times., 1937-10-09
Summer Houses

One Of the most prevalent
architectural forms in the outer
parts of the seraglio is the
kiosk. More than a dozen Of
these little summer houses"
were built at one time or an
other and many remain to this
day. An example will show the
use of these odd pavilions which
arose and disappeared with the
whims of the sultans.
The Alai kiosk at the most
westerly angle of the seraglio
wall is fairly typical.
Many tales are told Of the
purposes to which it was put in
bygone days. Intended pri-
marily as a meeting place for
the sultan and his attendants
prior to the weekly visit to the
mosque on Fridays, it was used
by Murad w, as a vantage point
from which to practice his PROV
ess with the arquebus (primi-
tive gum on the passersby.
When popular indignation be-
gan to express itself on this
particular pastime of the sultan,
the royal bag" was limited to
ten heads per diem!
The kiosk also served for pub
lie audiences in emergencies,
when the petitioners would
gather in the street below, each
keeping at a safe distance from
the other.
Thus in the revolt of the jani-
zaries in 1855 the sultan was
forced to appear at the window
of the Alai kiosk to hear the
complaints of the soldiers, and,
in order to save his own head,
cast headlong into the street
the strangled bodies of the chief
black and white eunuchs, while
on the following day the bodies
of nearly all the other principal
ministers were handed to the
The Washington times., 1937-10-09

court after midday prayer every
Friday to receive their due al
lowance Of pilaf.
The sultan waited in the kiosk
between the divan and the gate
of felicity and watched the pro-
ceedingS with considerable anx-
iety. If the kettle bearers fetched
the rice from the kitchens at the
accustomed signal all was well,
but if they stayed in the ranks
and turned the kettles upside
down it was a symbol Of diSsatiS-
faction, possibly revolution.
The immediate action Of the
sultan depended upon the just
ness of tie complaints and the
personal ability Of the particu-
lar sultan to check inSubordina-
ton and revolt.
The results were often terrible
and swift; the gardeners would
be summoned, the ringleaderS
and kettle bearers seized, and a
pile Of heads would soon appear
outside the main gate.
The Washington times., 1937-10-09
Guns Do Their Work

A spiritual sanction was given
to the proceedings, and the at
tack commenced. The work Of
the new army was made easy
by the corps returning to the
square, and every avenue lead.
ing to it was soon occupied by
the enemy.
After q moment Of uncer.
tainty the guns did their work,
and the grapeShot played ter.
rible havoc in the crowded, mar.
row streets. Those who escaped
the artillery and the sword were
burned in their barracks.
But even then Mahmud was
not satisfied, and men who had
hidden in their homes or ESCAPED
out Of the city were hunted down
and drowned in the BosporuS.
Altogether it Is estimated that
more than $4,000 men persisted.
and the janizaries were no more.
The Washington times., 1937-10-09
BLesses JanizGries

Accordingly in the year 1880,
on the advice of one Chendereli
Kara Khalil, a system was
adopted whereby a certain num-
Der Of Christian youthS-at first
1,000-were every year taken
from their parents and, after I'm.
dergoing a period Of apprentice
ship. were enrolled as yeni cheri,
or new troops"
The venerable Hail Bektash,
founder of the BektaShi der
wishes, blessed the corps and
promised them victory. He re-
manned ever after the patron
saint Of the janiZarieS.
Standing in front Of their
ranks, he stretched the sleeve
of his gown over the head Of
the foremost soldier and cried:
Let them be called janizaries
Grom yeni cherD! May their
countenances be ever bright.
their hand ever victorious, their
swords keen! May their spears
always hang over the heads Of
their enemies! And whereSo-
ever they go may they return
with a white facet"
And as the holy man raised
his hand in blessing the thick
sleeve of his robe hung down in
q double fold, and in commemo-
ration Of the benediction a cloth
flap modelled on the sleeve was
henceforth attached to the hat
Of the janizarieS, as can be seen
in the accompanying picture.
The laws were at first most
strict, enforcing implicit obedi.
ence, absolute concord among
the corps, abstinence from all
forms Of luxury, forbidding mar
riage or domestic ties of any
kind, and demanding observance
Of all religious laws Of Hail Bek-
fash. Members Of the corps were
not to trade in any way, were
to have no pay in peace time,
and were to receive arms only
in time Of war.
Their rationS were quite in
adequate and soon led to the
breaking Of some Of the regula-
tons. AS time went on all kinds
Of abuses occurred, as we shall
shortly see.
The Washington times., 1937-10-09
Decapitated Heads

This first court was Of a semi
public nature, and entry was re-
fused to nobody, whatever his
rank or creed.
AS you entered, to the right
were the infirmary, the imper-
ial bakery. and the waterworkS;
to the left we're the great wood
yard, the Church Of st. Irene,
the imperial mint, the privy
treasury, the palace storehouse,
and two pavilions for members
Of the outer service.
Near the gate at the far end
were two example stones" on
which decapitated heads were
exhibited on occasion, and the
fountain Of execution in which
the chief executioner and his
lieutenant washed their bloody
hands.
One rule strongly enforced
was that of silence. Nearly all
travellers have remarked on the
extraordinary silence that was
maintained in the different
courts with increasing degrees
of intensity, until in the third
court it was like "the silence of
the tomb" A traveller in 1700
wrote:
Anybody may enter the first
court Of the Seraglio -. but
everything is so still the motion
Of a fly might be heard. and if
anyone should presume to raise
his voice ever so little, or show
the least want Of respect to the
mansion place of their emperor,
he would instantly have the
The Washington times., 1937-10-09

over $4,000. This was due to
several factors, all detrimental
to the corps.
No longer were the recruits
only Christians, but were true
Ottomans who had personal ties
with the people, and no more
did they look upon the sultan
as their father. Long intervals
of peace had stained the celibate
janiZaries with all kinds Of vices
and evil practices, and as soon
as they felt their power growing
they began to marry, and so
became more independent than
ever.
The Washington times., 1937-10-09

janizaries as a peace offering
by the terrified sultan.
Another place where the sui
tans we're won't to spend their
time in warm weather was the
summer palace, which was a
sort of super-kiosk built right
on the tip of Seraglio point.
It's principal feature was its
large harem quarters. One of
the few visitors ever to see these
halls and rooms was a French
man named Pouqueville, who
journeyed there about the year
1903. OF the harem gate he
wrote:
1.-The enormous size Of the key
and the noise made by the gate
grating upon its hinges, united
with the solitude and sacred
ness Of the place, seemed at
first to strike us all with a sort
of ave."
I fully appreciate his feelings
and experienced them myself
after ascending the worn wooden
stairs in the harem proper and
standing in silence gazing at the
heavily barred bedroom Of the
harem girls, a spot so sacred
and teeming with such romance
that when I found my voice 1t
was but a whisper.
Twelve feet away" continued
Pouqueville, was q second gate
of wood, and between the two
gates was the apartment Of the
female slaves on the first floor,
provision being made for 800
women in all"
The Washington times., 1937-10-09

it was under Sultan Orkhan that
a regular paid army was first
organized.
The result was unsatisfactory,
however, because the Turko-
mans, from whom these troops
were recruited, were not used to
fighting on foot or to submitting
to military discipline.
The Washington times., 1937-10-09
10000 on Pay Roll

If money or food was short, a
fire could easily be started in
the city, when wholesale footing
would naturally follow. Thus
the janizarieS could make good
their threats. It is estimated
that during the reign Of Ahmed
III. (1703-'30) no less than 140
such fires occurred.
The married janizaries were
allowed to live out Of barracks,
and soon not only their children,
but friends and relations, be-
The Washington times., 1937-10-09
is of the Sultan's E4arem
Rulers Deserted the Battlefield
For Soft Life of SeragEO

Mohammed II, suha Of a
FOT1ZCOTU throne of the ne~y built serdgo palace i"
parchment
the conqring Ottoman Turks cn0usy mored MSa
very before 1853 had take" this famous
of the assault
mniesv had
He
said
the pod For that he had built secure palace
could
OF his
Turkish suans Mr. Pnr here continues his
of mysterious institution.
The Washington times., 1937-10-09

bastinado by the officers that
go the rounds.
NAY, the very horses seem to
know where they are and no
doubt they are taught to tread
softer than in the streets"
The Washington times., 1937-10-09
Decline of JGnaizGries

On the other hand, from the
seventeenth century ward
The Washington times., 1937-10-09
BY N M. PENZER
TNSTALMENT III

the
S
emntp lamOrOn
The Washington times., 1937-10-09

sItalics appearing in the text are
the editors explanatory notes.
Henderson daily dispatch. (Henderson, N.C.) 1914-1995, 1937-10-20
NEWTON DRILLS ON
DEFENSE Of PASSES
Deacons Have Little Chance
AT State Line; May Take
To The Air

College Station, Raleigh, Oct. 90
With Wake Forest expected to throw
car load of passes Saturday night
when it meets State College on Gore
Field at Wake Forest, Coach Doc New
ton OF the Wolfpack will make a de-
termined effort to improve his teams
pass defense in practice drills remain
ing this week.
Coach D. c.. Walker Of the Deacons
figures that his backs will not be
able to do much damage with it's run
ming attack against States fine set of
forwards, but believes that since State
has shown something of weakness
for passes his club may make gains
by the air.
Virginia Tech used passes here Sat-
urday night to get IN position to score
its ore touchdown over State, and on
several other occasions made the game.
very interesting with pass conple
tons. Tech completed seven passes
for gain of Sc yards-35 more than
it made by rushing.
The week before, F'urman tried only
nine passes, but completed three for
20 yards, and had several others roll
eff the tips of players fingers. Fur
man was a constant threat to State
because Of it's aerial game.
Wake Forest has g. dangerous pass
ing attack ald Newton IS worried
about It, He saw the Deacons com
pleto three aerials against North Caro-
lira last week and that was one more
than State was able to complete whea
it met Carolina the first Saturday aft
crnoon in October.
Henderson daily dispatch. (Henderson, N.C.) 1914-1995, 1937-10-20
Green Wave To Pit Fine
Array Against Carolina
Ad~eue Drummer MATHS nd Bond Among Best for
Tulane While Carolina epends ON Little, Burnetfe
and Watson; Injure Dit May Play

Chapel Hill, Oct. 20-Gridiron lit
is written all over some dozen o.
Dixie's classiest backs who will be
matching daShes, kicks, passes, blocks
and tackles when the North Carolina
and Tulane elevens clash here Satur-
day at 2:3O o'clock in the Tar Heels
Homecoming Day feature. The con-
test rates on a par with the L. S. u
Vanderbilt game in general all around
interest throughout the Southland.
John Andrews, Tulane's 200pound
line-crackSs5 fullback, rates ace OF
spades in the Picard deck. Andrews,
All-Southeastern fullback last season,
is the Greenies' outstanding candidate
for All-America honors. He's herald
ed everywhere he goes and by every
team he meets as the king of Dixie
fullbacks. Andrews exerts tremendous
power in the center rushes and Off
guard smashes and he's virtual de-
mon on defense.
Dub" MATHS, triple-threat junior
halfback, is just a shade below And
rews in all around ability. But can
do just about anything with the oval.
Colgate supporters generally agreed
last Saturday he was the best per-
former to appear at Hamilton, N. Y,
home ground Of the Red Raiders, in
several years.
Bronco" Drummer, passer-runner de
luxe, is halfback who has been cut
ting all sorts Of wild capers on the
gridiron this season. Ralph Bond,
clever 180-pound field general, rounds
out the first backfield. Bond bears
the brunt Of the blocking and does il
admirably. He's also a good passer.
Letterman Bill Flowers and Sopho-
mores Buddy Banker and Billy Payne
are other A Grade performers.
Crowell Little, triple-threat quarter,
is the key man of the North Carolina
backfield circus. Little, leading Sou
thern Conference scorer with 90 points
is noted chiefly for his punt-returning
and off-tackle dashes. He does most
OF the Tar Heel passing and alternates
with Tom Brunette in punting.
On Burnette, halfback, falls the
punting and placekicking assignments
He shines in both respects, has a 40
yard average and s placements in 8
attempts. He's also very capable il
broken field running
George Watson, halfback, does a
Henderson daily dispatch. (Henderson, N.C.) 1914-1995, 1937-10-20
Dizie's Classiest Backs To Cavort At Hill Saturda!
Duke Leaves Thursday
For Game With Colgate
Final Workout Given Blue Devils on Home Ground r..
fore Entraining Tomorro w at Noon for Utica N Y
Headquarters, Play al Hamilton N. Y.

\ Durham, Oct. 2O-The footballing
Blue Devils of Duke with only a tie
against their record this season were
taking their final home workout here
this afternoon and will entrain tomor-
row at noon for their game with Col
gates Red Raiders at Hamilton, N.
Y, on Saturday.
The Duke squad will go to Utica, N.
Y, arriving there Friday at noon and
will take a final workout either at
Utica or at Hamilton. They will make
their headquarters at Utica.
AS the Blue Devils prepared to- drill
today, they stacked up in the worst
physical condition they have been in
this season. The games with Tennes-
see and Tech, two of the south's best
grid elevens, have left the Duke squad
in a rather banged-up condition all
around and it is feared that two crack
members of the team will not be able
to see action against Colgate.
They are Fred Yorke, right tackle,
who suffered a possible fracture Of
the jaw against Tech Saturday, and
Henderson daily dispatch. (Henderson, N.C.) 1914-1995, 1937-10-20
SYSTEM OF PAROLE
OUTLINED BY GILL
PardOns Commissioner of State Comes
Home from Conference in
Philadelphia
Daily Dispatch Bureau.
. I'm the Sir VWnFknp uafnl

Raleigh, Oct 2O.-The difficulties
encountered in setting up the States
parole system, an outline of it's aims
and purposes, and detailed informa-
ton of its activities are contained in
the full report recently submitted by
commissioner of Paroles Edwin Gill
to the national parole conference in
Philadelphia.
Mr.. Gill said that his report was
the only one of it's kind presented at
the meeting. He had hoped to be able
to get similar reports from othe..
states, he said, in order to study
them for possible innovations eor
changes in North Carolina'y system.
Speaking of the task of setting up
the North Caro.iria systcna, Mr.. GIL;
said in bis report:
1T has been an cnormouc problem
to firing the cases OF prisoners com
inited ever q period Of many years
up to date, and at the same time in
augurate q new system of interviews
rs the new prisoners come in; but
as we face the future, we know that
never again in North Carolina will a
felon be committed and then lost in
ItarS A4CSAO14 VI VI SoOCISll 4NSn
The report covers every phase of
| the North Carolina system, telling
how each new prisoner is interviewed
as he enters prison, how the judges
and solicitors who sentence prisoners
are given opportunity to file comment
on each case as the prisoner is sent
| to the penitentiary; how each case
is automatically reviewed whether any
petition for parole is received or not
how the parole is granted after thor
ugh investigation; how PAROLES arc
supervised and assisted after theil
Henderson daily dispatch. (Henderson, N.C.) 1914-1995, 1937-10-20
PERMITS REQUIRED
FOR BRUSH BURNING
More Regulation of Individual Citi-
zen Ky Government Clamped
on by New Law
Daily Dispatch Bureau.
I'm The Sir N1Itar uOfa


Raleigh, Oct. 20.-Although the
burning season is now open, less than
the usual number of forest fires re-
sulting from brush burning operations
are expected as a result of the new
law requiring every person to get a
permit from the State forestry di-
vision before burning any brush, it
was pointed out today by Assistant
State Forester w. G. Mccormick, in
charge of forest fire prevention. The
brush burning season is from Octoter
Is to December 1 and in the spring
from April I to June IS
''1 lille brush burners formerly
caused large number of serious for
est fires, due to carelessness in con-
trolling burning operations, we have
had very few forest. fires caused by
brush burners since the new law re-
curing them to get permits went in
to effect" Mccormick said. For un-
der the permit system, the county and
district foresters have a record of
every permit issued and check on
every brush fire and every brush
burner TO sec that proper methods
arc used. Farmers and landowners al
so are cooperating more and more to
see that these fires do not get tout OF
control. So we are not expecting muc.l
trouble from trush burners this sea
SON" ~ }t@l ~
Before q farmer @er landowner may
start a brush fire, he must get his
permit from the county or district
forester and agree not to start the
fire when it is windy or when woods
are dangerously dry. The permits are
issued free of charge and are not good
for more than four days from the
date they are issued.
Duplicate copies of the brush burn
ing permits are sent to the county
wardens and towerren, so they will
know the location of the fires and not
send fire crews out. They are in
structed to send wardcns out to every
fire, however, in order to determine
whether the necessary permit has
been obtained.
Henderson daily dispatch. (Henderson, N.C.) 1914-1995, 1937-10-20
MEEKINS TO SPEAK
FOR WAKE STUDENTS

Wake Forest, Oct. 2o-Judge Isaac
M. Meekins of Elizabeth City will
speak Thursday at the first general
convocation of the Wake Forest col
lege student body held this year.
Judge Meelins, who presides over
the Eastern District OF North Caro-
lima, received his LIB. degree from
Wake Forest in 1896. After serving
five years as consulting attorney OF
the 'CJnit4d Et.ates government in
Washington and New York, he was
elevated to the Federal bench by
President Coolidge.
Henderson daily dispatch. (Henderson, N.C.) 1914-1995, 1937-10-20

Bob O'Mara, the smashing fnlho.
who has two injuries-arm and ,O
Honey Boy Hackney still has tho no s'
injury that he suffered against T oSF
nessee and re-hurt against Tech OIL, ON,
Bob Spangler, the blocking bacL ~
still bothered by shoulder hurt 49,
got in the Tennessee game and u,h Ui'a'
was reinjured in last weeks harrnS'
ing encounter.
Saturdays game will be anotbo,
clash in which the Blue Devils oan
expect to be rained with passes Toan
tried 10 against them SATURDAY. co Nr'
pleted 10 for a total of III wards ana
while Duke more than made I'm soa
this with the gains of their runnira
attack, it still remains that thew 10
lowed Tech to. make vast amonnt
of yardage through the air.
The coaches are afraid that tho
boys, unable to stop Techs forward
lateral attack, will have the SAM
trouble with the Red Raiders, coached
by that man who started all thaso
razzle-dazzle doing. They hone. how
ever, that the Blue Devils will con
tinue the fine work in their runnino
game.