The Warwickshire Herald. — 1885-11-05 (Birmingham, West Midlands, England)

TURKISH OFFICIAL BRIGANDAGE."  The Constantinople correspondent of the Daily ihr.nicle ;rends home particular* of two out of a thousand case.s that could, he says, be narrated of organised attempte at spoliation and peculation on the part of Turki,h officials. An English engineer named Jones, who has long been established in Galata, four years ago paid one department of the Administration £4,000 for a piece of ground adjoinieg his factory, but when he wanted to begin building on it, he could not get the title. deeds. Another department of the Goveinment put in a claim to the soil, and denied the right of his rivals to sell it. Mr. Jones then asked for his money back, but he did not Fat it ; nor has he to this day got any such title to the land as would justify him in spending a pound upon it. Even Lord Dufferiti has been unable to obtain any redress. In the second case, the injustice of the Porte ha. been for the present defeated. In the course of March last there died in Cairo an Armenian named Anton Youssouf Meseeh, who had been for Over 40 years registered As a British subject, when it was found that lie had left the bulk of a very large fortune (about £350,000), to his widoss, with legaciere to certain Armenian Churches of the Romanist obedience, and hail forgotten his nephews, the latter protested that his will must come before the Ottoman or Egyptian Courts, as he WAN really a Turkish subject. The widow at once obtained a certificate that Anton Youssout Messeh, deceased, was a Biltish subject. But the resources of Oriental trickery were by no means exhausted. The nephews applied to Nubia. Partin'. himself an Armenian, who communicated with Sir Evelyn Baring; and when our Mittister in Egypt applied at home for instruce Lions, Lord Granville lad the case before the law officers of the late Government. Sir Henry James and Sir Ferrer Herechell decided in favour of the widow and that the will must be proved and the estate administered in the Supreme Consular Court. Constantinople at the Catholic Armenian Patriarchate then set himself to work to upset the decision. Diplomatic representations were made ti Lord Salisbury, who left the question again to the law officers. But Sir R. Webster and Sir J. Gorst came to the same conclusion as their predecessors. An attempt 5055 then made by the intriguers to use Sir Henry Wulff to gain their ends. It was hoped a word from him might have influence at the Foreign Office. But here they met with a signal failure. The Under Secretary of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs then asked to see the Consul-General, alone, on important business. Mr. Fawcett presumably "melt a rat," for before he gave admission to his room to the high functionary, he requested the attendance of Mr. Tarring, the Legal VicaConsul and Assistant-Judge. When the Ottoman flicial was admitted, he presented the fulsome compliments according to order, and then repeated that his iniseion was to Mr. Fawcett alone. The Consul General replied that he had no secrets front his " jlige adjoint," ani anything that had to be said must be said before both. .Notwith• standing this, the functionary proceeded to develop a proposition that Mr. Fawcett should call cu Artin Effendi Dadian with a view to discussing the case of Messeh's will and coming to "some arrangement." Mr.Fawcett, of course, replied that he had mthing to do with Artin Effendi Dadian in the case, and that it must take its regular course. Now the Sultan has issued an Ira& ordering the authorities to administer the estate, but Sir William White firmly refuses to permit the Iradd being put into effect.  Whilst riding in a cab in Paris a woman, about 35 years of age, committed suicide by tiring two bullets of a revolver into her head. The cabman did not hear the reports of the shots, and drove on until looking into the interior of his vehicle for the purpose of asking further instructions from his fare, he was horrified to find the woman lying dead oa the floor of the cab in a pool of blood.