| Show SCENES IN constantinople constantinople may 14 who would ask for more than a window when tout le mond goes gaily by A housekeeper early learns to td make excellent use of that vantage point when from force of circumstance the four walls of home become the outskirts of her kingdom for a time the window where her darning basket the account book the babbis cradle the daily paper or the magazine may bear her company while yet the outer world comes close enough to bring its bessae message of a broader horizon and wider activities becomes a blessing not to be underestimated der in crowded city in the trim village around which gardens cluster and orchards twine or in the real country close to natures heart there is always much of interest the sky the bending trees even the lights and shadows on the opposite walls and the people always the people have each their own especial story to tell but herel here was there ever such a window with such infinite possibilities it is high to be sure but so much more comprehensive the view just before me curves the golden horn which procopius describes as always calm and never crested with waves as though a 8 barrier were placed there to the billows and all storms were shut oft from thence through reverence for the city various are the traditions as to the causes for its name formed like a stags horn some say that the golden referred to the color of the fish which at one time filled it while others attribute it to the rich revenue which its fisheries yielded from time immemorial these fish rushing down irom from the sea of adov and the black sea early showed a predilection lor for these quiet waters shooting straight into the horn but ne never ver enriching tte rival city of the coast 0 of asia chalcedony Chal cedon the city of the blind in this splendid harbor beneath my window is the port pert of war in which idly rocking and retting lie all the turkish men oi of war save the lew few apologies V es that have timidly ventured to crete ete and the dardanelles Darda nelles great black hulks tor for nearly twenty years as idle as a painted ship upon a painted ocean today they are unwontedly gay tricked out in scarlet flags and pennons in honor of the turks turk Is great sacrificial feast of courban courbat bairam across the horn to the south stretches the triangular promontory of stamboul the ancient capital of byzantium founded B C this is today the purely mohammedan part of the city holding within its walls tt e seraglio the principal mosques the tombs or ot of the sultans the baths and enormous underground cisterns atie khans ahans the bazars the public offices ot or the government and all the existing remains of the ancient city of constantine from the water it rises in gradual ascent its swelling domes and slender minarets mina outlined against the sky while from the tender green of budding may peep the dark roofs ot of stately palaces and humbler dwellings that follow with fantastic outline the narrow ancient streets few factories or chimneys belching smoke moke proclaim utilitarian activities for constantinople stantin ople is not a manufacturing city despite her wondrous water privileges and here is food lor for meditation during the past thirty years foreign capitalists realizing that turkey was by nature one of the finest grain prod producing acl ng countries in the world have tried to establish flour mills at one time ten or twelve were in operation givin giving employment to many hundred men tut but so harrasser harr assed were they by the turkish government regarding machinery labor and management that one by one they failed and today only three or four are left to a precarious existence and the most of the flour used is imported from russia across the golden horn I 1 see one of these factories the story of whose vicissitudes could scarcely be believed by one unacquainted with turkish methods there is also near here a fez factory a glass porcelain and paper factory and that is all beyond just before the golden horn curves out ot of sight nestles the beautiful and picturesque turkish village eyoub whose mosque built by mohammed il II is held so sacred that no christian is allowed to cross its threshold or take residence near it in this the sultans are girded the sword of osman the founder of me cie dynasty this ceremony being performed by the chief of the dervishes near the mosque are the tombs of sheikhs ul islam grand viz ers and chief eunuchs the sul turn tum mother of selino ill III and her two daughters a son and a daughter of sultan abdul wid and the two children ot of adeleh sultan sister of abdul aziz the biers are covered with richly embroidered broi dered shawls and velvet and beneath the fez which crowns one of the tombs is the following inscription that touches an answering chord in many another mothers heart A flower that had scarcely boomed was prematurely torn from its stem it has been removed to those bowers where roses never languish its parents tears will su supply aply refreshing moisture say a fabia for its beatitude 1259 1843 on the high hill overlooking eyoub and closing the landscape to the west stand immense yellow buildings outlined against the sky the barracks where the kurdish regiment from the interior those Hami diehs enrolled and armed by the sultan and who had been the terror of the armenians Armen ians in the provinces ever after the first awful massacre at gassoun Sas soun were brought and quartered just before the constantinople massacres of last tall fall many were the conjectures at the time as to why the sultan had sent fur these sol soldier diero but speculations soon found their answer farthest to the west on the north side of the horn I 1 see the hills of Maski eui where on the night of wednesday august of last year began the frightful slaughter that continuing for bom eight hours hobs left the at ar quarter of that pretty village an awful bloodstained blood stained monument of mans inhumanity to man here led by the jews systematically from house to house rushed a frenzied cursing howling mob of kurdish ruffians and turkish soldiers until ai benian men lay dead the comfortable nicely furnished houses were stripped absolutely everything even to their doorsteps which the thieving jews carried on and the women and children with only the garments they had on had fled like hunted deer for their lives here it was that our american flag over ove the mission school was torn down and trampled with curses in the dust and the mission school looted of everything even the childrens desks and books and maps being carried off bodily A visit a few days ago to that desolated spot where after street of gaping windowless houses on whose white walls dark blood stains still cry to heaven for vengeance on the murderers was a gruesome experience never to be be forgotten looking nearer still on the north of the horn come the dockyards dock yards and the naval arsenal whose enclosure are the yellow buildings of the naval hospital and school the convict prison depots for naval stores the great square building of the admiralty and the dry docks and barracks barrack here in one place lie the state barges of the hutans who have occupied the throne for a century past and the hulls ot of a number of old ships of war preserved e arved as store ships A line of agres rafts each holding a guardhouse are anchored at a little dib distance tance from the snore to prevent boats fram passing inside leaving the horn and its myriads of caiquep and puffing steamers that dart in and out among the war vessels riding at anchor we come to the joy of my fay heart an old turkish cemetery directly underneath the window planted flamed with the dark green cy presses that mark all turkish cemeteries it is still the centre ot of all the gay outdoor life of the neigh L not one of the marble stones stands on its original legs helter they lie serving every purpose that could bly be expected of a stone does one in the neighborhood need a n doorstep he comes gaily in with ha mer and chisel selects his bonu and cuts one off to suit the ebig of his threshold this has beet been go 0 on this morning here the greek aau turkish women sit while superintend ten the drying of their clothes which t chev hang on jines hues stretched from cypress td cypress here too all the rugs of tb neighborhood are lustily beaten by s stal wart turks with baggy breeches and voluminous scarlet sashes while there is not an hour in the day but that one or more turks stretch themselves flat oil the grass or the tombstones to enjoy ft siesta undisturbed by thoughts of the moldering companions below ai here the wandering calega stops to sell me cups ot of cheering coffee coffa e to those who wish and here the vegetable men HE their way to market pause to to arra their wares 0 o the best advantage aj hera the handorgan hand organ men love to congre congregate one walking behind ahe other and grin brind ing as they go until a convenient to tomb 1 stone is reached and here the blue tun barred red Roum anians with v their bears give their clumsy dances 1 the music of the tambourine all tf flocks of goats or sheep in the vicinity aa brought here in in turn by their respect ii shepherds where with lowered he hea they engage in mortal combat or inclined vault lightly b bac and forth over the graven embler emblems ns mortality the humble liver vend who carries his wares suspended ghastly array from a long pole balanc balan on his shoulders stops for a coonc siesta and the bearers of 0 sedan ch chai set down their burden with i its MB veiled occupant to recuperate a li ditl until her shii ly reiterated commands coalman da go or on at length prevail over their cli nations very early in the nio bonu does my shifting panorama begin j the orientals Orient als are early risers with t first blush ot of dawn the dogs take new i joy in being and on whatever I 1 rema remaining I 1 ning to them amble up and d do friskin frisking g as vivaciously as their disable condition permits then a chorus bugles from the barracks below 8 merrily up in the familiar reva reveille cant get em up cant get era em un etc and the marines in their blue blued mail forms with red trimmings begin to wi aia in and out among the buildings kuicks quicks ening their steps as the rat tat tat ahbe tat tat of a vociferous drum catch catches lail the refrain officers dash by on pran jil steeds solemn old turks in turl tur l bixl coats amble along bent so far thorr that they look as if doing co conti nu obeisance and lines cf little horses borses S donkeys fastened together by a I 1 log rope each laden with pa kaniers panier sr run with much jangling of bells at s sevi the old muezzin in the mosci m below comes out on his balcony a litts lifts up his voice in a long drawn out a to prayer soon the bus busing men pass along the road in my ce cameta on their way to their shops and stores j galata or stamboul and then the s sch children with their osier baskets i lunch and bags of books come frish by A vendor of with a 1 on his back that permits of 0 only ly slender legs to become visible stag ata ta along scintillating in the bright sun 1 some basilisk flocks of diggons sen and walk demurely about object aj ik rapt contemplation to the yellow elio who sit on the lichen coterel covered W waiter above donkeys almost concealed beneath huge kaniers of greens trot along lifting up their voices meantime in vain but rigorous protest little children too small for school come toddling in the cemetery hand in hand a turkish mother with a baby in purple velvet drops down on a convenient stone and a Moh alibi vender takes his tray from his head sets it down in the shade and settles himself on the ground for a nap mild and subdued are the pleasures of this cemetery rendezvous until after school in the afternoon when the real lite life begins then the red boys with many a whoop of pure delight take full possession they play duck on the rock with an abandon that would make the tombstones tombstone rock on their foundations it if they had an any they fly kites gorgeous affairs of pink and yellow and green tissue paper with voluminous rustling tails that hat go swish by my window like some hissing comet they play marbles and tag and ball and wrestle and roll over and over with an unction that makes one feel that the sleeper below would find excuse in doing the same As the sun draws near the western horizon the scene from my window is one of exquisite beauty the sky before me lights up with flaming torches of crimson and spreading sheaves of gold that find a sott sot tion in the ilver stream below the tall masts of the ships the swelling domes and pointed minarets mina seem to pierce the gray and opal of the floating clouds and the dark green of countless cypress groves accentuate the resting places odthe croves troves the dead in the soft purple haze that is enveloping the landscape every breath of air is filled with the fra fragrance grancel of syringa bushes and locust trees learning gleaming white in the gardens and the perfume ot of countless roses and les jes famines floats in at the window the mellow notes of a bugle call come in lingering cadences across the water and the stars shine out one by one while the familiar words of that old hymn sing themselves almost without volition and with a deeper meaning than ever before where every prospect pleases and only man is vile EMMA PADDOCK it TELFORD |
