WAR IN CONSTANTINOPLE.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 539, 21 June 1909, Page 3

WAR IN CONSTANTINOPLE.

A WOMAN'S LETTER. ''Dominica" has"been allowed to make extracts from an exceedingly interesting letter ! sent'to a'lady, in Wellington by a lady who belongs to a well-known turkish family, and has for many years lived, in Constantinople, and who has sent her-a very graphic de-; •scription of the late disturbances there. " \Ve have (she says) been going through a critical period sinco a terrible timol I wish we had an English paper out tare to givo you a'description of all that has happened. Wo aro supposed to hare two English papers, which only give one or two columns in English and the rest in French, biifc probably you may not caro for the French language. .You see wo speak daily, English, French, and Germau iu our home circlo—Greek and Turkish to sour servants. The tilreo, first-mentiortcd I can read and write. fAbout Easter I had visitors from Austria, and on the Tuesday after Easter an alarm was given -that, the; Sultan's soldiers were about tho town and .Stamboul. armed. They had fired at and destroyed the Committee House of tho '' Union and Progress,' killed some officers; done a great de3l of harm and mischief/ and fired "at the newspaper establishment of a' great friend of ours,-who was going with us on the Thursday to Ahmed Riza's house. • ■ "My heart was aching, not knowing if our friends had escaped, and, for the time, not having any means of getting phy- hews. Our bridge' (of which, I think, you have a photo orpostcard), 'connecting Stamboul and P<?ra,; was thrown open to prevent communication, but at night, about 10 o'clock, we were all startled with, a terrific firing—rapid, sharp, .and heavy. No one could ascertain what was going on, anil, as we knew that the two great barracks near to us had" been . also emptied, and that a . special boat had been ohartered to take' all the military across the water' to town, you can imagine what we felt like when ■ the firing began. It lasted four' hours/ and wo could follow the sounds right' away from Stamboul .to Pera ■and Caxiin. Wo. wero thinking how awful it must be in the narrow streets of Stamboul, the firing and .killing at dead of night,: but in the morning news was brought that it was ■a firing for joy.: ./.• ■" Our old magnanimous Sultan, Abdul Hamid, had withdrawn two millions from the which' was a suspicious . thing .to.' do, had divided; between his '« Surroundings and ;soldiers some £50,000, with orders what'\yas to be done, but when the Macedonian Army heard that aJI the money from the Salonika' Bank to be'carried on to tho Constantinople, one, they realised that some, wicked transaction' would be done, so held iback £80,000 for dire need.' After this night' of firing, they planned to march into: Stamboul and force the Sultan to abdicate. They came pouring into the town day by dayj.but still not quick enough; and then, one terrible day, ive heard rumours of a wholesale massacre . that the wickcd old man had planne'd; out -of spite. .: Someone'was able to'igivo.notice to the various This put a,spur to the Macedonian,troops, who, to _ enable them to march into "tho town quicker, -. took possession of. the' railway, amassed 50,000 volunteers,' and' so arrived .in time on the very morning, as the massacre jvas to bo at night. Orders had been given to set firo in seven different parts, bombs had been given to tho Kurds to throw, in all the embassies, the time of fear;*! to massacre all and everyone, Gcd is great, and so wo were , saved by/a miracle. . "Then began tho sharp fighting. Tho Sultan's army had all been well oaid, and 'would :: nOt : surrender; v Wo could "watch all the firing from r our windows, saw the soldiers ■ hiding in the X wa?, tho to see the white 11 ag- lioistccl-—put .up treacherously to deceivo%o; army. The lost so many of their best men from that 'treacherojis sign. In the end they (the' Sultan's up, their and wero' taken 'prisoners.. When it came to'.the'turn of the palace so many ran', away. : It was pitiful to see them,.^ many passed our. house —some; with- tears: in their eyes at' having been 'so deceived■ by ■ their Sultan. I 'pitied them so much, and , did not feel ashamed of my tears; We all were anxious the night that the barracks at Seluuii;;nea.r us iii" Scutari, was to .be; asked; to surrender. Ctho men of war camo up), but. the commander, was a splendid' fellow; ho controlled his'men and made them give up, and now our. Hamid has been taken from his luxurious palace to Salonika,'with two sons, 13 women, and a small retinue of servants. ■

' "Last Friday. I went with tbe girls to see'-the new Sultan go to St. Sophie "•for the Weekly prayers;-as. the renegades; have not all been yet cleared/he went by sea, but the .troops and .'Pashas,-;.etc.,",etc., went by land; Tho sight was a glorious one—the gold on the -uniforms was. so pretty, but, best of all, were the .soldiers.. They are such fine men—so; well drilled, not like our ordinary soldiers here. ; What a sight to see them! '■■'. : . :

: ''After all was over, we,drove over to Pera, andCaxun to-seo the. barracks. Beginning from Pera streets,: the windows are broken in various houses, walls and,shutters are drilled through with bullets, the people were teriribly frightened, the two immense barracks are r a total'.ruin; and so' many killed and wounded.' It is rejoicing to us to.; see our old .friends and know they are safe. ■ Imagine .the, day wo ; were without bread—the soldiers having arrived unexpectedly and hungry, all tho bread was bought up: We, in our house, had two,families, who had-come to us for shelter and safety—so'many went ont of the country.. :. ,; :-,•■. V..;'' Before I: conclude, I must..'tell you of 'a very bravo action. Over the water, between Galata and Bcchiktash, there is a placo called Cabatash.: .Two of the refugee' soldiers had run into" the house of an Albanian' woman. The soldiers were .Albanians, so the woman told them not to fear, she would not let them bo taken; so made them tie to their guns'a.white handkerchief, arid went out before them/; The, other enraged' men-did not at first perceive that a woman was before,the two'men, and were just going 'to fire, when from, 'the■ neighbouring . -houses camo screams.of warning. The woman put her two prisoners at her back, and advanced, ■saying that she recognised that they. we're' •savers of a nation, but could riot understand why they should fire on a woman 'whilst saving'her children. So the,soldier's asked her if the two were her relations, to which she replied: 'No; but my husband was an officer, my sons are soldier's, as also my parents, and you are consequently allmy brother's and: children;'. For a moment nothing was said thou thoy got oxcited, claiming their prisoners—saying they were'traitors,: having" accepted money from'such a dispicable master,but 'again tho ,woman stood up, -saying' that they, oven ■:as all, were slaves of a', tyrant that had been left 33 years to reign, and who had deceived: his men by telling them tho army would sell them to Christians, and take, away their religion. She pleaded so well that the men wore forgiven. She returned to her home with a grand ovation and applause."-. .-.'--..'•• ■