THE MISERABLE SULTAN.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXV, Issue 1964, 27 December 1906, Page 4

THE MISERABLE SULTAN.

All kinds of rumours uro still current regarding tlio health of the Sultan Aland Humid, anil, in spite of his reappearanee at the Solaiuiik on the last two Fridays, there is no doubt that his condition is far from brilliant. It is, of course, extremely dillicult to got accurate information about a man who, like the Pope, sits a willing prisoner behind (he walls and bars ol his palace. But the Yildiz Kiosk resembles no palace in the world, for three-quarters of a century the building of this enormous complex went on interruptedly, and it is not finished yet. If is an endless mass of small houses, kiosks, and palaces from the Morassim Palace, built specially in 181)8 for the accommodation of the (Jennau Emperor, to the "Petit Trianon,” a little palace which owed its existence to some Oriental Pompadour or Montospan. Within the walls of Yildiz Kiosk there is everything. There are cow stalls and meadows, an artillery arsenal, a porcelain manufactory, a carpet manufactory, etc., all of which work exclusively for the Sultan. Behind the small fortified central palnee in which Abdul Hamid is barricaded the town of Yildiz (for so 1 may cull if) is spread out. For this Palace of Yildiz is a town in which 7000 men of the Imperial (Juard live, and at least .'SOOO other people, all people who here watch over the Sultan’s safety and his health, or minister to his amusement. In addition to the chamberlains, ollicers, secretaries, and officials of every kind is the harem .with the Sultan’s hundreds of wives. Seventeen hundred tables are laid in Yildiz

Kiosk every day. The salaries each month amount to over a million francs, But. the Sultan is rich, over and above his civil list of 00,000,000 francs, or .01,200,000. For himself Abdul Hamid is not extravagant; on the contrary, ho is a man of simple habits. His clothing is very simple, and resembles that of any other well-to-do inhabitant of Constantinople. But the Comandor of the Faithful

drives all the Court tailors to despair, for none of them is allowed to approach his sacred person, hut must judge the fit of his clothes from a respectful distance. Formerly the: Sultan was a great lover 1 of ' coffee and cigars. When he went walking in his garden he was always accompanied by his coffee-maker, who was expected to prepare a cup of Mocha at any time and in any place. Now tlie Sultan no longer goes walking. Sick, tired of life ,and suspicious of everybody, he seems a burden to himself, and his former distractions, reading and the theatre (where lie was generally the only spectator), no longer amuses him. It is well known that the Sultan barely eats anything. The meals prepared for him are still brought with great pomp, escorted by soldiers, and when the dishes go past everyone must bow Jow. But Abdul Hamid hardly touches them, and gets up from table a few minutes after ho sat down. Mis only pleasure is his favourite animals. He was always a great lover of animals ,and had a

regular collection of them in Yildiz Kiosk that it was his chief pleasure to feed and caress.—Glasgow Herald.