SUICIDE OF THE SULTAN.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 87, 1 August 1876, Page 2

SUICIDE OF THE SULTAN.

The London correspondent of the " Argus " supplies the following additional particulars regarding the decease of this gentleman : —The Minister of Foreign Affairs despatched a telegram to the representatives of the Porte abroad stating that the Sultan Murad, immediately after his accession, and of his own initiative, had given orders that his uncle should be treated with eveiy consideration, and receive all the honors due to his person ; also, that the deposed Monarch had addressed an autograph letter to the Sultan Murad recognising his accession, and notifying his own renunciation of the throne, as he needed rest and wished to Jive in retirement; but on the following Sunday the unhappy Abdul Aziz committed suicide. At least so it was stated, but the statement was received with much incredulity, especially in Vienna and Paris, for Oriental usage has generally found means of speedily getting rid of dangerous personages. But an inquest was held, at which nineteen doctors were present, including the medical men of the various foreign embassies. They were unanimously of opinion that death resulted from htemorrhage of an artery in the arm. They add that they were shown a pair of scissors very sharp, and of which one of the blades had a small lateral knob near the extremity. These scissors were stained with blood, and it was with the aid of this instrument that the ex-Sultan was believed to have inflicted the wounds from which he died. They say that this instrument might precisely produce those wounds, and that the direction and the nature of the wounds, as well as the instrument which was said to have produced them, have caused them to come to the conclusion that the case is one of suicide. From Vienna we have the statement of an eye-witness, who reports that the body of Abdul Aziz was found almost naked. The deceased was half lying on the couch before the window, and seemed as though he had bled to death in full view of the sea. Blood was spattered also round the floor. "We were shown," adds the writer, "a pair of scissors, ten centimetres in length, and also cuts underneath the inner bend of the arms. Abdul Aziz for days before had had fits of madness, during which he bewailed the loss of liis treasures."