THE TURKISH TURMOIL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 80, 30 April 1909, Page 2

THE TURKISH TURMOIL.

MASSACRES AT ADANA. I Constantinople, April 2S. 1 Two hundred and fifty reservists at I Adana seized a train anil went to Tar- I sus, where they assisted in destroying . the Armenian quarter. ] Consular advices report that a him- ' dred Protestant missionaries were burnt c in a church in the Adana district, i ABDUL SENT TO SALONIKA. Constantinople, April 28. Kasabba destroyed Abdul Hamid's harem and removed some of the occupants to Orcd and Seraglio and others to country palaces. London, April 28. 'Reuter to-day reports that Abdul Hamid, accompanied hy eight ladies from hia harem, was transferred to Salonika by the chief Eunuch. Great popular rejoicings prevail in Smyrna and Jerusalem. ABDUL INCRIMINATED. London, April 28, Advices from Vienna state that Abdul Hamid's correspondence is disclosing complicity in the revolt. The resistance of the entry of the Salonikans so angered the army that an overwhelming ina- / jority ot oiliccrs demanded an abdication. \V3ien arrested the Sultan was found hidden in the harem. The suspects arrested include Prince Saba Eddin, president of the Liberal Union; Ali Kemal, editor of the journal Ikdani; Marshal Zeke, the former commander of the fourth army corps at Erzcrouin, and Nadir Agra, Chief Eunuch. THE DETHRONED SULTAN. ' ABDUL HAMID'S DEPARTING SPEECH. "I AM INNOCENT. . . GOD'S WILL BE DONE." Received 29, 0.50 p.m. Constantinople, April 20. I When informed of his deposition, I Abdul Hamid said: "1 am innocent. Since the Constitution was renewed 1 have .never tailed to support it. I leave the authors of this tragedy to Cod. During my reign the Greek war was _ won. I have extracted the country from many diflicultie*. God's will he done." The state of siege is suspended in Constantinople to permit of rejoicings. Turkish newspapers are execrating the fallen despot.

Received 29, 0.50 p.m. TeheraV, April 20. Till' Shah is deeply impressed with the events at Constantinople. He has ordered Rahim Khan, commanding a portion of Shi-ijaidowleh's troops, not to obstruct the Russian advance. THE EX-SULTAN'S DEPARTURE. A MIDNIGHT FLIT. Received 29, 11.7 p.m. Constantinople, April 29. Two armored motor cars escorted Abdul to the station at two o'clock in the morning with lis two sons, aged seven and seventeen, eleven wives, some eunuchs and servants, and accompanied by a detachment of soldiers aboard a train: Abdul has taken a villa at Alitmi, Salonika, which is surrounded by troops, A CITY OF SIEGES. A BIT OF CONSTANTINOPLE'S HISTORY. The history of Constantinople is almost a record of its sieges, writes one authority. About one hundred years after its enlargement or foundation by Constautine the Great (330 A.D.) began that series of assaults by sea and land before which it gave way only thrice, when its gates were opened to Uandalo, Michael Palaeologus, and Mahomet 11, Michael, by the aid of his Varangians, recovered, two hundred years before its final capture, what th c Latins had held nearly sixty years; and one hundred years before it surrendered thc Ottoman Turks profited by the divisions in th< empire, and were called into the east of Europe as the followers of the same anti-C'hristinn standard had been cnlled into the west, till the last Constantine fell in defending the city which the first had raised and named. Constantinople was threatened by the Huns, in the reign of Tlieodosius the Younger, 450; by the Huns and Slavs in that of Jus-, tinian, 553; by the Persians and Avars in that of Heraclius, 02(1. The Arabs besieged it in three different expeditions. They came under Sophian ill 008, and attacked it six times, once everv year (072-070), when Constantine Pogomitus was Emperor. Leo the Isaurinn repelled a second invasion under Moslenieh in 717. They were finally led by Haroun-all-Rashid, who made- peace with Constantine and Irene in 782. The Russians assailed the sea-walls ,of the capital four times from 805 to 1043, in the reigns of Michael HI. and his successors. Roniiinus Lecapenus, who beat them back when they were come down the second time, had to repel another enemy —the Hungarians—in 924. It was not by arms, but by thc treachery of Gilpraeht, the leader of the German guard, that Alexius Coninenus entered one of the land-gates and seized tlic throne (1GS1); and another Alexius, with his father Isaac Angelus, brought tnc Latins, who occupied the city for fiftysix years, after the two sieges of 1203 and 1204, until Michael Palacologus embossed his name as conqueror on thc bronze gates of St. Sophia. In the fifteenth century Constantinople was attacked by the Turks twice; under Manuel it resisted Aiuurath in 1422, but under Constantine Palacologus it yielded to- Mahomet in 1453. The city has thus been often the aim, rarely thc prize, ol invasion, THE FAVORITE. A PEN-PICTURE OF BUR-HAN-ED-DIN. It was reported by cablegram the other day that the Sultan's favorite son, who was accused of helping the reactionaries, 'had disappeared from Constantinople.

"Why the Turkish sovereign should prefer his third son, Jiur-han-ed-diii, to his eldest, Selim, in the tlorce contest for the succession remains a secret (writes "Current Literature"). Selim is in his thirty-eighth year, and a most promising prince, whereas Bur-han-ed-din, who is but little past twenty, is affirmed to lack bntli magnetism and intelligence. All tlie world knows how tenacious is the hatred of Abdul'DamMl (notes the Home 'Trillium'), •but the commander of the faithful hates no one -so intensely as he hates his eldest son. This sentiment is averred to date from the time .Selim became an especial favorite with one of the innumerable denizens of the 'harem at Yildizz. Another legend is that, entering Selim's study one morning, Abdul Hnmid found his eldest son intently studying a map of Turkey, and marking with pins all the provinces lost to the empire since the beginning of his father's reign. Abdul Humid, the story runs, Htrnck Selim in the face and cursed him then and there. HIS FATHER'S COVI'AXION. "Hui'hiined-din, while deficient in those personal attractions for which his father is admired, is the Sultan's constant companion. The education of the prince has been mainly Herman. Tutors fniin llcrlin have taught him the art of war, and professors from Jena have given him courses in philosophy. His religious training has long ago been the object of his father's special solicitude, and it is said that Iliir-hnn-ed-din is the delight of all sheikhs on account of hj a acquaintance with the commentaries as «|llI as with the sacred text. Bur-han ed-dm greatly distinguished lnniselt when he was a student at El-Azhar. the supreme seal of learning of the, whole Islam world at Cairo.

MIS COUKAUE IMPEACHED '•l'or all that, he is not deemed'brib lant, nor does he inspire popular onImsiusn, , v i, CII „,, „ W!t wit|[ , )is Mhn to tiic mosque fur the sublime coremonv of the Selamlik. Truth to tell, the course of Hiir-iian-i'd-din lias been impeached more than once bv his detractors, «-lio roundly accuse h'im of bolting a few years ago when an attempt was made to assassinate his father, liur-han-cd-din ts likewise accused uf secret indulgence hi champagne-,, flat defiance', tins <rt the prescriptions of that religion ne professes to revere. It is further intimated that the number of his wives is remarkably large for so voung a prince He has lieenme fat in'tne pas,t U'W, years. l„ slmrt, Hurhira-ed-illn is pronounced by some Constantinopolitans a coward and a glutton, overbearing in demeanour and spoiled. He shocked the whole palace once by whipping „ servant until the mini's hack bled. That is toe story, although it must he confessed that the tendency to slander him increases with the possibility that lie mav win the hot contest {or Wa fattort t&roue, ~. v ,

BUYING. SITPOItT. "Thu Sultan's determination to alter thi! order of succession in Dur-nan-cd-din's furor is held to explain many contemporary Turkish mysteries. Why was the s'm of Slieik-iil-lslam granted the rich railway concession from Aleppo to th- t»ast? To Imy his father's support for Uur-liaiwd-din.' -Why wan the Cirand Master of the Artillery given a monopoly of the electric lighting in Constantiiiiiplci It was a. bi.oe la Hur-han-ed-din's behalf. Tims, one after another, are explained decrees, firmans, and irades. Bur haned-din himself is said to be so sure of taking his father's place that his natural arrogance has become well-nigh insupportable to the partisans of Uesliad Effemli and the champions of Vussiif Ized-din.. That the accession of Hiirlian-eddin would constitute a violation of the Moslem law of succession to a throne—depriving of their rights the legitimate heir, Rcshad Ktrendi—seems to be beyond dispute."