ABDUL IN EXILE

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 136, 26 October 1912, Page 2 (Supplement)

ABDUL IN EXILE

r/Ointi'R SULTAN OK TCUKCY IN A UILDJ-JJ I'KJSOX. .Some account of Abdul llamid's life in his guarded "villa" at Salonika i« giwii by Wo Constantinople correspondent, oi the Daiiy Chronicle, whose information was obtained from a, Well-Known Ottoman deputy and patriot, who hired a house overlooking the Villa Allafini and its gardens. "1 have seen Abdul llamid," said this eloquent Turk . . . "1 have heard, in the silence of the night, the heart-rend-ing groans of his young, favorite, distracted wife. . . ". My soul has also been moved to its very depths by the mournful violin tunes which his youthful son, the only one who has been allowed to share his father's imprisonment, plays, from time to time, with extraordinary talent and readiness.

"Some details 1 learned from a friendly officer of the guard. Thus, he told me that the harem of the ex-Sultan contains at present eleven women. They nurse and attend to him with admirable self-devotion. Two members of the harem died lately. The youngest wife is only twenty-two years old. She is of surpassing beauty, and enjoys Abdul's passionate attachment. She is said to be a Circassian. The ex-Sultan fell in love with her a short time before his deposition. She did not care to share his information, but was forced to tlo so, and since then she has never stopped weeping and sobbing. From time to time I am assured that she has become insane and that the rest of the harem women implore that she should be removed from the villa. The authorities' answer, however, was to the effect that no person whatever must on any account leave the place. "The sufferings of the women is said to be great. Abdul is getting more and more whimsical in his mood. His unaccountable fits of suspicion, of rage, of jealousy, of cruelty, are increasing with his age. '

"I had a glimpse of Abdul's youngest son," continued the deputy. -What a terribly sad existence the latter lives in this gloomy solitude! He must not see anybody; he has no friends. Only rarely is he allowed to promenade 'in the garden. He seldom sees his father, for the latter mistrusts even him, and receives only those who attend to his immediate moods. I heard the boy play the violin. He is quite a little virtuoso, and has mastered the symphonies of Beethoven. He plays with much feeling, and shows a predilection for sad, melancholy compositions. He is very fond of the -Elegie' of Ernst. Frequently he plays late at night, and the impression produced is exceedingly sad. 'The person whom Abdul favors most in his exile is a eunuch, the only one who, out of a host of eunuchs, expressed a desire to accompany the ex-Sultan to Salonika., The -Red' Sultan is served by him very faithfully and patiently. Both master and eunuch are now very old and decrepit, and their days of existence are measured. I have seen them both.

"._ . . . •Vallahi-Billahi!' It was only for a very short time. I was watching from the upper storey of my abode. The shadows of the evening were setting deeper and longer. The silence and gloom of the villa opposite were only enhanced by an occasional barking of a dog or the watchword of a sentinel. Abdul occupies the upper storey, and the yenetian shutters of the window' were all down.

"I could see a feeble dickering light moving to and fro. Presently the shadow of a human being stopped at a corner window. The blind was lifted and the window opened. I saw first the black figure of the eunuch. I could well distinguish it, as he carried a lamp which illumined his features. Soon afterwards the figure of the former Padishah appeared. It is difficult for me to say what I exactly felt at this moment. After all, he was not long ago our Khalif. I almost felt inclined to shout 'Parishahira tchok yasha!' (Long live the Sultan). But that would have been fatal. I therefore only looked on in perfect silence, nsing my opera-glasses. Abdul was dressed in white. His sallow, haggard face contrasted strangely with his jet-black 'heard. He dyes the latter very regularly and assiduously. I could well distinguish bis curbed figure, his nervous movements, his unsteady step, his wandering gaze. Was he thinking oi Yildiz Kiosk, of his former omnipotence, of his victims? Who could tell? "I witnessed a characteristic trait of his. One day he saw from his window a poor, trembling beggar on the other side of the road, and he at once gave a little silver coin and ordered that it should be handed to the beggar. The ollicer on duty obeyed, but he gave the beggar not the coin of Abdul, but an equivalent piece from his own pocket. The exSultan's silver piece was sent to the chief authority. The Government has given strict orders that every article, however insignificant, which Abdul is sending out from his abode should be minutely and scrupulously examined."