INTERVIEWING THE GRAND TURK.

Waikato Times, Volume XXII, Issue 1820, 6 March 1884, Page 3

INTERVIEWING THE GRAND TURK.

M. Blowitz, the enterprising repiesentative of the Times in the Ficnch capita), recently went on a shoifc trip fioni Paris to Constantinople, by Oriental Express, paitly for plcasnic and partly to seek an .ludie'nce of the Sultnn. M. Blowitz frequently interviews kings and queens, and thcieis probably no "ci owned head" in Km ope who has not exchanged courtesies with the gie.it interviewer. On liis way to Constantinople lie passed tlnouuh Kouiiiania, and happening to be at Sinaia when the King and Queen weie there, they voluntaiily gianted him an audience, n l.uthful and pictuiesijue dcscuption of winch duly appealed in the London journals. But it is one thing to iutt.i\ie\v a kingling like His Majesty of Rouinania, 01 even asccond-iate inonaich sucli as Alfonso XII, and another thing tointeiview the Giand Tuik. Nobody had ever succeeded in peifoiming the hitter feat, but, with M. Blowitz, " coinage inountetli with occasion," and he was. dttei mined to leave no stone nntnined to accomplish an exploit unprecedented in the annals of journalism. Not the least interesting portion of his rcmai liable btoiy ii> tli.it which i elates to the obstacles whicli he had to encounter, obstacles which would have piovcd msupeiablo to a tiist class professional Ameiican inteiviewer. As the Tunes, which natuially is veiy proud of its coirespondent, s-ajs, the account of his di'heulties " displays for lib the ways and m.uincis of an Asiatic capital project* d into Eutope."M. Blow it/ was eventually told to atti.ict the Sultan's notice when he was going to piayers by mounting a window -sill in asomewliat ludicious and uncomfoitable attitude. Tlie pose at the window was successful. One liade ai lived after another, and while M. Blovvitz waited lie tells us that he conveised with tiie Sultan's special physician, M.uavien Pasha, a skilful and cultuicd Oicek. " I regret," said the doctor, "that you have not seen the .Sultan. You would have convinced youiself as to the stupid calumnies ciiculated about him. You would have seen that he has an upiight mind and a sound body. All soi ts of diseases have been attnbutcd to him— sciofula, fits, and so on. It is shameful. I have nevei been him ill, and I am the gteatest luxury that he pays for." The Sultan seems to have been stiuck with M. BlovvitA apptai ance, lor whilst the latter thought his Majesty -uas busy at his devotions, he was all the time issuing // w/< a ie'.pertinj; the distinguished interview ci. The lcsult was that after ! hisM.ijtsty letuined to the palace M. Blow it/ followed him, and was without much ceieinony usheied into the august picsen"cof the Coiunuiudei of the Faithful. Heiehehad one of the most singular convcisatioiib it is possible to imagine, and w Inch is npoited at full length with all the skill and vigour ot a Landor. The Sultan fuely unboboi^ed himself to the Time-* con espondent, and m letuin lcccived much candid and excellent advice. Tlieie is nothing better in the Imf/i/uirni/ Convocation-*. They congratulated each other veiy pleasantly. " You," said the Sultan, '• understand thegiavity ot the mission of the leal journalist." "You," .said M. Blowitz, " aio this countiy's gieatcst hope." Theie was one point to winch the Sultan lctumed time aftei time. "Do jou think the English will <i<.'iee to the c.uly evacuation of Kgv pt ?" Heic the entei pi ising journalist wasquite unable to leassme hit, Majesty. The accounts given in M. Blowit/s own w oids w ill appeal with the keenest lntuiefet to all M.ihomedaii leadeib, and will undoubtedly be tianslatecl into eveiy Mahomedan journal until the stoiy of this famous interview eventually {nids its way into tlie lcmotest eoineis of Cential Asia. At Home it has been iecened with a good deal of sceptical amusement, which M. Blowitz endoav on ied to discount befoieband. Bcfoie lie left the Sultan's pic-ence he was.«i\cn tlie Insignia of the second cliss ot the Medjidie, which was fastened on hi* " ton list t/aib "' As he leti'incd he said to hinibclt, "I only hope I shall not meet some Euiopean cai ie.it uiifct ou the load '' A good deal of cheap amuse ment has been made out of the interview alicady, but it is undoubtedly a valuable contiibution to contempoiaiy histuiy.

Mr J, It. Oi ecu's posHiumous Look, " The Conijtif si of Enyljnd,'' will be out shot tl}, and w ill cont.un anio&t inteicsting nrefiiecby the antiioi. Mi 1 YVilkie Collins has just finished a highly sensational talo, entitled " I .say. No'or, the Lo\e Lcttei Answ eied.' the opening chapteisof winch appealed in The People on 7)ec 10. Acm mi: has b» en bi ought to light in New Caledonia which fui nishob a ghastly illu«=ti ntion oi thu class of malefactor sent out to that island by the Fiench Government. The i>ei petiator of it, as we leain ft oin the Nco Caledomen of the 23 id of .launa.iv, \\ .is wJiat we should call a tieket-of-lea\elioldei—a woman named Roger. Siia and her huabxnd liad received a 21 ant of land on the banks of the Foa, and one daj in August Ja'-t, while tlio liead of the household was out at \\pil\, bhe took her little danghtoi, who was only two years old, into a neigh bom ing wood, and, as it is believed, sei/ed the child by one of her leg^, and shattered hci .skull by dashing it eitlier against a stone or thetiunk of a tiee. Some months elapsed before the skeleton was found. Tiih following letter horn Rajshahai was lecently icui-ncd by the authonties at the Calcutta Exhibition :— " Sir,— l have the honour to inform yon that I have a man f 10111 whose foiehead lias sprung a legular hoi 11. I intend taking down this man to the Calcutta Exhibition ; please let me know wliat 1 enumeration I can expect fiom you if T hand the man oxer to you." Mr Joubeit, IDiiectoi ot the the Exhibition, decided that this g' ntleinan comes under the head of "homed cattle," so cannot be exhibited. A summaiy of the agiicnltuial leiuins for the United Kingdom was published by the Board ot lade in August last, and the details have lecently been issued, fiom which it appeals that in Gieat Biitdin the area leported to be under all kinds of ciop, baie, fallow, and grass, amounts to 32,385,('00, an inciease of 72,000 acies compaied with last year. The inciease is almo&t exclusively in permanent pastuie, the area in tillage still tending to dinnnis-h. In Ii eland there are 15,151,000 acies under the same heading — a deciease of 01,000 acies. The gio?& total of 47,667,000 nciea under ciops, baie, fallow, and grass in the United Kingdom, including the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands, is divided as follows :— Coin crops, 10,320,000; gieen crops, 4,705,000 ; clover, sanfom, and grasses under lotation, 6,371,000; permanent pasture or grjss not broken up in lotation (exclusive of heatli or mountain land), 25,288,000} flax, 100,000; hops. 68,000 ; bare, fallow, or uncropped arable land, 803,000. The numbeis of live stock as returned upon June 5 weie : —In Gieat Biitaiu: Horses, 1,410,000; cattle, 5,692,000; sheep, 25,065,000 ; pigs, 2,617,000. In Ireland : Horses, 478,000 ; cattle, 4,096,0000 ; sheep, 3,219,000 ; pigs, 1,351,000. There weie imported into the United Kingdom in 1882 the following :— 343,692 live cattle, 1,124,391 sheep, and 15,670 swine, of the total value of £9,271,956, The imports of fresh and salted beef and pork were 4,649,2/Ocwt. You will do well to furnish your house rom Garlick and Cramvell's. They have now the most complete Furnishing Warehouse in Auckland, furniture to suit all classes, good strong, <tnd cheap. They have Tapestry Carpets ifom 2s 3d pei yard, Brussels from 3b lid per yard, Linoleum from 3s Od to ss, Oil Cloths from Is 6d to 4s 6d per yard, good 12 feet wide Oil Cloths at 3s 6d per yard. Immense assortment of Iron Bedsteads from Infants' Cots to 5 feet wide half-tester Bedsteads. Double iron Bedsteads from 255. 4FO Bedsteads in stock toselect from. Beddings of all kinds and sizes kept in readiness. Dining, Sitting, Drawing-room Furniture, and and a laige assortment of Manchester and Furnishing Goods, including a lot of Cretonnes. Book Catalogues sent free to intending' purchasers. Garlirk and Cranwell, City Hwl AtcadlQi Qiw»-rtwt Auckland;

Mr Gordon Bennett lias liad 500 news-stands made to be used in Now York for the sale of the Herald. It is a light kind of article, made of ash, highly polished, with legs which fold up when the legs is packed for transit. The legs have castors, too, so that the boys in charge of the stands can easily move on when told to do so. The news-shops naturally do not like this innovation, which serves to give peiipatetic news\endorsan advantare in their irregular commerce. A cimiors report got about to the effect that WilUie Collins was about to publish «i novel in the limes, of all papeis in the woild. This Mas palpably ■\bsuid. The novel is to appear in ceitain weekly newspapeis, and in monthly p.n ts in r I ime. it is said that Mr Wilkie Collins' novels aie so popular with the natives of Bengal who can read English that it is proposed to translate all of them into the Bengali language for the benefit of those who cannot. "The Women in White" is already in coiuse of tiansla-

tion. Tin: original trust deed of Shakspeare's Blackfiiaii estate, executed in 1618, and ratifying the uses of that estate given in the poet's will, has been lately added to the Shakspearian laiities preserved at Hollmgbuiy Copse, near Brighton. Amon»st other recent additions to the .s.inio collection is a hitherto unknown family settlement of 1596, one to which the poet's father was a witness, his name, lion e\ or, being meielj legisteied by the stmener, not attested by his mark. Another inteiestingacquisition is a contemporary manu&cnpit of the " Return from Parnassus," confiiming Dr Nicholsons date ol 1602 In the last named volume theie are some curious vanatious in one of the passages which lefer to Shakspetie. Piutujik Coi'yino. — On the forging of paintings the St James' Gazette remaiks: — " A uiuious study upon this subject, due to the pen of M 1M 1 Vertan, shows that the numbeis of copies disposed of as oiii^mals is quite astonishing. Theie is one aitibt, he says, living in the Latin qua'ter, who has made Ins fortune of 10 picture - dcaleis with imitations of Leonaulo do Vinci, Zurbaran, and other I,'tcat masters. And sometimes the spin ions pictuies are detected on account ot being supeiiorto anything done by the aitist imitated. M. Vertan also tells us how Rosa Bon hem* detected a forgery, ni which the breath of some animals ploughing was rendered with a degree of transpaiency which she admitted to be buyond her powers. Turning to the sales at the Hotel Drouot, the writer says that on an aveiage there aie put up for sale eveiy year 1200 Daubigny's, 800 Leopold Roberts, 2000 Troyons, 3000 Coiots, 2,100 Tlioodoie Kousseaus, 1800 Rosa Bonheurs, 1400 Diazes, and so on. He declaies that 70,000 Daubignys at present exi>>t, and he expresses his opinion that a centuiy hence tliere Mill be a million. M. Veitan natuially complains that nothing is done to put a stop to this wliolesale puacy. M. Waddmgton, when he was. in office some yeais ago, diafted a bill on the subject, but it never got any fuither, and the forgeis have it all their own way."'