Omaha Daily Bee Newspaper, March 28, 1909, Page 13

IN TBE YARD OF TRE MOSQUE Barbers, Butchers and Peddlers Ply Their Trade Theve. ALSO SELLERS OF REVOLVERS — Sultan Bayrid—Five of the Plus Mo lem—The Shonpers Beggars. CONSTANTINOPLE, March 9.~It was rumored last week that the Greeks had isked the Ottoman government to glve back to them the famous Byzantine church of St. Bophia, about which much tradition and superstition clings. The church was taken from them at the time of the Turk- ish conquest, in 1453, and the 20,000 women and children who had taken refuge there were elther slain by thejr captors or drag- ®ed out and divided among the soldlery as slaves. Though the Turks have converted the chfirch into a mosque by obliterating many traces of Christianity and adding emblems of Islam beth Inside and out the old bulld- Ing stands out conspiciously from among the othier large mosques of the city which have been bullt on a similar plan. Their painted walls and brilllantly colored tiles are tawdry looking in comparison with the wonderful mosalcs and marble plllars which give an air of somber grandeur to the interfor of 8t. Sophia, Justinian, in whose relgn it was built, @14 not consider that gold alone was good enough for the scheme of decoration, o he ordered preclous stones to be used as well. No expense was spired and many ‘were the ships that came o' Constantinople laden with all manner of costly things. Ivory, amber and cedar werq brought for the doors; every known kind of, marble was used for the 100 gigantic pillars—green from Lacernia, white with black vein from the Bosporus, white with pink streaks from Phrygia and others from Egypt and Asia Minor. Recora Job of Building. History says that the pay of all govern- ment officlals and public schoolmasters and the troops had to be stopped in order to meet the demands of the 100 architects and their 10,000 artisans who were employed aboul the bullding. Probably none of the mokques was bullt at such expegse or with such expedition, for the emperor him- self superintended the work and set the different groups of men vying with one another to see which could finish fifst. It {8.no wonder the Greeks should tovet their lost treasyre, which they have long hoped and still expect to repossess. But though there may be an outward appear- ance of friendship between Turks and Christians since the constitution, there is no intention on the part of the former to relinquish. thelr spoll, 8t Sophia, like all mosques that were at one time churches, is painted yellow on the' eutside; the crosses over the doors have been changed to represent the prongs of & trident, and four odd shaped stumpy minarets have been added at different times. Within the bulling many supersti- tious Greeks point out a marble cornjce as the gate which led to a chapel into which a priest fled with the sacramental elemients when he heard the city was In the hands of the Turks; and they belleve that he will come out of his place of con- cealment when the building becomes a church again. Superstiti The Greeks also assure you that the place is haunted by a cholr of angels whose chanting is audible to those Chris- tians who &re in the bullding; there are a few Moselme who confess that they, too, have heard the angelic volces. Some of the wonderful mosaics of Christ, the apos- tles and the seraphim show through the thin wash which the Turks have put over them; others are hidden completely by tre- mendous green shields inscribed with the | nanies of Allah and Mohammed. The final | attempt to bring Islam into prominence | is in the dome, where a green linen cloth has been fixed to cover the mosalc of | the Almighty and the following verse from the Koran painted upon it in giit letters thirty feet long. God is the light of heaven and earth. His light {8 as that of the lamp plaved In & niche In the wall which diffuseth its light f under the glass and shineth like unto | . in_this lamp burneth ofl of a | bles tree. This oil is the produce of neither east nor west. God alone shed- deth His light on whomsoever He passeth. But apart from the changes which have ~been made to the bullding, the courtyard of St. Sophia shows one that it is no longer in the hands of Christians, belng used, like other mosque yards, as a place for the transaction of business. And the vend- ers of trinkets and orlental souvenirs that infest the place swindle the lnnocent tour- tsts who come in hundreds to visit the mosque which s one of the few open to Christians. Business in the Mosque Yard. In comparison with" the courtyards of other mosques, the large yard of St. So- phia is barren aud desolate, though it boasts & couple of coffee shops and many venders. ing the feast of Ramasan, the greatest df the Moslem festivais, it is almost impossible to get into the inner yard of the Bayzld (or Pigeon) mosque, which {s the most picturesque of any in Constantinople. For here assembled round the fountain in the center is a dense crowd of venders, white-turbaned, bearded old fellows, sitting cros and soldiers and civillans in many-col- ored costumes. There are seal cutters and sellers of rosaries, the string of ninety-nine glass or sandalwood beads which every Moslem carries to amuse his idle fingers; and there are sellers of Egyptian and Persian d orfental jer- the yard s a raised cloister, where the scribes with Inkhorn stuck In their voluminous sashes sit on low stools and write or transcribé letters for ignorent Turkish women. As you stand for & moment in the door- way and watch the gray-colored, busy throng, Intent on bargaining and swin- dllug, within the gray walls of the an- clent mosque, your mind goes back to the day when Christ entered the tempie of God at Jerusalem and “overthrew the tables of the money changers and of those that sold doves.” JFor in one cormer of the yard, making the Biblical picture more redlistic, is the stall of the pigeon keeper, and fluttering continually cver the heads of the people are the descend- ants of & pair of pigeons bought by Sultan Baysid and presented by him to the mosqUe MANY Years ago. The birds are provided for out of an endowment fund and the gifts of plous Moslems. With the expenditure of a couple of metallks (2 cents) at the grain atall you become the center of attraction for some thousands of pigeons, and as you fling out a handful of grain the birds descend like leaves In & gaje of wind. BSome settle on your hat, and a few take syrvey from your shoulders; others, more bold, plek the grain out of your hand, while the ground at your feet is one thick, feath- sred mass which heaves gently up and dowp. Few of the birds have all their ‘eathers, the missing plumage having been out In the greedy scrimmage for ‘o0d. Sellers of Droves and Others. But the outer courtyard of the large L] MARCH Putting Up Portable Houses at Messina for Survivors ROME, March 1.—Tt 1s not known, how many wooden houses have so far been bullt in the earthquaks area. A few weeks After the earthquake an official from the Public Works devartnent was sent tn Messina, and he lald the plans for future clties of wood. He declded how wide (he streets were to be, he determined the length and breadth of the future citles, fixed the height of the sheds or huts that were (o shelter the survivors and calewlated the | quantity of lumber required. e was ac cured of wasting a great deal of time in doing practically nothing, as while he was measuring the ground and laying plans the survivors remained without any shel- ter, but he justified the delay by saying that his work, a work of preparation he called it, was indispensable, as clties could not be buflt without plans being properly made. The defense of the government official | evidently sounded convinelng to his superiors. Cities could not be built in a day even If they were to consist of wooden sheds. But the survivors, tired of walt- Ing for the houses the government prom- ised to bulld for them, set about fm- provising shelters by using broken doors and window shutters picked up among the ruins. The soldlers helped them and 80 did the members of rellef committees from northern Italy, with the result that both at Regglo and Messina many roughly and hastily bullt sheds rose over the ruins Government Plans Mature. The government officlal meanwhile con- tinued his measuring and surveying for the permanent cities, and he called those bullt by the survivors provisional ones. The work of preparation for the future cities of wood has now been concluded, and it 18 known that the government has pur- chased 160,000 cubic meters of lumber, a great quantity of which fs on ships walit- ing to he discharged, and has ordgred 6,000 portable houses which are to be delivered ready to be set up on or about the begin- ning of April. The work of rebullding the ruined cities has been given to private constructors, one of whom in a recent interview said that he hoped that by the end of April he would have completed about 50 weoden houses. Very probably in about six months hence the cities, towns and villages in the earthquake area on both sides of the Strait of Messina will have been rebuilt of wood and thee arthquake survivors will be pro- vided with shelter in the summer months, when they will not need it owing to the heat. But of course the government counts on the American portable houses in the rebuilding of Reggio and Messina. The government offietal, In fact, while engaged In his work of preparation left some of the streets In the future cities of wod for the Amerfcan houses and the bluojackets from the Celtic are now setting them up. Americans are at Work. The naval attache at Rome, Commander Belknap and John Elliott, the painter, to< gether with 150 carpenters engaged au Naples, are hard at work at Messina. Com- mander Belknap will not say how long it will take to set up the 3,000 portable houses he has brought over, but they are hustling and they hope that by the end of the month thelr work will be over. They are working under great difficulties, as the Americans have to unload the ships carrylng the houses and transport the cargoes to the site where the houses are to be set up. This in itself would be difficult work in an ordinary port, but it s much more so at Messina, where there are abso- lutely no facilities for discharging ships and no means of transportation. Besides the local authorities, however grateful they may be for the gift of the American houses, cannot overlook the fact that If these houses are ready for use within & month of their arrival and hence before the government houses are built a proof will be afforded that American ald is more effective than Itallan and such proof is apt to hurt national suceptibilities. It follows that the Americans have to rely on thelr own work alone, and that Is ex- actly what they are doing. Portable Houses Erected. The steamship Eva, with the first con- signment of American houses on board, reached Naples on February 2 and it was boarded by Commander Belknap and Mr. Elliott. It then proceeded to Messina, to- gether with the United States navy sup- ply ship Celtle, and its” cargo was .xgh- charged and transpofted to the Plano Mossela, where the new city of Messina is to be built. In less than a week the first American portable house was set up, and by the time the next steamer with a further consign- ment of houses reaches Italy a row of houses complete in every detail and ready for use will rise on the site of new Messina Comparisons are odious, but In cases like the present one cannot help making them. The Americans are hustling, and very probably they will set an example which will be followed. Meanwhile it is greatly to be regretted that there should be the necessity to record the fact that one of the sailors from the Celtic ghould have been shot at by a Messina hooligan. The latter expected to wprk under the Americans, and when sent about his bufiness revenged himself by shooting at one of the sallors. Fortunately the injury suffered by the American Is not serious, mosques presents a siil busier scene. In one part there is a market packed with live stock, according to the season—turkeys for three Christmases (the Greek, Armen- fan and European) and sheep for the feast of Balram, when every Moslem householder 18 obliged to kill an animal in commemora- tion of the sacrifice of Abraham. In an- other part of the yard, under a hundred tentlike umbrellas, thete are sellers of gaudy plaids and brilllant sashes, such as are worn by all the poorer class of Turk rugs and prayer mats of “all ‘hues and shades, wooden overshoes, clogs and col- ored beads to ward off the evil eye. Here cobblers are mending shoes for men, who are obliged to sit nursing one foot while the clumsy patch is being put on. There a row of fifteen or twenty shoe- blecks lean lazily upon their brass covered boxes, while one or two of thelr number are at work upon the shoes of a whole tamlly, for many Turkish households send out all the footwear to be cleaned. Travel- ing butchers and barbers move from place to place; the latter, perhaps from motives of economy, use no soap for their opera- tions, giving what is known as a dry shave to both the heads and faces of thelr vic- tims. Sale of Firearms. You often hear it sald that lite s not | as safe now as in the days of esplonage | under the old regime, for every man Is free to carry a revolver. And to meet this new demand new trades have sprung up like mushrooms within the last fow weeks. Side by side on the steps of the mosque itself stand venders of cartridge belts and cheap revolvers, each extolling his particu- lar article. Beside them s a green-tur- baned “0ld quack who expounds the value of his infallible cure to an interested group, declaring also that a certain verse from the Koran, which he seils printed on green paper, will protect and safely deliver a man trom harm if carried by hm. On a Friday—the Moslem Sunday—it is ditticult to elbow your way through the crowd of sellers and buyers. Clumsy, awk- ward looking soldiers off duty lurch along in an ungainly fashion or stand blocking the way entirely, while one of their party haggles over a cent's worth of peanuts. Prosperous, greasy black eunuchs in im- maculate European clothes saunter dis- dainfully through the ragged, variegated throfig, which pays them more deference and attention than it does to one of Bure- pean blood. Sometimes a couple of veiled tigures pick their way slowly to a clothes stall, where they turn over everything, and after much haggling and bargaining about a particular article they finally depart with- out it, for the joy of the Turkish woman/ as that of the woman in more civillzed countries, is to shop, not necessarily to buy. One Amazon Trousers. Among the masculine crowd Ir one of these courtyards is a short, broad-shoul- dered Hurdish woman who sells Turkish embrolderies and homespun. She Is an Amazon in trousers and several well-padded coats, the outermost one of which is bright green, whie the turban she wears partially covers her. weatherbeaten, wrinkled face. Her appearance is formidable indeed, and she makes 8o strange and striking a pic- ture that a young American tried to snap | her with his camera last weck as she stood under her huge umbrelia smoking a cig- arette. But she spotted him at once and strongly resented his impudence. Though he tried to reassure her by signs and tell her that he was only taking a picture of some dogs in her vicinity she came at him with a stick, at the same time calling upon a group of soldlers loitering nea® to come and drive off the plg of a Christian. Not being suf- ficlently fluent in her language to be able to reply to her voluble attack the America: considering discretion to be the better part, beat a somewhat hasty and undignified re- treat behind some young softas (religious | directly on the permanent site. students) who werd on their way to a lec- ture in the mosque medresse (colloge). Religious S Busy. The' 10,000 or 15,000 religlous students who are In the city all the time come from every part of th pire to study at the medresse, with which each large mosque is endowed, in the hope of one day becoming wisg men, or at least of learning to repeat the Koran by heart, which takes eight hours. They carry out to the letter the Moslem's five obligatory duties: First, the recital of the Kalna (“La flaha {lla-'llah wa-Muhammed Rasu-lu'llah™). 8econd, ablution and prayer at dawn, midday, aft- ernobn, sunset and evening each day, though occasfonally, In dererence to per- sonal convenlence, permission may be ob- tained to perform the prayer all at once with one thorough ablution; but the en- forcement of this duty s so strict that a ulema (priest), an elected daputy, rose in the House of Parllament recently and de- clared that the great famine now raging In Asla Minor was solely due to the fact that Mohammedans in that region had neg- lected to pray the required number of times —praying only three times during the day instead of five. Third, the observance of Ramayanm, a month of fasting, during which time nothing may pass his lips from sunrise to sunset, and night in consequence is turned into day. Fourth, the pilgrimage {o Mecca once during his lifetime. Fifth, the giving of almsito the poor to the extent of one-fourth of his\possessions each year ~the law being carefully to mention that these gifts are to be made only to Moham- medan poor. Encourages Begging. This last obligatory duty encourages the profession of begging and accounts for the amazing number of beggars and gypsies that waylay one every hour of the day, for Moslems give generously, belleving that by 0 doing their sins are explaved. When it is too cold for the gypsies to live in the open country they come Into the city and camp in the mosque clolsters, where they screen themselves from the eyes of the crowd in the vard by means of pleces of matting which appear to have served a like purpose for many generations. Men, women and children in filthy, tat- tered garments eke out an existence here by begging and by gathering scraps from the mosque kitchen rather than do any honest day's work. For every large mosque is endowed with a hospital and a soup kitchen, In the latter of which—a vault like room lit by two small slits in the stone roof—soup, pilap (the favorite Turkish dish of rice) or bread Is served two or three days a week to the poor. The large mosques occupy prominent po- sitions on the séven hills, but there are in the city innumerable small mosques that ralse tiny minarets to heaven. Every fifty vards or 5o you find one of these mosques tucked away in a quaint corner surrounded on all sides by overhanging wooden houses and shops. Many of them are so neglected that they have fallen into decay and others have sprung up within their shadow. Some are utllized as shops on the ground floor, and hero the plous shopman sits crosslegged before his Koran, not caring whether cus- tomers come or not. He Is confident that they will come—if it is Allah's will. FREDERICK MOORE. PROGRESS OF REFORESTATION Seven Hundred Thousend Trees Planted by Forestry Service in One Year. The trees used In the natlonal experi- ments in reforestation are grown at eight government nurseries in the existing na- tional forests out west. These eight stations now contain over 9,000,000 trees from 1 to years old. The preliminary stage of forest planting within the national forests s now past, and several of the planting stations have produced trees of sufficlent size to plant About 700, 000 trees were planted during the winter and spring of 1907 At the nursery in the Dismal River na tlonal forest more stock has reached an age suitable for planting than at the other stations. This nursery contains approxi- mately 2,600,000 trees, At present there are about 1,000,000 trees for planting In the hand hills. The species largely in use up to this time are western yellow pine and jack pine. Other specles, chiefly Scotch pine, Norway pine and Douglas fir, are being tested in the nursery and In experimental plantations. The state forests of Saxony, comprising 450,000 acres, are in charge of a forestry bureau at a yearly expense which averages $3 for each acre, but such is the extent and value of the timber aud other products that the net yearly revenue averages $.30 an acre after deducting all expenses. The ap- propriation of the United States for the bureau of forestry is so Insignificant that it amqunts to a little less than 1 cent for each acre.~Moody's Magazine More Than 20 Ingredients, - Roots, Herbs, Barks,— Known to possess great medicinal value, are combined in Hood’s Sarsaparilla. Every physician must inevitably prescribe some of these ingredients in all blood diseases and in troubles with thc stomach, liver and kidneys. He must prescribe thaa because there are no others known to vie profession. Sarsaparilla comprirs, «ll that aye of s~y snown- And every one trat we use is gathered at the season of its greut st medicinal and-tested merit. ¥'3 “I have great faith in Hood’s Sarsaparilla, because it has done me so much good. I believe it is the very best spring and autumn tonie. the best blood medicjne for any time of year. I take it whenever I get a little run down, and my Yes, We are agents for the Allwin One-Motion Folding Go-Cart. Miller, We sell the Vulean Gas Range, the kind that saves gns and is poskively odorless. Stewart @ Beaton 413-15-17 South Sixteenth Street Sale of Bed Room Furniture A sale of BED ROOM FURNITURE of vast importance begins tomorrow. Carload after carload of the new spring stock of bedroom furniture has just arrived. We are in a position to offer our customers all the advantages and benefits we secured from the manu- facturer, by placing such liberal orders. At no time in the past have we been able to offer such variety of selection or such price inducements as is now in force in this particular department. We devote one entire floor to the showing of this immense stock, and the special values we herewith quote indicate the general range of prices throughout the entire Something New in Wood Beds We are exclusive agents for the Ariel Beds and carry them in all sizes, in different woods in their various finishes. Brass filled, Vernis Martin, White Enamel, Golden Oak, Early English Oak, Natural Ma- hogany, Weathered Oak, Gen- Ariel Bed, like illustration, made of wood, finished white enamel, with 2% -inch square posts, fillers are 1- inch square, making a very hand- some bed. Special 819 50 B g price price. uine Mahogany. It will pay you to inspect this week’s showing, they are mar- vels of beauty, substantial in construction and reasonable in Arfel Bed, ltke fllustration, made of wood, finished early English; fillers, poats and top rdil are all made square, glving the same effect as a verv fine brass bed; side rail on these beds are double, making it s 8 75 very substantial; price . Iron Beds at Greatly Reduced Prices $16.50 Vernis Martin Bed, brass knobs, 7 filling rods, $11.25 $20.00 Ivory Bed, brass knobs, 9 filling rods, 2-inch <o -$13.50 $14.50 Ivory Bed, continuous posts, 6 brass spindles, special price ... iiiiiiiaiiiieiiine . $9.75 1 6-16 inch post, special price posts, spectal Price ............ Special Values in Dressers Golden Oak Dresser, 21x44-inch top, with mirror, 24x30 inches, a beautiful piece of furniture; we are offering this at a very special price of .. . . ceseee . ... $25.00 Golden Oak Dresser, 20x42-inch top, with mirror, 20x24-inch, this we offer at a special price of .. . . .. . . .- $11.25 Mahogany Dresser, 20x42-inch top, 24x30 oval mirror, wood knobw, very finely finished piece of furniture, special price..........823.00 Mahogany Dresser, 21x42-inch top, 24x30-inch shaped mirror, an exceptionally fine plece of turniture, specal price ....... .$23.00 Bird’'s-eye Maple Dresser, 20x40-inch top, 24x30- inch shaped mirror, best construction and finely finished, special price.............825.50 Curley Birch Dresser, 21x42-inch top, 22x28- inch ovel mirror; this is a splendid piece of fur- niture, special price ..............819.50 ‘We are cxclusive agents for the Bohn, Syphon System and Minne- sota Refrigerators, the best refrig- erator made. To the Man With Something Worth Selling $12.50 Ivory Bed, 4 brass knobs, 9 filling rods, cross top rail, special price. .. $20.50 Venis Martin, 1 5-16-inch pos and brass knobs $22.60 Vernis Martin, 1 5-16-inch continuous posts, 12 brass filling rods, special price brass top ratl $14.25 Chiffoniers A Large Assortment of Ohiffoniers Offered at Bpecial Prices. ' Golden Oak Chiffonier, 20x34-inch top, 16x24- inch shaped mirror, finely finished, an excel- i L R o ... 825,50 Bird's-eye Maple Chiffonier, l!lx..z-lnrhamp, 16x 20-inch oval mirror, best of construction, an excellent value, at Vil # Natural Mahogany Chiffonier, leSl-g?hz g[?, 16x20-inch square mirror, beautiful finished, and a great bargain, special price. ... 0. Mahogany Chiffonier, with wofldsaknool)?. 19x34-inch top, 16x20-inch oval mirror, this we offer at the special price of 9.00 Mahogany Chiffonier, 20x33-inch top, 16x20- inch oval mirror, a beautifully designed piece o:’ furniture of the best constructions, special price s.ooniivane 18. Golden Oak Chiffonier, 18x34-inch tul? XGX% Inch shaped mirror, this“is a finely finished plece of furniture, we offer it at the special price of .. .$11.50 Costumers, like illustration, in all woods, with heavy brass hooks, revolving top, 08 sovsrngr e - vm0e o « SOUND Co-operation is the greatest force for increasing busi- ness efficiency that has been evolved, and its power is most highly evinced in co-operation between organizations. It is along these lines that the Mahin Advertising Company works. The minute an advertiser enters into a co-operative agreement with us, we become as interested in the promo- tion of his business as he is. We don't pretend to know anyone else’s business. But we are familiar in a general wa with the nature of the buying public and know how to exploit goods in a business- bringing way through space in Newspapers, Magazines, Street Cars and Billboards, aided by supplementary work of various kinds. We are able to apply our specialized knowledge and experience to 4 customer’s needs as they become apparent through our analysis of his proposition and in our execution of the campaign of publicity which we devise in ‘“Confident Co-operation” with him. The results of a union of your organization and ours along these lines could scarcely be other than wholly satisfac- tory. We would like to J)lace before you several letters sent us by customers who ha before we publicity. | well organized sales organizations helped them engineer successful campaigns of Let us put your name on our mailing list to receive monthly THE MAHIN MESSENGER. value. The wonderful power of Hood’s Sarsaparilla is due: 1, To its peculiar combination of so many dif- feren’ remedie 2, To the peculiar process by which the full curative strength of every one of them is ex- tracted and retained; and 3, To the peculiar effect—purifying, appetite- giving and strength-building—that it has upon 99 out of every 100 persons who take i That it is an extraordinary medicine is fur- ther proved by its extraordinary record of cures. Cures of serofula, eczema, psoriasis, boils, ab- scesses and all humors of the blood; cures of rheumatism, the prostrating after-effects of the grip and diphtheria and other blood-poisoning diseases; cures of bilious and dyspeptie troubles, + loss of appetite, and that tired feeling. Just now—when weather changes have such debilitating effect—is the time to take it. system needs toning up, and find it always re- liable and beneficial. My father takes it for rheumatism in hig shoulders and arms, and says it helps lim wonderfully. I am pleased to ree- ommend so good a medicine to all my neighbors and friends.”” L. 8. Ward, The Retreat, 61 Whittier street, Haverhill, Mass., Jan. 31, 1909, “‘I am the youngest and only hving son of Dr. J. Blackman, well known in Massachusetts. My father always recommended Hood’s Sarsaparilla as the greatest blood purifier on earth, and I ean certify to the same thing.’’ Newton M. Black- man, Hotel Savoy, Danbury, Ct, \ Be sure to get Hood If urged to buy any preparation said to be ‘‘just as good,”” you may be sure it is inferior, costs less to make, and yields the dealer a larger profit. Get a bottle todaygin the usual liquid form or in chocolated tablets called Sarsatabs. THE NEBRASKA SEED CO. Oity Salesroom, 1613 Howard 8t. Telephone “2%listesce or address : MAHIN ADVERTISING COMPANY John Lee Mahin, President American Trust Building, Chicago THAT GROW NEED ANY? B THAT THEY comE Tel. Doug, 1261 D. C. SCOTT, D.V.S. (Buccessor to Dr. H L. ({TWENTIETH CENTURY FARMER Oune Dollar & Yean