LONDON, March 1- "An imperial irade orders the concentration of 50,000 Turkish troops on the Bulgarian frontier near Kustendil," says the Constantinople correspondent of The Daily Mail. He adds:
"This measure is taken on the advice of the Ministry of War, owing to the agitation of the revolutinary Bulgarian committees in Macedonia, which is assuming the form os brigandage on a large scale.
Prince Ferdinand opposes the operations if the Macedonia committee, but is believed to be powerless to stop them, and there is no doubt that sympathizers in Bulgaria are providing the promoters of the revolution with arms.
"Numerous arrests of armed Bulgarians in Macedonia have been made, among them Bulgarian officers, priests, and merchants. All prove to be accomplices of the revolutinary movement."********************************************************************************
VIENNA, July 7- The Neue Freie Presse publishes a dispatch from Salonika, European Turkey, saying that since last Saturday thirty shocks of Earthquake, eight of which were violent, have been experienced there. The populace of Salonika is now camping in military camps.
A very violent shock, which occurred early this morning, caused damage to the villages of Guvesne and Zelisova, in the vicinity of Salonika.
Other dispatches received here from Salonika say that the shock of this morning destroyed 150 houses and killed one child at Guvesne, and two people were killed at Salonika.
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LONDON, Nov. 20- The special correspondent of The Times who has been visiting Persia took the opportunity, on his way to India, to visit Koweit, on the Persian Gulf, and in a dispatch from Kurrachee describes conditions there.
The correspondent says that Mubarakh, the Sheikh of Koweit, no longer apprehends direct aggression on the part of the Turks, provided that British warships continue to give him support and that his Wahabi allies secure the mainland from invasion by Ibn el Rashid.
The chief danger, according to the correspondent, arises from conspiracies on neighboring Turkish territory, such as the abortive attempt on land and water in September, whichh attempt was baffled by the promtitude of the British warship at Koweit. Nothing has been done by the Turkish Government to punish the offenders, and the obstructive attitude of the Vali of Busra was evidently due to direct instructions from the Porte.
Germany, adds the correspondent, is not alone in taking special interest in Koweit as the coveted terminus of the projected railway. Two Russian Consuls, on Russian ships, have visited Sheikh Mubarakh, but their attempts to impress him with the superior advantages of Russian friendship and protection were unsuccessful.
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CONSTANTINOPLE, July 7- United States Minister Leishman, Mrs. Leishman, and their two daughters; Spencer Eddy, Secretary of the United States Legation, and A. A. Gargiulo, interpreter to the Legation, dined at the Yildiz Palace yesterday and were subsequently received in audience by the Sultan. The visitors attended an operatic performance at the Palace. The Sultan presented Mr. Leishman a souvenir of the visit, to Mrs. Leishman he gave the Grand Cordon of the Order of Nichan-i Chefakat, and to the Minister's daughters he presented the decorations of the same order.
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LONDON, Jan. 6- Great dissatisfaction in Constantinople is reported by the correspondent of the Times in consequence of the lavish distribution of honors and pecuniary rewards among persons to whom the Sultan had given official positions in order that they might render him service to which honorable men would not stoop.
Honors and gratuities consequent upon the beginning of the Ramazan fasting have been given in particular to spies, while the self-respecting persons on the public service have been almost entirely excluded from the distribution of rewards.
The latter class say that they are not aggrieved for the reason that they have received nothing. They feel hurt, however, because of the munificent treatment of the spies when the Treasury is in such straitened circumstances that official salaries are heavily arrears and the Minister of Finance is pleading penury as the excuse for his failure to pay the debts of the Government to its faithful servants.
The Sultan has also been much critised for maintaining and old practice of paying "tooth hire" to the officials taking iftar at the palace on the first night of the Ramazan. The Grand Vizier was presented ³1000 Turkish and the other ministers were paid ³500 each, while smaller gifts were made to minor officials.
Altogether the largess of the Sultan has resulted in the useless expenditure of from ³15,000 to ³20,000 when the Treasury is in particularly straitened circumstances.
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PARIS, Jan. 7- A dispatch to the Patrie from Constantinople says Russia is negotiating with Turkey to permit her Black Sea fleet to pass through the Dardenelles.
It is stated that the fleet consists of seventy-six ships.
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CONSTANTINOPLE, Feb. 27- The insurrection in the province of Yemen, Arabia, is asuming alarming proportions.
Almost the whole country southward of Sana's is in revolt, and the towns of Kataba and Tais have failen into the hands of the insurgent Arabs, whose forces are consistently increasing.
Defective transport renders the dispatch of Turkish reinforcements most difficult. Great numbers of camels are perishing on the road, whole large numbers of troops are deserting.
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CONSTANTINOPLE, Dec. 16- A serious disturbance, indicative of increasing discontent, occurred here on Saturday. Several hundreds time-expired marines from the naval arsenal held a mutinous demonstration in an old abondened cemetery behind the American Embassy, demanding their pay and their discharge from the colors.
A number of naval officers endeavored to appease the men, but were stoned and otherwise mistreated. A number of personal encounters resulted, and one officer, draqing his sword, wounded three mutineers, while Vice Admiral Ahmed Pasha and his aide-de-camp from the Naval Ministry were rather badliy injured. After the demonstration had lasted three hours, and officer from the Yildiz Kosk arrived on the scene with a promise that the men's demands would be granted, whereupon the gathering quickly dispersed and returned to quarters.
During the interval there was much agitation at the Yildiz Kosk. The Sultan, who was greatly disturbed, repeatedly issued fresh instructions to his Ministers.
Such occrrences have been frequent in the provinces, but disorders hitherto have seldom been seen in the capital.
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LONDON, April 10- the establishment of a Japanese Embassy at Constantinople is assured, according to The Pall Mall Gazette, although Russia is understood to be doing her utmost to prevent it.
It is pointed out that the advent of a Japanese Embassy on the Bosphorus will give Turkey a new lease of life and practically dispose of all nations of the partition of the Ottoman territory, as it will be to the common interest of Turkey and Japan to support each other in the event of any attempt on the part of Russia to overstep her present frontiers, either southward or eastward.
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PARIS, Jan. 11- Representatives of the different peoples who are being oppressed by Turkey, including the Young Turks, Armenians, Greeks, Bulgarians, Albanians, Kurds, Jews, and Arabs, held a secret congress in this city to-day.
It was unanimously decided to organize in common action to overthrow the present Turkish Government and for the substituion of a liberal, constitutional, and parlimentary regime. The details of this revolutionary programme were not published.
Armenians, Turks, and Bulgarians in America were represented at the congress by delegates.
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ANTWERP, Jan. 18- After spending two years in a cage in a Turkish prison, guarded day and night, and fed on bread and water, Edward Joris is back in his native Belgium.
He was sentenced to death by a Turkish court which had adjudged him guilty of attempting to take the life of the Sultan. His restoration to his home is due to the persistent efforts in his behalf made by the Belgium Government.
When Joris, a very sick man, was brought ashore at this port the other day, he asked his attendants to set him down upon the ground so that he might kiss the soil of Belgium. They did so, and he imprinted a fervent kiss upon the ground.
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WASHINGTON, April 14- As an earnest of the friendship of Abdul Hamid II., Sultan of Turkey, toward the United States there arrived here to-day a handsome and valuable collection of silk carpets as a gift from the Sultan to President Roosevelt. The carpets, which are valued at many thousands of dollars, were manufactured at the Sultan's private factory at Harika, which is near Constantinple. They were made specially for President Roosevelt, the Sultan taking a personel interest in the execution of his orders.
As is the Turkish custom, they are made in one piece, and the notable peculiarity of their manufacture is that the same pattern is never again exactly reproduced, no two carpets being quite alike.
There is no record of a President of the United States ever having before been similarly honored by a Turkish potentate. The carpets are now at the Turkish Legation, and the State Department has been notified of their arrival by the Turkish Ambassodor, Mehmed Ali Bey. They will be presented to the President by the Ambassador at a ceremony to be held in a few days.
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CONSTANTINOPLE, Aug. 13- The report that the Young Turks, had demanded that the Sultan surrender one half of his private fortune to aid in the rehabilitation of the Empire is declared here to be quite untrue. Many similar irresponsible statements are to be found in the local press. For instance, it was announced recently that the Sultan had offered $500,000 toward the purchase of two cruisers, but this rumor is still without any confirmation whatever. Abdul Hamid has made donations for a variety of objects, and it is believed that reports like the foregoing are launched to serve as a hint.
The discontent caused by the dismissal of large numbers of officials has induced the present Government to make an effort to effect retrenchment by reducing salaries instead of by dismissal. Consequently it has been decided that all salaries above $50 a month shall be reduced by one-half.
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LONDON, Dec. 17- In a special dispatch from Constantinople under today's date the correspondent of The London Times says that, after a week of miserable weather, to-day broke crisp and sunny and the Sultan was able to open Parliament in perfect Winter weather.
Until a late hour yesterday it was uncertain by what route his Majesty would arrive at Stamboul, but finally he decided to drive the whole way from the Yildiz Palace by way of Pera and the Mahmoud Bridge to St. Sophia, in the shadow of which historic mosque the Parliament House stands.
At 12:30 all eyes began to strain anxiously down the road. The question was asked, Has the Sultan failed at the eleventh hour? At 12:45 two sous officers were seen running up the road. The Sultan was coming.
As the carriage swung past the bands crashed out the Hamidian anthem. The crowds burst into singing and shouts of acclamation, though whether they cheered for Abdul Hamid or the Constitution no one could hardly say. Nor did all, perhabs, know; but in any case the enthusiasmm was great and general.
Exactly at 12:50 the Ottoman flag over the Parliament House gave place to the royal ensign, and Abdul Hamid stood for a second time before his people.
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CONSTANTINOPLE, Jan. 19- The palace of Cheragan, where the Turkish Parliement meets, was entirely destroyed by fire to-day. The loss is great, as the building alone cost about $16,000,000. The fire originated between the private apartments reserved for the Sultan and the Chamber of Deputies, and is believed to have been due to defective heating apparatus, although have been current that reactionary agents were responsible for it.
The fire started shortly before noon, and a strong wind fanned the flames, which spread with great rapidly. Little furniture and very few of the important documents were saved. Practically all the archives of the Chamber of Deputies, including important bills and the budget estimates, were burned. As a consequence the business of Parliement will be seriously interrupted.
What few effects were saved were taken from the palace by sailors statined at the legations, principally the Russians and Americans, who were the first to arrive on the scene. Thousands of persons witnessed the fire from the roofs of buildings. Supertitious Orientals regard the fire as an evil omen.
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CONSTANTINOPLE, April 30- Opposition developed to-day during a discussion of the budget in the Chamber of Deputies to the annual grant of 2,160 pounds Turkish to the husbands of the imperial princesses on the ground that the husbands in question held sinecures.
As a consequence Djavid Bey, the Minister of Finance, presented his resignation, and it is likely that Talaat Bey, Minister of the Interior, as well as other Ministers, will also resign.
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LONDON, Aug. 5- Turkey, by buying for $2,500,000 the German battleships Brandeburg and Weissenburg, is said to have made a wretched bargain. "The news," says a German correspondent of the Daily News, "fills anybody who knows these old rattletraps with amazement." He goes on to say:
I visited these boats after their return from China, where they had been sent during the boxer riots. I was then told by members of the crew that the boats proved so utterly unfit for use in a warm climate that the German stokers had to be replaced by "Sidi boys," a number of German stokers having died from apoplexy, and I could easily understand it after visiting the engine-room and stakehold. The former is so full of machinery ("ironmongery,") that there is no system whatever for ventilation. The stakehold even in the temperate clime of Northern Germany was almost unbearable. A Turkish crew could not exist in it in the sultry climate of the Mediterranian.
"The guns, moreover, are antiquities. 11-inch guns fire one round every four minutes, and as for the armor-plate a shell from a modern 6-inch gun would pass through it like butter. A battleship of the King Edward class could keep out of range and blow these ships out of the water in a few minutes.
It is inexplicable why Turkey goes in for these old 'crocks.'
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The hand-Crotcheted Laces made by the women of Turkey are always in demand for trimming linen dresses, underwear and house linens. Our newly arrived shipment from Constantinole will be placed on sale tomorrow at the following prices:
Hand-Crotched Ring Insertion, one to five rings wide, a yard,special at 19c, 24c, 36c, 48c, 68c.
Hand-Crotcheted Rose-and-Wheel Lace, five inches wide, a yard, special.. 98c