The Oregon daily journal., November 01, 1908, Page 37, Image 37

THE ' OREGON SUNDAY JOURNAL, PORTLAND, SUNDAY MORNitfG, NOVEMBER V Vm
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Will the New Order of
Things in Turkey Evolve
a Real Home Life?
T Jf 7" HEN a Koman of more than or
y dinary intelligence and educa
' ' tion,. and with all a woman's in
stincts of refinement, -escapes from a Turkish
harem, a narrative of her adventures is apt
to prove of more than ordinary interest.
More thdn one woman has escaped from
the slavery of the harem, although the num
ber is pitiably small compared wtth the num
ber still doomed to that fearful life.
It was thought, when a constitution was
granted recently' bythe sultan, that the con
dition of Turkish women would be vastly im
proved. Then came the tumultuous political
events of the last few weeks, and the whole
scheme for the emancipation of Turkish
women seemed to be in the air again.
Princess Cheref Ouroussof, wedded in
Paris to a Russian nobleman, has entertained
her friends frequently with accounts of her
experiences in a Turkish harem and in a
harem of high degree, since she -vas a niece
of the sultan of Turkey and wedded to one
of the high lords of the Turkish empire.
Her escape from harenx life was sensa
tional, and her marriage later in Paris to a
Russian nobleman she had been divorced by
her Turkish husband was a subject of keen
anxiety to the Porte. It is only recently that
the princess has felt emboldened to give to
the world a story of her life in. a harem.
? if
v 'Si:
couple are begun without delay, and upon a purely busi
ness basis.
The poor girl selected as the bride has no voice In the
matter ondTfo "egression of her wishes regarding cere-'
mony or the after-life Is permitted. ,
Her wedding day is one of horror. Instead of happi
ness. Dressed In her nuptial finery, she must s!tln stately
silence while relatives of both pass In review and com
ment upon her charms or lack of them.
After this ordeal she Is conducted to the room that Is
to be hers .and there, for the first time, the husband Is
permitted to gaze upon her face.
Perhaps he may be pleased with th bargain, perhaps
not
If pleased, he gives her slaves and Jewels; her lle
thereafter is one of ease, even if it must be spent within
the walls of the harem.
If he is not pleasea, ne may aivorco ner
UlllCI "'I-, v. w ... J ' '
get another wife anyway.
Filling the harem is simply a matter of financial pos
sibility In Turkey and other Moslem countries.
Willie the Turkish law prohibits the enslaving of Turk
ish' women, every head of a harem may have as many
as four wives In such cases these, as a rule, are little
better than slaves, v '
The Turk, too, may fill his harem rwlth Circassian '
slaves; In fact, comparatively few Circassian girls who
develop beauty of face and form escape this fate.
When there are several wives in a household there are
continual intrigues, plottings and in many instanoes. act
ual crime.
The sudden and mysterious disappearance of a wife Is
not regarded, usually, as a subject of police Inquiry.
Favored women of the harem have little to (Jo except
to dress In such fine fabrics as are provided for them
and to pass the time as entertainingly as possible.
Slave girls dance before them and play on musical In
struments; female friends may visit them and profes
Kionftl entertainers are permitted to amuse them at time.
Such entertainments, however, are generally made up
of coarse Jests and general vulgarity.
In almost every part of the household eunuchs are
stationed to spy upon the women and report to their
master.
They puard corridors, doorsteps and grounds; little can
go on without their notice, and an unfavorable report
NO greater sensation was ever caused In Constan
tinople than by the escape of tha princess, then
the wife of the Imperial Prince 8am y. Prince
Samy, however, speedily availed himself of the
very convenient divorce laws of the Turkish empire and
cast off the woman who had fled from his roof and ways.
After her escape the young woman went to Paris.
There, In course of time, she met the Russian Prince
Ouroussoff, who was well known In the foreign colony of
that city of foreign colonies. The ensuing romance soon
culminated In marriage-
It Isn't often, as previously stated, that a woman es
capes from a Turkish harem. The dash of the Princess
Fumy to liberty stirred the Ottoman empire as few
things had done. The sultan sent instructions to tils
ambassadors everywhere to look out for the runaway
woman and to report her presence wherever she might
be found.
Even after her marriage to Prince Ouroussoff, a most
distressing espionage was kept upon her. She could not
leave her apartments in Paris for a ride without being
subject to the eyes of a half doxen or more detectives;
her comings and goings were as well known In Constan
tinople as In Paris.
At Monte Carlo, where the prince and princess spent
their honeymoon, their footsteps were dogged continually
by detectives employed by the sultan's government.
There was nothing- unusual, according to Turkish
Ideas, about V life this woman led In the harem to
which she had been consigned. But her revelations, since
her escape, have thrown a different light upon the harem
slavery of the country.
SLAVE EXCEPT IN NAME
1 When a Turkish girl reaches her teens she loses her
personal liberty aiid identity. She enters a harem and .
her individuality is about that of a convict In an Amer-,
lean prison, who Is known by a number.
Princess Ouroussoff spent a great part of her young
life in a harem at Constantinople. Her father was an
aide-de-camp to the sultan and a general in the Turkish
army; when she' was OW enough to figure In the peculiar -matrimonial
intrigues of that land she realised that she
was a slave in everything except name.
In the land' of the Mussulman are many, very many,
thousands of women still living- In the horrible form of,
slavery- that la sanctioned by Turkish marriage customs.-
It is true that a wife at least a 'favorite wife is pam
pered and feted, has staves to wait upon her amid sur
roundings, of silk, satin, jewels, and such other evidences -of
favor as the husband chooses to bestow, or is permit
ted by hl financial condition to bestow. ' '
With it all. she is a slave in everything except In
name, (-
In the first place, marriage Is not a voluntary thing,
influenced by affection. . ' .- 1
Her husband does not see her (ace until afer the mar
riage ceremony. , .
Matches are arranged by the 'parents.
A mother whose. son has reached the eligible list calls "
upon another, with marriageable daughters. She looks
over the young women, of the hduse with critical eyes
;and niiV or mi not be-pleaeed. ' --
if she la -cleaned, arrangements for tha future of the
H
AS science discovered the germs of human
love?
Are we all mad when we fall in love?
Does love make men, and women,
violently insane!
There is a whole handful of questions which,
suddenly springing into prominence, are' setting
the medical profession of Europe by the ears.
As for America, we seem to be ready to take
sides, for and against, on all of them.
a ' -sT.aiii i i n iii i : i ; : rii m i i ii i i -sjw i
mm' M
,jJ.-.
COQUEL.IN tne
mirth-evokin
sponsible for
"The lunatic, the lover and the poet
Are of lm-g-lnatlon all compact:
On more devils than vast, hell can hold.
That is. the madman: the lover, all as frantic
Ses Helen's beauty In the brow of Egypt
Shakespeare.
OQUELIN the younger, darling mimeor i-aris.
g child of . genius, is largely re-
tor the turmoil.
Ha invested in certain business schemes a
large part ofhls savings but not so large a part that
Its loss, would ruin him. At the same time, he was in
love with a prominent Parlsienne.
If these two adventures had proceeded happily, the
mirthful Coquelin. according to some doctors, might
have gone on sane as a miser; ax, according to others,
he might have gone back, and grown mad as a hatter.
But both went wrong. He lost his money, and he
lost his love. His Inamorata would have none of him.
Alas for Coquelin! His antics and his mimicry
were funereally sad In the sacred secrecy of his heart,
while they beguiled Into uproarious laughter the
thousands who admired him at the theater.
The strain proved too great. Some fearful crisis
appeared so imminent that his friends called a con
sultation of physicians. He was removed to a sani
tarium. He was wild over his immurement. He schemed
with a cunning no guards could circumvent. He es
, caped. and trudged his way through Paris to his own
doorstep, where, weak, fainting, he sank upon the
stones and was recognised In the tears of his hysteria.
Paris; Stirred to its sentimental depths by the
plight of its dear Coquelin. vented Its wrath upon the
speculators who. Had got hiaimoney. But the specu
lators made it clear that tlfey were speculating 1n
perfect- legitimacy, and. also.lt hat the dear Coquelin
was far from being ruined. They adroitly diverted
attention to his romance of the heart.
. Paris promptly, harked away . on the new scent
finding fresh vials of wrath for Its . new, an3 fairer,
sinner for her whose hardness of heart had wVoug'ht
the madness of that brave Coqurtrn. i
- But-, ow thev gallantry which - has ever dlstin
jrolshed the Gaul came to tie championship of tha
nr!,a .'ay; French medicine would .not remain
ileat and permit it tn be averred that aha was the
cause of Coquelln's 'woe. - i
-Friends.- tleeiared Dr. Briand, director of the
Villejuif Asylum, -I have studftM Insanity under its
vary aspect for years and years. - And I am prepared
to atate positively that love has never been, tha nrajn.
determining cause of Insanity in anybody."
"I do not see how Dr. Briand got the ides," de
clared Dr. Vallon. one of the famous alienists of the
Salnte Anne Hospital. "People who love to the point
of madness are rare, but I guarantee that there are
some. I have known them. One could suppose" this
was the true rapier thrust "that Dr. Briand had
never loved, ard was incapable of violent passion."
Paris began to grow really worried. What if one
were likely to go mad via Venus? Three counts, one
marquis and a perfume manufacturer began to send
violets to their wives. French society was In danger
of a debacle. Dr. Rerlllon. director of the Paris Hos
pital for the Insane, plunged into the widening
breach.
"My friends," he announced, "he calm. Though you
fall In love, I can cure you. All persons having a
fixed 'affective' Idea show greater sensibility in the
left side of the body. .
"We can cure love's madness by massage and elec
trical stimulation of the other side. As soon as the
sides balance In sensitiveness you are cured."
AN EXPERT'S OPINION ' '
After that the discussion fallowed- the paths of the
great ocean liners, which are chronically Infected
with love germs, across the Atlantic. Dr. William J.
Dugan, of the department of neurology. In Jefferson
College, in Philadelphia, one of the foremost medical
institutions of America was very positive, out of the
fulness of his varied observations. t
"Of course love can cause insanity. It frequently,
causes melancholia, which, when it proceeds to the
stage ot dementia, is madness.
"1 have under treatment now a woman, long mel
ancholy because of fhe loss of her husband, who has
repeatedly fallen into the condition of dementia. I
fear the outcome must be permanent insanity, and.
ultimately, death. 7
"As for the h persensltlveness of one side of the
body. It Is the fact that cases of hysteria with such
a svmptom d present themselves. It is simply auto
anesthesta. mere hysteria not love.
"Many casts of nervous disorder. Including aedte
melancholia, are Improved by electricity snd massage,
as thev are hrlpVd ty good feeding and good hygiene,
scrupulous oversight, and. .wherever it IS at all pos
sible, the awakening of art Interest In some absorbing
occupation. ,
,-Lov melancholy Is to be ' handled like any other
melancholv. The important thing In all such cases' Is
to prevent the patient from brooding over the cause
and the condition of unhappiness, whether real or
iriaafclnary." ' - . , ' ' .., , '
So In spite of the startling denial by Dr. Briand.
It Is 'quite possible the poor Coquelin went mad for
loe. and so can other true lovers, who deserve a"
' better fate. ' ' , ' , ' "
There Is only one remedy: Forget It
The consensus of medical observation IS that na
ture has obligingly endowed most men with vary good
"forgetter. y.,-.v-i.j, . , .h,
from one of them Is usually followed' by swift punish
roent.
When the woman of the harem goes out for a drive pt
for a shopping expedition she is as closely guarded as
a prisoner: she must envelop her face with tha "yash
mak," a veil that conceala all the features except the
eyes. f ,;'.:'',
There 1b little wonder that the women of Turkey yearn
for the advantages and position that women of other
lands enjoy their friends, their ' lovers, their amuse
ments and their liberty. - j. v -
Immured for most of their lives within high walls, the
world of their limited vision from latticed windows seems
a panorama of tha unreal a dream. ' x j
American women cannot realize what It means never
to be free, to be always In subjection, to' have no will
of one's own, but to be always swayed and govern e'.
by that of the man at the head of the household, whether
father or husband. , B . : X "
Were you to ask a Turk, father, say, of two boys and
three girls, the question "How many children iaveyouT"
he would promptly answer, "Two." ''"
The girls do not count " !'V, '
This picture of life in the harem of the-sultan W3-.
'grrenijby a writer recently: ' ' ' j
"Tfte- women nibble sweetmeats and grow fat; some
times they are driven abroad in carriages, or taken ou
in boats on the Bosphorus, but usually the days CO b:
In monotony. ;
LIVES ARE PURPOSELESS
' ..-' ":
"They wander like ruminants in the garden or loll ir
the hot baths; phonographs make muslo for them; the:
play with pet animals; they have a theater lit tha palac
where Turkish troupes perform; they tell each other in
terminable stories In the Eastern way. ..; 1 " j
"Another side of the picture: Highly paid mussalb
are kept to beat them or inflict the bastinado on the!
feet. Poisoned coffee, administered by sv rival, li i
ceaseless menace. ;i : ' J
"Now and then a sack Is dropped Into the Xfosperu
and a poor little former favorite is seen no more."
Now and then, too, a woman escapes from harem slav
ery and horrors, as the Princess Samy did, but .such e
capes are few. There have been vastly many mora trs
edies resulting from attempts to escape. . ..i v. .
The Princess Samy 'waited and planned for freedor
many long and weary months. One day she manage
to dodge by her guardians and escaped by the home c
a former slave whom she could trust : ; ' 1 . f
There she remained in hiding severer months, torture
continually by fear of capture. In that case she kno
the bowstring would speedily clutch her neck and tha
her body would join tnose of hundreds of others at U
bottom of the Bosphorus. v ,. .
At last the panic-stricken woman Succeeded in gettli:
aboard a French steamer. She disguised h'orsslf car.
fully, but even then was followed and Inspected by su
eral police agents before reaching the wharf. Once t
board she revealed herself to the captain and placed he: j
self under his. protection. .. . - I
Without the help of thn former slave, however, !
rould not havb procured the, passport and dress of :
woman of the lower clasa, which, were essential to tl; .
success of her plan.
CURIOUS FACTS
A LONDON paper tells of a New York man wh
after letting the nail of his. forefinger grow for-moi
than a year, until now It is nearly an inch long. 1
had It cut and shaped like the nib of ' a "goone-s
pen. Whenever he wishes te use pen and, Ink "be -his
Anger inbo the lok and scribbles alone at a
rapid rate. - . . ;
The proper distance between tha eyes is t,h v. :
of one eye. ' . ; -
The beautiful patteres which are- u4 for r
mere shawls are frequently copied fiuiu ti.o 1. .
the begonia. .
Africa has several hundred languags ; 1 .1
No living representative ' of the anSuii k ,.
has more then five toes, disnta or- claws t e ., .-.
hand or limb. The horse te the tvj c. th ...
creation, the, camel, of the two-toed, ttn r - ,
of ttte tbreeltoed and the htppopotmnu , t ,i .
.toed animal life. The elephant -ami hunir 1 .
animals of different orders belong to t .a
toed tribe.
Frost has a variety of effects upon rt'"
acta Under the same i,tinf h-m v
ap 'ss contract and potatoes tarn bU. ...