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About The Oregon daily journal. (Portland, Or.) 1902-1972 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 6, 1908)
; , . THE-OREGON SUNDAY JOURNAL; PORTLAND. , SUNDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 6. 1908. ESCAPED- FROM HAREM TO EMANCIPATE WOMEN Fatima cd MclmedvWife of, a Prince, Was Smuggled Out .of Her Home by a German Governess, Studied the Women s Movement in Berlin and Returns to Free Her Countrywomen By Howiril Wetmore., ! C ONSTANTINOPLE, .Nov. 'it. Princes Fatlma ed Helmed, a, ' - mere woman, Is destined to exer- r t else a very great Influence jn the , , future of .Turkey, 'Wornen, here-" tofore. have been a negligible adantitv. ... . In thin country, but if the princess has -her' wayjthey no longer will be, for ' she is frying , to bring about - the .total emancipation of . Turkish' J-women f A princess, reared tn a harem and speak ing In public to thousands of "women yes, men too about women's rhghts ln' the , very heart of the 'aiUanV domln- ions! To European ideas this" seems In- credible and yet it is one. of the won- ' derful transformations worked 'by the recent revolution. . j . . Princess Fat I ma's , meetings .are at tended not merely by the European vis itors, but by the wives of merchants, small officials and under, officers the most conservative classes ; in Turkey. -The most wonderful part about itUe gatherings Is the fact that the women ' come unveiled. She is an excellent " speaker and talks In an earnest, con vincing way. Hhe advocates very thing that will tend toward -emancipating her seir She is formmg',a league whose members are to promise not to marry a man unless he undertakes to confine himself to one wife. There Is-' already a huge membership, even amongst the women of the lower and middle classed. - Fatima's energies seem to be limit less. She Is founding schools for Turk ish girls whose parents cannot affard to have foreign governesses. Now, this means a great deal, because the Turk' lsh woman of the middle class is about as ignorant as. a human being can be. If her husband is wealthy enough to keep slaves she does nothing all day long hut sit on a cushion, eat a sickly sweetmeat and play with cheap Ger man toys. She never reads, rarely sews", and has not an Interest In the world- beyend the heram and Its petty squab bles' and Intrigues. . c. : Though a princess, Fatlma de' MetraefT known this wearisome life very well. Her father was a rich merchant of Medina, one of the most conservative town in Turkey, and married her to a poor prince. When she 'entered ,her husband's family she Ha; how great was the difference between, the life of 'aristocratic Turkish harems and those she had oen used to. She saw thut the kunatoH of theformer had French and English governesses, spoke foreign language fluently, wore dresses from Paquln and hats from Vlrot and had their rooms filrnished In a strange -fashion, including brass, bedsteads and wooden chairs. She, on her murriage, could not even read and write Turkish. In u few years after her marriage she hud not only mustered her mother tongue, but could speak and read French aid English as well. But The more she learned the more she longed to learn and see. She- longed to walk about In the streets and go to visit her female fronds on foot. Only on very rare occasions did sho leave the garden of the harem and ihen she was always in a closed carriage wJlIIx thft blue silk blinds low ered and a stifling veil over her face. Her husband had but one wife, not so much because he approved of Euro pean Ideas, but because lie said he could not afford more since French cookery and English furniture had become the fashion. His brothers lived with him and their wives lived. with Fatlma. If the wives gave a party, only women were present, amongst them being the wives and daughters of men engaged at the different embassies. If the hus bands gave a party, only men were present. When Fatlma heard the foreign am bassador's wives and daughters de scribe their parties, where men -nd women conversed freely, and talked, not only of love, but of books, people, poli tics and art, she says that she deter- :r y,:Mmw ti-rMw yjSJ I,1(ce of coarse bread faje that she I " I ''' 'V. 4' I wuiuu jiui iia t- loucueu n lew 11111111111 . i JX.'A"' -f v:-e m before. Hut persevemnce had its re- if A, ',' 4 ,$ 1 I - ' " ' "J - r ''l x mined thut if she could fios.silily bring it about, Turkish women should tl.so be free and b treated like rown-liji people instead of dolls. Hut this wns not so eusy as It seemed. Not only hr husband, but bis and her own fiun ily refused to let her change her life in the least." "You speak three foreign languages arid that Is enourli emancipation for anybody." they said. Then Fatlma determined to run away to Kuroue, to study and to see how wo men lived there, so as to speak witli some authority when she came hark again. Kven running away was almoct impossible so closely wps ' the harem guarded, but nt last she bribed a Ger man governess to smuggle h an Euro pean woman's lress and bat and one morning after her (lermun lesson she walked boldly out of the harem, ht-r hair cropped close to , her head, the paint and powder (which even Turkish men use to an enormous extent) washed from her face and a hundred dollars' worth of Turkish money,, secretly" hoarded up during three years, in her pocket. Aided by the German governess, Fa tlma went ta Germany and wrote thence to her husband and her father, telliny ria slie un- thetn what she had done and her sons. Tliy wrote back to say should not have uuv money at all iexs she swore to return home at once. i his she refused to do and bcKan to fight asainst starvation In Berlin Willie attending Kiinio higher courses for women. Only a Turkish woman, deli cately nurtuiei In the lap of eastern luxury, tan form an adequate idea of what U.is woman went through. It wan then llml she saw the other side of the medal tin- roitsh side Of independent women who must thirty for ' themselves and keep the wolf from the door. As her small stock of money was soon gone, she gave Turkish lessons in the afternoons to a few youths who wished to enter a diplomatic academy, goim,' to her lectures in the mornings and preparing for her examinations all throuuli the evenings and tiito the small hours of the morning. Hut verv lew people wanted Turkish lessons at all, an1 Fatlma often dined on nothing bet ter than a plate of ill made soup and a of coarse bread fare that she not have touched a few moot lis Hut perseverance had Its re am! finally Fatima obtained her diploma of higher education. More than that, "she had studied the rights and wrongs of the women's movement in Europe, and as sooii as .the revolution broke out In Turkey in the summer of li)08 she determined to take advantage of what was going on there to return home and persuade bet sisters not only to insist on being educated, but to In stitute home life In place of harems Having no mrtney, she went to tie editor of a Berlin paper and asked for a loan, in return for which she promised to semi him ''copy" about the revolu tion. He was very much surprised at Mils offer from a woman' who looked like u foreigner, but on hearing her wtory acceded. A week later she was m her native town of Medina, preach ing emancipation to u of the lower classes, father wished to have brought back tp her This would certainly had she arrived there lier. But revolution wrought great changes in crowd of women Her husband a ml her arrested and "home" by force. have been done a few weeks ear- had already Turkey. The members of tho "Yiiuns Turkey'' party who were in the town declared that not a finger . should he raised against her. At this the reactionaries, to whom her father and husband belonged, wen- furi ous, and called a meeting at which they declared that all the revolutionist's wanted to do was to --get a constitution ill oi-der that the women might go ah. ml nuvHIcd. This announcement caused such an uproar in the town that all the "Young Tuiks" would have been nebbed had not a nomi.er of troops arrived and dispersed the crowd, arrest ing the agitators. . .ftcr this Fatlma began a pleaching tour through Turkey, which she is still continuing. Her story soon became known mid very many educated Turks declared themselves to be on her side. But this was not a difficult fortress to storm, because no aristocratic Turkish household keeps up eastern customs in their entirety, and when revolutions are going on great changes can take place ill a short time. Amongst those who support her warmly la Prince Sabali cd Din. a prominent liberal and a very cul- tined man. ' - "You are perfectly right," he said to her at a recent meeting she'held in Con stantinople. "Our women must be ed il ea led. enjoy home life, should go about unveiled and receive visitors without re striction like other women do. But J'ott must be prudent and moderate or you that of young constitutional Turkey as well." .', . -rr The prince put the situation in a nut shell. If rrincess Fatima and. her fol lowers press their cause too hard, they will not only turn middle class. Turks and the lower orders against thelo, but will turn them against the new Tur key and Its constitution, against prog ress anu reiorin or ail K.'nus, inrowing llieitl u,1llt II11U III- III Kin yj L I vTtvU l IUI1- aries For, in Spite of the. revolution, and the foreign customs observed in ar istocratic houses, the provincial Turk, though he may have hut one wife, is averse to any phanges at all in his house and private life. Badly educated himself, he 'dues not ww why his wlf and daughters .should be taught to read and et "new ideas." Most nay, near- all of the small provincial town.t are like Medina, and the inhabitant would moli anybody who advocated women's emancipation. It is amongst this class that the changes ought to be made if Turkish women's future Is to be more enlight ened than their present: und.lt Is just this class who will receive changes with am thing but a smile of welcome. Thin is what makes Princess Fatirna tiisk so hard, though all really liberal Turks wish her success and help her, not only with words, but with gold, which she spends, upon the t-ause site litis so much al heart. PRINCE c-AWJI EDP1N Of ('ours'. Judge Have you ever been cross-examined before'.' Mr. Troubb Have I! Didn't "I Just tell you I am married.' THE LOST SCOOP aft telp VI By Grace D. Thompson. A CAREER or a husband It was an enormous question for such a slfhi slip of a girl to answer, but she had already decided it a full two hours ago and was now only amusing herself by playing the arguments on either side against each other to see how Morton would win every time. Kate Trent, this yellow-haired, impul sive maid, was; only a sophomore In a great western university and far too young to be choosing either husband or career, but having no mother or other living relative, aside- from a chemistry engrossed father, an under professor In the science department had taught her knowledge beyond tier years, As she sat curled up use a sinen nn iio window seat In Iter own special den of the suite she and her father Ind ouicklv reviewed the important events of her college life which led up to these two alternatives. How well she remembered, during her freshman year, the first little stories she had contributed anonymously to the various college publications; her joy at seeing her own fancies In print, then her bolder ventures in the city .papers till, at the beginning of this year, she had been asked to write, a dalrV half-column, under the nom-de-plurhe "Violet," for , the Herald. She had no confidents and no one suspected her as being the author of those witty college notes. Kittle Trent, her friends would have agreed, had anyone sug gested such 'a thing, had a soft, warm flush, a round dimpled chin, two very merrv eves and a bewitching mess of vnllnw curls, but as for writing, bah! Beside, her father wouldn't let her. The facts were her father didn't know any more about the matter than they, being, figuratively, burled in atoms, he had little Interest in his daughter aside from paying her numerous bills and seeing that she passed her examina tions. Jt,tst before Christmas began to ap pear sketches of much the same char acter in a big' rival dally, the Tribune, under the name Mae. Then such a competition as there was betwen the two unknown correspondents for news. Kate didn't know the sex of her oppo nent, but every Indication led her to believe it was a girl and she had worked to best her. oh, so hard, and, she prided herself with not indifferent success. These minor triumphs had led her to think seriously of taking up journalism as a profession. Being very independent and not caring for the society life open to her as a profes sor's daughter she had quite set her heart on her "career," an she called It to herself. Now the alternative! Since before she had donned long skirts-and stuck her Yellow curls full of hair pins Kate had been a little tyrant with men. Those who worshipped at her shrine had been ' hers body-, and soul, ready to sell their patrimony for a meas of pottage, were this synonymous with sips from those enticing, rosy lips. Small wonder then that this roll of queensiilp had given, birth to a most independent spirit and . an Imperial little toss to her dainty head. But the advent of Morton. Cramer, a tall senior, soon after the winter holidays, had hanged all this. Though she would not own it openly, there Was a ... 1 V. I, A nn tanlallnlnir Him, new 1111T4 iw ,,u . , .0 pies and wore no frills, but she knew he was king, she was now no more than subject and after the manner of all that's feminine, having found slier master she proceeded to worship. She had not even mentioned the suh ject of journalism while with Morton for fear of betravtng herself, knowing Instinctively that he would be dis pleased, BO had kept her two absorb ing interests wholly separate, but this nfternoon clrcumstsnces had, drawn them together and oae must triumph. '. The noon mail had.brought a -letter offering Morton a fine government po sition In Manila,-which must be filled Immediately after commencement, only a month away. It was an unexpected turn of affairs and made ..Kate catch her breath ' quickly. She, had never thought what life would be separated from Morton, but bis next statement was a much greater surprise. "I will get a license and tomorrow afternoon we will drive over to Preston, where 1 have a friend who will marry us and ask no questions." "Marry us!" Kate gasped. "Why yes; is It anything unusual for lovers to be married? That will give you a month to cret ready to go away." ' In her bewilderment, all Kale could think of was being married first anr! getting her trousseau afterward. "That is doing things backwards, Mort. Why not get ready first and then be married later?" "Your father would refuse to let you leave college before you graduate if you to ask him and this way he cun t t " Vheli hi- nhtns had been enrefollv demonstratcil to her Kale had finally agreed and was now waiting in a trem ble of excitement for the morrow. Her father, always so busy with his re searches thut she hardly knew him. had gone out of the city for a few ilavs. so there could be no stumbling block In the way. and tomorrow she was to be Mort s wife! Sic- r,.i that she could not sleep but, in spite of her excitment. was beginning to doze, v, hen. suddenly, she seemed to hear newsboys calling. "Special! Special! Kittie Trent, only .Innirbter of Professor 1 rent, mer." v'n an instant she was -thoroughly awijkc- again. Wouldn't that make a great s.-o(ip' Whv couldn't she write it up. slpn it "Violet" and if any one married secretly to Morton Cra- suspect'ed who she was that would surely throw them off the track again. The .scnteices began to form in her mind; she would be t lie scoop of the season nnd wouldn't she score against tile unknown Mac! In the morning she wrote out her story that it might be sent in as soon as she returned from Preston, leaving a space at the end for any little Incident of the journey. If she was excite'l ai knowing this was lier wedding day sin- whs doubly so at the idea of her triumph over her opponent. Although she went to no classes the d.;y passed very ipiicklv They drove to Preston and Kittle Trent cam.' back K'ttie Cramer. She had lead that girls often hesitate al the last moment to give up their old lilcrty for oae mart and she had wondered at the time how she would feel but'as Morton, tall and strong, stood beside her in the minis ter's l,ttle study, she knew that her old life was nothing to her love for him. It was hist dusk when they returned arid Morton went to his own home promising to came hack later in the evening. heft alone she began to feel weary, so curled upon the winJow seal for a nap. Just 40 winks, she thought, thi n I II slip down and mail my story, adding. "Oh. you dear scoop you." out loud. Hardly had siie 1 losed her eves win 11 again came clear and strong the "Spe cial"'' cry of the newsbovs. "Kittle Trent, only daughter of Pro fessor Trent, marrhd secretly to Mor ton Cramer! Times. Times!" She jumped to lier feet. Was It the same dream? But no. the cry was re peated. Throwing open the window she listened yes, it was a real newsboy and a real caP. "Bring mo a paper," she cried. ' I A moment more and she had the Trib une in hor hand and was eagerlv scan ning the first page. There it was a whole co'iimn. signed Mac. 'till, my scoop! my scoop!" she sobbed to herself as sbe read and reread the storyof her murriage. It was all there, even about their little dinner at the Wayside Inn, not three hours ago. Who could have told? At last she began to wonder, for lier mind seemed too star tled to think quickly. Who could have told? The minister probably knew Mac and wiled ill to her. Yet how could he have known about where they dined? No, it most no, it couldn't -lt was Morton. Her own Morton, who never even mentioned another girl's name ill lier presence, to have confided at once to tills unknown iheir secret! He must have plumed the news to her from the office at the inn. She remembered now that he went out for a smoke. GREAT NEW BRIDGE MAY ; May Refuse to Allow Brooklyn, N. Y., Traction Company to Connect Its B STAND IDLE Traction Commission System Never before hau Kate known Jeal ousy. She believed herself immune to this monster, but now she felt .that he was teartnc her very heart out. How Morton bad deceived her. bad led her to believe that he was all her own, when lie must belong partially, at least to some other girl! She had given up fill her former friends and that independ ent spirit pin which she gloried so. . Was it any more than fair that he should do the same? To be made a plaything of on her wedding day. to)!' ' Professor Trent daughter! It was too much, and her whole body shook with the force of her emotion.. Not a thought of the lost scoop now; there was no room for such a trifle when her mTnd was filled With bitter. bitter jealousy, with wounded pride, with betrayed confidence. , Before the storm had even begun to subside Morton came in. Why sweetheart, what is It?" ha cried. ri'.'n "Don't touch me,' Don't come near me, Morton Cramer!" came the voice from the cushions, -trembling with anger and shrill as a child's. "Klttie. what do you mean?'' he asked in astonishment. Never before had s!i shown the least bit of temper. no away at lonce. 1 aim t want to KOOKLYN, N. Y., people are great ly stirred up over the probability that the great Manhattan bridge now near completion ,will1e com pelled to stand idle for a period of from one to five years after it Is finished and ready for service. Tht recent action of the public service com mission In denying the application of the Brooklyn Rapid Transit company to connect the Brooklyn elevated system with the bridge, destroys all hope of any adequate operations of the railroad tracks on the bridge whflm that struc ture is completed. Civic organisations are taking un the problem in the hope that the bordugh may.be spared a similar handicap to Its growth to that which was caused by the five year delay, in ''the opera tion of the Williamsburg bridgie. Mass meetings and other actions, de signed to compel some quick and ef fective measure from the public ser vice commission. nre contemplated; and, according to sentiment expressed the commissioners must show their hands very quickly in remedial ac'tion or vacate their office. . The public service commission de fends itself by the contention that cer tain traffic problems preclude at pres ent other action than that.already taken. In the first place the Fourth avenue subway project planned for the opera tion of seal tracks of the bridge and authorized by it Is tied up bv tax payers' suits and must await the dis position of the courts; and the appli cation of the Intel-borough Rapid Tran sit company for a subway connection with the bridge cannot be granted at present beeause the route prayed for Is identical with that of certain sections of the Fourth avenue subwav route. And too, the denial of the application of tiie Brooklyn Rapid Transit company for an elevated connection was based large ly' upon an alleged popular sentiment against encumbering the new bridge ap proach by an elevated structure and the fact that no provision has been made for an elevated terminal or distribution system at the Manhattan end of the bridge. . According to such authorities as Wil liam M. Ivins, not a dollar of private capital Will go into the Fourth avenue project' and no municipal funds could be available for .such purpose for a year or more. Expert engineers claim that while the Brooklyn elevated system may have been connected up with the .bridae according to the plan submitted, hv the time the span Is completed, it would bfe Impossible to construct tho necessary ubway connections within" that time even If the contracts1 were now let and worked under the most favorable conditions."-But that . under present con ditions tnere is no probability that rapid transit can pe esiannsned cron bridge Under-two years at least after the structure ta ready for traffic. 1 r rv,gi it t a ' - 'Ii I - t-- t!r-r I f ft:l f If r 5 . m 5 . J a r..i wS , ,m.,t MJmMM.UkM . Tt'W v ! 1 Ik. ;i.u;i Never do you under- old spirit was fast re el hate you,, loathe you; w4 ) A fx iw. WW ,vl . I -"i A f.s'w.vg.t.w.wd.;' 1 N 13 it 5 0? I see you a'.lin stand?" Her turning now. ro at once." Tme next moment she heard, foot steps on the stairs, slow faltering foot steps as of a person dazed; That night and- the following dr were, the most terrible she had ever ex perienced In nil her'butterf ly existence. Mover before had she known pain and now It came to her with the blinding, benumbing force of a flash of lightning, with greater effect, since there was no preparation. Morton h;id been her whnl world so long that now she was left completely alone. Every moment seemed a century, and by morning sho felt that she hd lived forever. The first force of her anger had spent Itself and only her extreme Independence kpt her from repenting for her outburst. Hy 10 o'clock she tried to find soni excuse for Morton's seeming disloyalty, but none seemed adequate for the of fense. She hud given all, whv should not he? i,nd again she wis over whelmed by passionate jealousy. Then noon came. The crowds of students self absorbed, hurrying by only swmed to increase her loneliness unJ desola tion. . . "I will go wild if I don't sec h;m. Tf he would only come I could forgive him snythina now. for oh. 1 can t live with out him." she cried, as the afternoon dragged slowly, by. But no Morton came. At last she had found a wili as strong as her own. Finally the Idea of sending for aha flashed acros her mind and was as oulckl- dismissed. hai I'rofesmii' Trent's daughter send for a mm, nvvn if he be her husband never! dtiil no Morton. As the shed ws . Mnenc.'d to lengthen her spirit 'seetrcd grudu d! v'-i to break, her pride to mf'' She felt that she could not live th.ouyh tint twilight hour. si. filled ui'h Jia.piv ' memories of former da vs. ah.ne. t?.. with trembling, uncertain fltucrs, sim wrote the recall. In a short half hour, ages t ' the, waitine girl, there was a w.-ll known step, the door opened ind 111 a fli.-t!i she was In her hush, ind' irnis. was it. el. sr? it last he ask-"l. didn't you tell ine about th I? wouldn't h.ivt- minded f-'i least. !f yci: Jiad only told me,'' other girl? I don't undei- Mac. the girl who writes f.u- You told -her atKmt cor Manhattati Bridge, the Third East River Span to Connect "Old Xew York", and' Brot&lyn, to Be Completed In About a Year. "What "Why other gii much, ut "What stand " "Whv. the Tribune, marriage." Astonishment, surprise, passed over Morton's fsee cession. Then the light soivmi. "Didn't you know before. Couldn't ou gus bv my name, A. Cramer? 1 am Kit".!" (ncredtilmirt' in rapid , of a u.. pany. erectors for the Curiam Steel com Pny jufhlch hnli!s. thy. jem ral con tract for the production of the fine itetd for the bridge, has built up tlu dg 21 H inch cables above the core strands and expects', to complete the Cables bv . .Tammrv V nftr vrhlrh tlid the building un ' of v the : Superstructure w ill uegin, . , . rrsnk K. Robinson, pi-esident of th completion of the structure, stands In rurinus.mntra tut the, pre.-nire for haste brought, a ymr or so ago .upon the contractors for the materiil an.l construction work of the bridge which resulted tn our giving the Manhattan bridge contiaots a precedence over others. In turnlnj out the- great tou- risse , or nicKei -sichm iina other open neartn steeis specmeu Jn the mean time the work of rnii...('.irhmi Ki..i mmiunv tn....r,n,- m - i,,a1,. uh ..- -,..'- i Structing the bridge Is progressing rat , "The lark of provision for the oier- selves to supply the material months Idly. ,ihe :01nUoii.. Voiitracting yiu. lion -of thcs, Manhattan bridgw n Uii ahead to t tiio llmo ren,uiiei. Ana also the Olyndon people who ;ire strlnglnnr the-v-ires for us, will have the cables tompfejed in one third the time it took to build Up the cables of the Williams biute bridge tliough the latter ar.J smaller-- We have, therefore, done our part, and since the Manhattan bridge will be completed in Uecemher of next year, it'ls verv unfortunate thnt the People cannot then tive Ktmcture." , - . - - . . , Tlie- Manhattan - bridge Is the third span' across the East j'ivi t tj conMvvt '-''' ,,i , ciii j vnti 11 ,', ' I "flreen is the t'.niK ' -"rirs, hats, it!.-jtM. ,, ve: )?,! !(,. T I, .. .,' '",...', v The Wearing -of Jrcci. "o.ld New York," or tlie Borouaji of . " Manhattan-wtth'trff-'tsoTougli of ltrrtrm- That --the- sihyt,. in .-Ho " i' . . lyn. When '.completed It i will be the ouite up m date Is i-v t,l- ,- - i i,v i'fH suspension nrioae in me woriu. remaiRx in a f.-in Jtin o v ( naving an etgnt track railroad capacity of 2ift.00f passengers an hodr one wav or uiu.ueo passengers au hour east and greu. To be a snort west- In addition there wfi he. a ; dees-fed In rr. n vehicular roadway 28 feet wid slid two "The new Ktvl.--- ,..c;i' f the ttae of the. ''foot paths 12 feet wide: The main span whV ar- ut ..f i i-,u , ,;. or tliis-giunt structure Is 1470 f-r-t hui-r consider ..., ,.. mv ..t - ohd the bridge completed inclu'dln t.-ut t,! , ' , t ,. ,., ; ; v-tiiitv: will cost over ;'.0'...'. hi' . . ' V .t . ' -. ' .
