TURKEY'S CAPITAL

Otago Daily Times, Issue 16519, 20 October 1915, Page 6

TURKEY'S CAPITAL

■'%■, "■■ •.*■/ ■•* ; ■' AS I'T'IS TO-DAY. v No doubt exists any longer.' in the mind of any Turk (says Mr Henry Wood, special correspondent of the American United! Press) that the existence, of,! the Ottoman;. Empire is at stake in the fighting _ now ■ going on at the - Dardanelles. : . This' is, believed to explain to a- laTge degree the manner in which the last men of the Empire are still coming forward to'fight,' and in which the Government is permitted, without protest, to drain .the entire country <6l its last resources for the conduct of the war. Not a day passes; at Constantinople that the trains and.boats do. not bring in small but fresh contingents of men from the farthest points of the empire. For the securing of food supplies for the army, the Government has adopted the rule of requisitioning everything; it needs. Only in a very few instances 'has even a small portion of the price been paid for in cash. The rule is to give a receipt, which states that the Government, at some indefinite time in the future,. will pay. — Endless Stream of Wounded.—

In strange conttast to the official announcements of continued success by the Turkish;- troops on the peninsula is the arrival of the wounded. Even without the official announcement that an engagement had taken place, the. population of Constantinople would know it within 24 hours by the arrival of the wounded. When the approach of a hospital transport is signalled, all of the public cab's are ordered to. the water front to bring, the soldiers up to the hospitals. Street cars., flying the flags,of the Turkish Red Crescent Society, are also used. One night this interminable cortege-of wounded began passing my hotel at 10.50 in the evening. At 4.30 in'the morning it was still passing. In as far as possible, the wounded' are made to arrive at night. It makes less impression on the public." It is now believed that there, are not less than, 100,000.-'at Constantinople;. buff .the'yj are .all soldiers with slight wounds, as the most seriously injured are kept at Rodosto, where more/prompt attention can;be given them. _ •■../'.■■■ •>""';',', .-/.''■ In an. effort to raise additional revenue for the war, the duty on im'pdrts,has"been raised to3o.per eent. This does/not apply, to things which can be .'used in the conduct of the war. They come in without duty, the Government reserving., the'right to requisition them; as soon as they arrive. .'-—Policemen Everywhere.— . The restrictions for the government, of foreigners still living in Turkey have been redoubled.'. To quit the empire; a. special permit, must be secured from the police." To' have this it is necessary to give,'.4B. hours' notice of the intention to leave;, Then, .after the police. hay% secured all information possible from outside sources, the applicant/must present himself personally and submit to an If he can convince the police that his intentions for leaving are purely legitimate, he is granted the vecikaj or permit, without which he cannot cross'the border. But while he may be permitted to cross the 1 border himself, in no case is he.ever, permitted to take with him a line of written matter.

And more and more as the existence! of the empire becomes menaced, more, and more does the Turkish Police Department —the one and only department of Government for which 'the Turk has ever shown' a real genius—increase its activities'. The Turks' insist they have a million and a-quarter of men under arms. One would be tempted to believe that they were referring to their number of policemen instead. There is a policeman seemingly at every step, watching; not onfy the foreigners, but even the Turks themselves. — Officer's Mysterious Death.— During the last week I was at Constantinople, Colonel "Leipsiz, the Military. Attache of the German Embassy, was killed. magnificent type.of the German officer; over 6ft tall, a gentleman both in - appearance and in actuality,, known and • loved by, everyone. TnV ; official announcement said that, while changing from uniform to civilian dress" in a little railway station, upon his'return from the Dardanelles, his revolver had been accidentally discharged, the bullet entering his forehead. I thinlcl am. justified in saying that there was not a foreigner in _ all Constantinople who did not see in this mysterious death the culmination, at least in part; of his convictions that sooner or later the Turks will turn on the German officers, now stationed at Constantinople. But I feel!also equally justified in saying that not. a i single person in all Constantinople once expressed this suspicion. "They say it was accidental," j is what everyone said to his most intimate ' friend, and to this remark silence alone followed. A word more uttered might have been overheard' by, secret ■ police officers and the individual*hauled'up"'for treason. # - , That the position of the Germans at Constantinople is becoming, daily more delicate there can be no question. But there is every indication that the German soldiers, sailors, and officers now in Turkey willstay to the end.

There is at fleast one person in Wellington in blissful ignorance of .the fact, that the world is in the throes of the greatest ■war in its history (says the Times). Living in Wellington is an Italian lady, who, although many } years a resident of this city, has not yet troubled to master the intricacies of tho English language. Conversation between the old lady and, her daughter is always carried on in her nativ* tongue, and the daughter, thinking that it would perhaps disturb the quiet peacofulness of her mother's declining years ■ wore she informed that, her beloved Italy was a participant in tho war. has thought it advisable to maintain a discreet silence on the subject, and the, to most people, all-absorb-ing topic of the day. has never been men-' tioncd .between them. — Weavers of cashmere Shawls take two or three years to finish a. pair of the verv finest. These shawb fetch upwards of £100 in London, i