NAMAD CHIEF TO MILLIONAIRE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2860, 6 January 1909, Page 37

NAMAD CHIEF TO MILLIONAIRE.

ROMANTIC CAREER OF KURDISH -r REBEL. • i At last it looks as though the sun had, ' sec on the career of Ibrdhim Pasha, one of the most and unscrupulous of a ' long line of Kurdish scoundrels. As related J bj the- Constantinople cor resr indent of the " Telegraph";' the life-story of this ruffian reads like a cnaptor from *"xhe Arabian Nights.'' I bra i m Pasha is chief of the tritjo of ~ Milly, a nomad tribe, which camps in summer in the neighbourhood of Diarbekir, Maamouret ul Aziz, and Bitliz, and during the winter is to De foujid near "Mardm, Aleppo, and Zor. This tribe, which was nominally under the authority of the Go--vernment,i hae for the last 20 years given *- itself up to raiding and pillaging tho whole country. 'Ihe chief Ibrahim, is the son of one of the notables of the tribe, named Nemo Kuri, and usurped the chieftainship." Every time he had difficulties with the authorities he managed very easily to settle the affair with backsheesh, and his influence over the Kurds became enormous, and the whole country was terrorised. In 1900, thanks to Zeki Pasha, then commander of the 4-th Army Corps, Ibrahim obtained permission to form a regiment of light cavalry, commonly known as tho Hamidich Regiment, which practically gave him complete independence, and enabled him to continue h:s brigandage with impunity. Haying managed to get the authorities on his side he succeeded in ISOS in going to Constantinople with his regiment. Ht> had. a magnificent reception, and paradc-d 1 his' regiment at Yildiz. He also made use of his time to establish gocd relation^ with several of the high dignitaries at the Court-, and before his departure botn he and his meu wero simply covered witux decorations. At the same time he was given a key to euable him to communicate in cypher telegrams with the Palace. MAI\T TIMES A MILLIONAIRE. Of course, thie was all dene under the excuse that he was going to keep the Armenians in check and prevent them making a revolution. When he left ho appointed a representative in the capital. On his return to Asia Minor hi 6 ferocitybecame worse" than ever, but he" was wise enough lo keep friends in high quarters, whom he loaded with rich presents. One year after leaving Constantinople Ibrahim, established him«elt at Ourfa. Thio was a. veritable disaster for the country, which, was completely ruined 'by him and hi» r horde claiming all ancient seigneurial rights. Raif Pasha, the present Director-General of Indirect Contributions, but then Yali of Aleppo, as well as the military commander, complained of him and asked tor a military lorce to be sent against him, but Zski Pasha prevented this advice being taken, and instead the chief followers of tho brigand were decorated with the Chefakar. 'iae population, seeing there was no hopo of assistance to be got from the Government, put themeelvce under the protection ot the Karaketchili and Boutchak tribes, enemies of the Milly tribe. Hostilities were about to commence when Ibrahim, who saw that ,'he would be badly beaten, contrived to get an Imperial irade cent to tho tribes to cease hostilities, and set to work to strengthen himself, which he did by securing the help of three sedentary tribes, whom he armed by the help of Zcki Pasha. His excesses became worse and worse, and he anias^ed a fortune which is estimated to amount to T10,000,000 (about £9,000,000 in English monej|. He choc-e the town of Viran Chehir as headquarters. Here he built a stronghold, with vasu subterranean passages to hoard his treasures, and killed all tha workmen employ-ed in order that the hiding-place should be kept secret. DRFYIN'G THE GOVERNMENT. By order of the Sultan, Ibrahim Pasha started this summer with a regim-ent of the famous Hamidi^h cavalry to attend! the inauguration of th? Herjaz railway ac Medina. He had -a triumphal journey through the country, passing Aleppo, and* ' arriving at Damascus. All the way great; honours were *hown him by the authorities, and at Damascus his regiment received 1 from ths Government 1000 Mauser rifle* and 200 rounds e?ch. At thi-, moment new? was received of the proclamation of tho Constitution, and' Ibrahim Pa^ha received orders from tbe> military commander of Damascus to wain lurther orders. Soon orders cams to him to return to Constantinople, and. nor liking the look of things, he starred off at the head of hii regiment for Aleppo, carrying with him the arms belonging lo the Government. The milirarv Butliorit,\*-s advised th? Alev>po authorities of his departure, and! told them to stop him. Ibrahim Pasha halted about an hour's distance fromAleppo, and entered into negotiations with the authorities, and told them he was not in flight, bui only s-eeing his nrsn on their way home, and would como ihe next day to Aleppo on his wav to Constantinople. The authorities believed him, but in>toad rf appearing the next day he went eff at the hend of. his troops, cutting his way through a «>mall detachment of troops which tried to stop his march. Troop» were sent from all the neig-ibourins towns to try and! prevent him back to his tribe, but; fhe detfir hments were too small to prevent his getting back to "Viran Chehir, which h>.i is now foi-tif>ing. At fir^t a considerable number of tha tribesmen ioincd him, but most of these have deserted, and now lie is supposed to hay& oirly about 900 men. He is now 6urrounded by troops, and more are being hurried up fro mal ldirecfkvis. and a battle is expected very shoitly which v ill put an end to his career.

Ths firs! of the saline; fleet .irrived in Victoria, British Columbia, at the erd of Ortobei", wit.i 471 seal-kins. The schooner brought re'.vs that ei<rht other? belonging to Victoria 1-rd 3638 so'il=l;ins. b^ins? tLtft higliost number obtained for five yea**