Democratic Sentinel, Volume 22, Number 47, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 December 1898 — His Body Guard. [ARTICLE]

His Body Guard.

When the Sultan of Turkey attends the Friday midday prayer at the Mosque in Constantinople the garrison of thirty thousand men are stationed along the route so that he shall be safely guarded from the moment he leaves his palace until he is on his carpet in the sacred edifice. He often rids in a closed carriage, surrounded by a bodyguard. He makes these weekly journeys in fear of his life, and he insists upon every precaution being taken. Thousands of people gather to see the ruler of the faithful, but the best way to see him is to get the ear of the chamberlain or grand vizier, who, by judicious bribery, may be prevailed upon to admit you to the strangers’ box of the Mosque, where priests and politicians, soldiers, sailors and civilians jostle one another in their desire to obtain a glimpse of Abdul-Hamid at prayer.