People's Pilot, Volume 2, Number 35, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 February 1893 — WHAT THEY BRING. [ARTICLE]

WHAT THEY BRING.

The Prices Paid for Female Slaves in Turkey. The poisoning of four beautiful odalisques, or female slaves of the imperial harem of the Sultan of Turkey, prompted by the jealousy of the other women, brings to mind the fact that the slave trade is the chief source of recruits for the harem. The trade is conducted almost exclusively by a tribe of Tcherkesses known as Tessirdchis. Families generally work together. One brother, for example, stops at home and minds the shop while the other goes abroad and purchases and forwards the raw material of the commerce. Negotiations with purchasers are conducted through the intermediary of Arab brokers, who call regularly on their patrons to inquire if they are wanting anything in black eunuchs or white girls and are remunerated by percentage on sales. The price paid for a white girl under 10 years old is $4, while a maiden beween 12 and 16, especially if she can read and write and strum a little on the zither, is worth $4,00 . A female slave of exceptional beauty, young, white and a virgin—the style most in vogue are blondes with black eyes—fetches from $5,000 to $7,500. For a very choice specimen, with a smattering of French and able to play a few airs on the piano, a rich amateur has been known to pay as much as $13,500. Black slaves, who are brought principally from Africa are either sold direct by the importers to the proprietors of harems or to dealers, two of whom have extensive private marts in Stamboul. These two generally keep on hand 100 to 120 slaves each. There are also depots in [illegible]cutari and in several villages on the Bosphorus. A strong black slave sells for about $100; a black maiden, $75 to $90.