Rensselaer Journal, Volume 11, Number 30, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 January 1902 — The Sultan’s Astrologer, [ARTICLE]

The Sultan’s Astrologer,

The sultan of Turkey’s imperial astrologer, a Greek named Kumbarls, is a worthy representative of the prevalent blend of superstition and abysmal ignorance which characterizes Abdul Hamid’s court. This worthy had on one occasion the brilliant idea of erecting a modern astronomical observatory in Yildiz Kiosk. When the work was finished and the Instruments in place he found he could neither work nor understand them, and consequently a professional astronomer had to be summoned from Naples. This, however, did not diminish the influence of Kumbarls, who succeeded in preventing the distribution of Mauser rifles among the imperial troops in in Constantinople in 1896 at the first news of Armenian disturbances by the sage reminder that the previous change In the succession took place immediately after a distribution of new guns. The sincerity of this wonderful piece of advice cannot be doubted, as the self-sacrlfieing genius who offered it to his worthy master rose from his sick bed to do so.