The Great Round World and What Is Going On In It, Vol. 1, No. 17, March 4, 1897: A Weekly Magazine for Boys and GirlsVarious
History
The Great Round World and What Is Going On In It, Vol. 1, No. 17, March 4, 1897: A Weekly Magazine for Boys and Girls
Various
History, Modern -- 19th century -- Juvenile literature -- Periodicals
The Janizaries, the most famous regiment of soldiers in the world, are the
body-guard of the Sultan of Turkey.
Not only are they well-drilled and powerful men, but they fight absolutely
without fear. A Turkish soldier will never run away--he fights till he
conquers or dies. This is due to his religion, which teaches him that what
is to be will be, and that if it is his fate to be killed he will be
killed, whether he runs away or stays in the battle.
So he stays--and does all the harm he can before his fate, whatever it may
be, overtakes him.
It is also his belief that if he is killed in battle his sins are forgiven
him, and he will go straight to Paradise; so he has no fear of the fight,
and makes a very stubborn and dangerous foe.
In the mean while, the Sultan of Turkey has a little business of his own
on hand.
He is very much annoyed at the length of the conference of the Powers
about the reforms he is to be asked to make.
All the dead walls of Constantinople, where the Ambassadors are meeting,
have been covered with placards and posters of a character to enrage the
common people, and make them turn their thoughts to fresh massacres.
It is said on good authority, that the placards come from the Sultan, and
have been posted by his orders.
It is also said that he hopes to provoke the people and cause fresh
rioting, and so break up the conference which so much annoys him.
Another massacre may be expected any moment.
* * * * *
There is a movement on foot in New York, to prevent any more of the very
high buildings being put up.
It seems that no one has any idea of the danger from high buildings.
The Board of Trade and Transportation, which is trying to get a bill
passed in Albany, preventing any further work of this sort being done,
asked the Chief of the Fire Department to come before it and give his
opinion of these high structures.
He told the committee, that at the present time the Fire Department could
not fight a fire in any of these tall buildings. He said that none of the
engines owned by the department could throw a stream of water higher than
125 feet from the ground, and that all floors over that height would have
to be left to burn.
All the very high buildings are supposed to be fire proof, and Chief
Bonner was asked what he thought about them. He laughed, and said there
was no such thing as a fire-proof building, and that in fact the
iron-framed structures, supposed to be fire-proof, were perhaps a little
more dangerous than the old style of brick building. He said that these
frames become heated and bend, pulling the walls down, so that they fall
much more quickly than they used to, and make the firemen's work more
difficult.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account