788 



THORPE, THOMAS B. 



TURKEY. 



aside by the subsequent acts of Congress. He 

 resumed his legal practice, and in 1868 acted 

 as an instructor in a law school at Gilraer. 

 When the Supreme Court was reorganized in 

 1874 he was restored to his old position as 

 Chief Justice, and reflected under the new 

 Constitution in 1876. 



THORPE, THOMAS B., died in New York 

 City, September 21st. He was born at West- 

 field, Mass., in 1815. He graduated at Wesley- 

 an University in 1842, and in 1846 became an 

 associate editor on a New Orleans newspaper. 

 In the latter year he published a volume en- 

 titled "Our Army on the Rio Grande." In 

 1847 he published in " The Spirit of the Times " 

 a sketch called "Tom Owen, the Bee-Hunter," 

 which met with great success and made the 

 author widely known. This and " The Big 

 Bear of Arkansas," with other sketches, were 

 published in a volume under the title of "The 

 Mysteries of the Backwoods." His letters from 

 the battle-fields of the Mexican war were widely 

 copied. At this time he published another vol- 

 ume called " Our Army at Monterey." About 

 1854 he settled in New York, and became a 

 regular contributor to " Harper's Magazine." 

 He was also a frequent contributor to "The 

 Knickerbocker Magazine." Other volumes 

 published by him were " The Hive of the Bee- 

 Hunter " (1854) and " Scenes in Arkansas." In 

 the late war he served as a staff officer, and was 

 made Surveyor of the Port of New Orleans by 

 General Butler. In 1869 he was appointed chief 

 clerk in the Warehouse Department of the New 

 York Custom-House. He was a clerk in the 

 Custom-House at the time of his death. 



TURKEY, an empire in eastern Europe, 

 western Asia, and northern Africa. The 

 reigning sovereign is Sultan Abdul-Hamid II., 

 born September 22, 1842. He succeeded his 

 elder brother, Sultan Murad V., August 31, 

 1876. The heir presumptive to the throne is 

 his brother Mehemet Reshad Effendi, born 

 November 3, 1844. 



The area and population of the Turkish Em- 

 pire, after the changes produced by the treaties 

 of 1878, are as follows : 



The finances of Turkey are, in consequence 

 of the war through which the country has 

 passed, in a very unsettled condition. Official 

 reports are entirely wanting. The following 

 statement is given by the " Bulletin de Statis- 

 tique et de Legislation comparee " (July, 1878). 

 The budget for the financial year 1877-'78 was as 

 follows (in Turkish pounds 1 pound = $4.28) : 



Receipts 19,725,345 



Current expenses (exclusive of war expenses) . . . 31,754,045 



Deficit 12,028JOO 



The extraordinary war budget was estimated 

 at 16,232,785 pounds. In order to obtain the 

 funds necessary for the administration of the 

 finances, the tax on mutton was raised from 1,- 

 7*7,000 pounds in 1876 to 3,250,000 pounds. 

 Then a forced loan was issued, which netted 

 6,000,000 pounds ; and finally by negotiation 

 with the holders of the bonds of 1854, 1855, 

 and 1871, which are guaranteed by the Egyptian 

 tribute, a foreign loan was also contracted to 

 the amount of 280,000 pounds. As the finan- 

 cial difficulties were by no means removed by 

 these means, the emission of paper money con- 

 tinued uninterruptedly, until, at the close of 

 1877, it reached the amount of 16,000,000 

 pounds. This increase greatly depreciated its 

 value, being quoted at the close of 1877 as 260 

 piasters per 1,000. The entire liabilities at the 

 close of 1877 may be summed up as follows : 



Consolidated debt 5,000,000,000 



Payments due on the debt 640,000,000 



Floating debt to bankers, contractors, etc., in- 

 clusive of paper money 490,000,000 



Total 6,130,000,000 



The military force consists of the regular 

 army, the irregular troops, and the auxiliary 

 troops. The army in time of peace would com- 

 prise, after the execution of the proposed re- 

 forms, 157,667 men. The army on a war foot- 

 ing was estimated in 1878 as follows : 



1. Kegular army 486,100 



2. Irregulars 70,000 



8. Auxiliaries 55,000 



Total 611,100 



Nothing definite is known of the total com- 

 merce of Turkey. The value of the goods an- 

 nually imported from European countries is 

 estimated at 462,500,000 francs, and of the 

 goods exported to Europe, 250,000,000 francs. 



There are 1,467 kilometres of railroad in 

 European Turkey and 274 kilometres in Asiatic 

 Turkey. There are 429 post-offices in the em- 

 pire, besides which most of the European coun- 

 tries have their own post-offices in Constanti- 

 nople. 



After the fall of Plevna (see " Annual Cyclo- 

 paedia" for 1877), the Russians were enabled 

 to send large reinforcements to General Gour- 

 ko in the Baba Konak Pass. Owing to heavy 

 snow-storms in Roumania and Bulgaria, they 

 did not reach him until the latter part of De- 

 cember. On December 28th he crossed the 

 Etropol Balkan in the midst of great difficulties, 

 defeated the Turks in two severe battles at 



