THE HARBOR OF CONSTANTlNOPLlS 



Photo by H. G. Dwight 



Constantinople is situated at the southern end of the Bosporus, which connects the Black 

 Sea and the Sea of Marmora, on the European side of the channel 



There are flats and houses of various 

 kinds at the sojourner's disposal, all of 

 them rather primitive from an American 

 point of view and none of them — alas ! — • 

 to be had for nothing. Elevators and 

 electric light are rarities beyond the reach 

 of any modest purse. Steam heat is only 

 less rare. Baths are new enough for 

 house-owners to make a point of them, 

 while hot water is not to be obtained for 

 the asking. If you prefer the pleasant 

 seaside suburbs to the heart of the town, 

 you may be happy if any water at all is 

 laid on to the house. The good old way, 

 by no means extinct, was to hire a saka 

 to bring you water from the nearest 

 street fountain (see page 541). 

 . As for the kitchen arrangements, they 

 would fill the western housewife's heart 



with despair, were it not that a Constan- 

 tinople cook is lost before a proper cook- 

 ing range. What he prefers is a sort of 

 raised fireplace under a hood. In this 

 high stone platform are a number of 

 hollows surmounted by gridirons on legs. 

 In the hollows he builds little bon-fires 

 of charcoal and cooks each dish sepa- 

 rately on its gridiron. 



constantinople;'s cooks 



In the choice of this personage there 

 is considerable latitude. He is more 

 likely to be a man than with us, and he 

 may belong to any one of half a dozen 

 nationalities. He is not often a Turk, 

 however. Turkish servants are faithful 

 and honest within their limits, and, as 

 porters, doorkeepers, grooms, and gar- 



526 



