Tsilka told them about this day was a special holiday
The Miss Stone Affair, apart from everything else, does have a Thanksgiving flavor to it. One day the rebels noticed that Miss Stone was especially sad. They asked her whativory bridesmaid dresses happened, and Tsilka told them about this day was a special holiday for the Americans on which they would be with their family and would eat turkey.
“When they learned this was an American holiday, in order to cheer up the saddened American woman, the rebels procured for her a fat turkey and together they made a meal,” wrote the Bulgarian commercial representative in Thessaloniki to the Bulgarian Foreign Minister at the time, Stoyan Danev, in his report about the situation.
“I found it touching when I learned, during my research, that Miss Stone’s captors, realizing that Thanksgiving was a special holiday, observed it by killing and cooking her a turkey,” Ms. Carpenter emphasized in her email to me.
When America Still Couldn’t Flex Its Muscles
Around 1900 the USA was still an emerging young colossus, which had little influence in European affairs despite the American presence in the Ottoman Empire. According to some American accounts from later history periods, the case with the abduction of Miss Stone represented the weakness and failure of the United States to protect its citizens in that part of the world. Such a judgment is probably a bit harsh, however.
It took the Bulgarian captors of Miss Stone nearly two months to manage to get in touch with American representatives in order to demand a ransom.
For one thing, the kidnapping coincided with the assassination of American President William McKinley (shot on September 5, 1901, died eight days later). Sandanski kept Miss Stone and Tsilka informed the hostages about the news around McKinley’s assassination.
The revolutionaries promptly explained to Miss Stone their objectives and made her write a letter to a close person outlining their tea length bridesmaid dressdemands. They asked for 25 000 gold Turkish lira, or approximately USD 110 000 at the time, a colossal sum.
Processing your request, Please wait....
