Democratic Sentinel, Volume 20, Number 24, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 June 1896 — FACTS ABOUT THE SHAH. [ARTICLE]

FACTS ABOUT THE SHAH.

H# Had Pearls By the Quart and 700 Female Servants. The title of the new Shah is clear as it can be. He is the eldest son of a wife of royal blood. The sons of Esthers—that is to say. of women of mean birth —are of no more account now than they were in the days of Artaxerxes. Presumably the Shah Just proclaimed has found a vast fortune hoarded up by Nasr-ed-Din. M. Diamanti, ex-European Secretary to the late Shah’s Foreign Office, has been giving at Paris some information about Persia as it now stands. Nasr-ed-Din’s three eldest sons are highly educated. The eldest cannot possibly be a rival of the second; neither can the third. All the other children are Just as well educated. They may be a source of strength to the throne, but that is to be seen.

The royal palace is called the Ark. The treasures heaped up in it are of incredible richness. One secs there enameled pictures on gold tablets of great size. The diamonds, rubies and pearls are of unheard-of splendor, and in such quantities that one sees in the presses where they are kept European decanters and tumblers filled with them. The late Shah liked them to be in transparent vessels, so that he could rapidly see if the bulk was notably diminished by a thief. He had a big aquarium glass case filled witn nothing but carefully sorted pearls of the finest Orient lustre. Side by side with these treasures lay tawdry “articles de Paris,” hardly good enough for a charity bazaar. The enameled paintings on gold had between them cheap German chromo-lithographs. The women’s part of the palace accommodated 800 souls. There were about 700 Servants, but a great number were engaged in fine needlework, distilling essences, and making confectionery. They were very clean. However, all, from highest to lowest, ate the mutton and rice ragout with their fingers. They sat on their heels in circles around low tables on which the dish Mas set. The Shah sat alone. He often gave European dinners, at which he sat, but of which he never partook. He was a ferocious monarch if he had to find fault, but a constant friend, and patronized merit M'herever he found it The Sisters of Charity were generously, patronized by him. He allowed their convent at Teheran a yearly stipend. Dr. Tholosan for thirty-five years enjoyed the Shah’s confidence. He never asked for anything for himself, but was forward to ask for others. The mosque where the monarch was murdered is connected by a light railtvay with Teheran. The opening of this railway caused a revolt. It encroached on the ground belonging to the mosque. This was thought sacrilegious. Religious fanaticism in this case had the last word.—London News.