Evening Republican, Volume 59, Number 70, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 March 1917 — CITY WELL WORTH VISITING [ARTICLE]

CITY WELL WORTH VISITING

Kum, in Persia, Called by Traveler One of the Most Picturesque Spots of the East. The little known city of TTuihlZone of the most picturesque spots in the near East and one of the few really interesting towns in modern Persia. It is reached by horse from Teheran and ’t'he is-*till-mad£,. fa such primitive fashion that Kum is little visited -by tourists in tho best of timesr-*!--though tjie road, in many parts .built over the grade of an old high road of the days of Persia’s glory, is good enough judged by the standards of the near East. The European visitor to Kum is likely to feel a certain veiled hostility in his reception, for the city is one of the holy places of the Mohammedan faith, hardly behind and Medina in this respect. A stream of pilgrims pours into Kum -almost as large as the one that flocks continually to those other shrines, and, even more than the. ■holier cities, Kum is sought by the faithful as a fitting and sacred spot for the burial of the dead. The country round about, the city itself, is strewn a'nd dotted with tombs, from the humble mud mound of the common man to the elaborate shrine-topped mausoleums of princes and even kings. The dead are more numerous thau the living in Kurn. but the nat i ves do not seem to be conscious of any funereal atmosphere. • . . . -