St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-05-10
ZIL.ES.SULTAN.
Character and Daily Life of the Fa'
VOrite Som of the Shah.

tOI1GC SOA1 OR CR1C SR1dHs
From the St. James Gazette.
The lilies Sultan is the eldest son of the
kings first love. His majesty first saw the
princes mother, a lovely village girl, wash
ing clothes at the side of stream. Be
this as it may, she was of the cas- peuple,
and the Khan Di (the maternal uncle Of his
royal highness and his master of horse, or
lord of the manger). recalls, by his rude
manners and boorish speech, the lowness
of the princes extraction Oh the mothers
side, But for his birth, the Zil-es-Sultan
would ere this have been acknowledged as
the shah's successor. But to be of royal
blood on both sides of the house has long
been necessary qualification in the heir to
the Persian throne. Still, the reigning
monarch generally contrives to leave his
kingdom to his favOrite son if capable of
ruling. That the eldest son of the shah by
a royal princess is weak-minded nonentity
is known to all the subjects of the liking
of Kings" and the shah will probably take
the initiative in declaring the Zil-es-Sultan
his successor. The young man himself
openly says thathe means to succeed his
father. and the Shah does not reprove him
for saying so,
The room is purposely darkened. There
sits the prince, supported by cushions. on a
mattress. He is evidently out of sorts; his
hakim-bashi is feeling his pulse. The gov
ernor of YeXd, formerly his favortte per-
sonal attendant, is kneading one knee, the
governor of Bonat is gently rubbing the
other. Two attendants are softly pommel-
ing the princely feet, while the chief bar
Der, an important parsonage, is carefully
and scientifically shampooing the back of
his neck Mira Reza, the princes conf
Dental valet, man who has been COVER
nor of Fussa under his royal highess, is
reading poetry.
Evidently the prince is in pain. Grub,
rub" he cries, eye sons of mspeakable
mothers! Ah!' with sigh of relief, ''that
is good-thatis very good!'' The chief
barbee, whose clever shampooing has earned
this praise, smiles with pleasure. 'Mirza
Reza, Mira Reza Khan!' This is shouted,
and the confidential valet stops his monoto-
nous poetry. ''Let QUIZ chief barber have
our fur-lined cloak, the red one" The
delighted barber, who is to receive a gift
worth ESQ, stops to thank the prince.
Rub, rascal, rubv' is the reply.
''May be your sacrifice, it is my petit
ton, the petition of your slave, that his
excellency, the Imam-i-J una desires the
privilege of presenting his salaams,"
whispers one of the royal attendants, emit
ering the room, bowling to the ground, his
hands placed upon his knees. ''Bismillah!
let him GOMEZ" is the reply. The prince
rises. He is an athletic young man of con-
siderable muscular power, inclined to
breadth rather than height of middle
stature, with small hands and feet of which
he is very proud, black curly hair, a fair
complexion, a jetty mustache, and voice
exactly like that of the Shah. Mira Beza
hands him his newly-fashioned hat of finest
cloth. The prince, who affects to lead the
ever-changing fashions of Persia, hurriedly
buttons his inner paletOt OF pale blue MORE
antique, embroidered with tasteful but
wears an English shirt. He clasps the
great circular buckle of diamonds-it is four
inches in diameter-which fastens plain
black leather belt around his waist, and
then slips into yellow overcoat OF cash
mere shawl, lined throughout and trimmed
with sable fur. Black trousers, with
gold-lace stripe, made in London, complete
the sufficiently grand and becoming cos
tune worn by the governor of the largest
portion of Persia. He is at the present
moment 33 years of age.
Let us follow him as he passes into the
summer room of state audience. This an
cient room is probably unique. In the
center is large tank of running water,
three feet deep; from this tank rise stone
columns, their bases composed Of nude
figures about four feet high. Each of the
figures spouts from its mouth a tiny stream;
all around the tank are various jets, which
also add to the, noise of falling water.
Little light comes in through the colored
glass windows and their curtains. Into and
over the tank projects stone bed or throne
some three feet over the surface of the
water.
Here, when Ispahan was the capital of
Persia was the royal audience chamber of
the Shahs. Cool certainly, and picturesque;
but in country where ague is rife, the man
who occupies damp room cannot be wise.
The Zil-es-Sultan is no fool; and he passes
on through this extraordinary chamber into
a large, well-lighted apartment, the walls
and ceiling of which are deliberately painted
and gilded. The intricately constructed
windows of colored glass are raised, a large
and empty courtyard is seen beyond them,
and Just in front of the window is huge
raised hauz of stone, the fountains in which
are spouting freely. The Imam-i-Juma, as
he enters, is invited to seat close to his
royal highness, on his own royal carpet,
which is about seven feet by three wide,
and is spread on thin mattress over the
luxurious felts, three inches thick, tina
serve as frame to the magnificent carpet.
As the prince sits at the open window
the head carpet spreader the chief of po-
lice, enters his courtyard with the two
robbers and their guard. Addressing one
of them, the prince says in a loud and
angry tone: ssAh! son of dog, so you,
too, levy taxes on my fathers subjects?"
ssMay be your highness' sacrifice, it isn't
my fault" mutters the criminal. The