Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-11-26
. PERSIAN PRINCES PURSE.
glow he Convicted the Murderers
of an Englishman.
n Az St. Lamea Ooeetfe.

uoHV he SjOnVicbcu bhC rAatoCASNs
of an Englishman.
F,o,n the 50. James Gosette.
IN The side of the high road to Shiraz,
on miles before the city is reached, going
North. stands bare pole. This marks the
nIace where the body of Sergt. Collins was
found after his murder.
sergt. Collins was an inspector of the
,oloOrauh line, man Of great personal
hrovery. Accompanied by his wife, two
oorvants. and two muleteers, he started
on his inspection duty. Collins was
VardIv cOnyalescent from fever attack
Irhan he started, and he had no choice in
,raveling but to lie on mattress flung on
loaded mule.
Al early dawn one day a muleteer sud-
denly cried: "Sahib, they have blocked
the road;" and, looking ahead, the serg-
oont saw some men in front who were
ccvering him with their guns. AT the
same moment these men ordered him to
Sismonnt, Now the Sergeant was the
Sost shO, in Persia. "Be off," he shouted,
6ring his revolver twice. The robbers
rnshed in, firing as they came; and Col
iins was hit in two places, death being in
stontaneous. After beating the
GCelcss body with their IRON
headed sticks, the robbers blind
folded and carried off the wife and
two servants, OBTAINING them in dell till
after midnight.
olish minister at TeheraD, the Persian
eutporities arrested the three principal
robbers. Another of them committed
suicide to avoid capture; another had died
rom a gunshot wound, apparently In
aicted by Collins. But the Persian au-
thorlties, though they had got the GRIMM
ais in Jail, seemed very 10th to bring
them to Justice. But at length Mira
Hassan Ali Khan, G. 8. l., our agent at
Sniraz, succeeded in goading the Prince
Governor, II. r.. III. Zil-es-Sultan, into try
Ing the prisoners.
the proceedings were very curious.
There was no doubt of the guilt OF the
men, but there were no witnesses of the
murder. The Sergeant was dead; his
wife and his two servants had been fright
ened out of their wits, and the muleteer
declared that he could remember nothing.
The Zil-es-Sultan, finding that the En-.
glish Minister would not remain satisfied.
ordered the robbers to be brought before
him. The Prince Governor himself EN-
bodied the law. Half a dozen courtiers
loed againstt the wall, their arms respect
fully crossed upon their breasts. Seated
on silk mattress in corner OF the room,
his back supported by gold embroidered
cushions, the young Prince twiddled his
moustache, or played with the jeweled
lilt of his sabre, or toyed with the buckle
of priceless brilliants which formed the
central ornament OF his plain leather
waist belt.
The three men were dressed as villa
gers usually are, in tall felt caps and
long felt coats. When they were hustled
into the hall of audience they were still
heavily ironed, for these men are often
desperate criminals, and would not hest
tate tor a moment to murder their jailers
il they thought they would thereby Sc
cure a chance of escape. On entering
the royal presence they bow almost to
the ground. ''Salaamv they shout in
kind; of chOaus; your villager or
tribesman never speaks, he always
shouts. "How do you like prlson?" says
the Prince, nOdding to them with a smile.
4 In reply, the bandits assert their inno-
\ cence, calling at every sentence upon
4 Heaven and the Prophet. 'tAre we not
4 harmless tribesmen, we who live in your
Royal Highness' shadow? May we be
your sacriicew The Prince still smiles
4 blandly. "Ah, my friends" says he, 81,
4 too, am a Mussulman. We are all Mus
4 sulmans here; and-and, in fact-an I'M
4 LOiANCl lhOlC vi 1850 OODCn uOu llldbJcl
You have truly done a good deed. l shall
not really punish but reward you. That
4 you killed the Feringhi there is, of course,
/ no doubt; and so l must punish you nom-
lnally. What propose to do Is to cut off
/ sjOnt of one fngerof each of you. But
what is that? Nothing. Your dresses of
honor are ready. You will put them on
and will be instantly liberated. And
now my children" says the smiling
Prince, tell me all about it. How did
you manage it, ehw
The astonished prisoners received this
speech with burst ofjoy. All shouting
atonce, they fastened to give the Prince
lui!particulars. "The European fired
twice from one pistol-may we
i De your sacrifice land then we
all fired together, rushing in
on him. He was but a European-may
your shadow never be lessl We trust in
inc cemency OF your Royal Highness!
May we be your sacrificeW
Inc smile faded from the face of the
Young Prince Governor, his likeness to
lne shah, his father, becoming very appar-
EN- as his countenance dsrkened into fe-
rocity, he had got at the truth; and,
without more ado, nodded with appropri-
gte significance to his Chief of Police, the
farrash-oashi, burly black-bearded man
VINO stood behind the criminals. the
prisoners were removed; they were hur-
Lleu INTO the public square, in which the
Paiace stands, and there their throats
were cut. The bodies lay exposed till sum
SET, terror to evil doors.
| -. a red granite tablet in one of the Chris
uah churches at Julia, subscribed for by
we engineer officers and noE-commis-
eloned O1hcers in Persia, commentaries
'he death of Collins.