St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-08-11

q @E occupies at the cap
Ma kA IA ital has for one of its
~ h .. remarkable features
IT. |MHnB superb hall Of
M@ RHM.'Iarge proportions,
Sfi1ll H-I-lNI2 which serves at once
r.: !; ): s: j.: ::
Sesae which he keeps his
vast accommodations of treasures. The
hall of audience or treasury is superb
apartment some $50 feet long and 60
broad, paved with the tiles for which
Persian art is famous, arranged in ele-
CANT designs. The ceiling is vaulted
and decorated very deliberately in Stuc-
co. an art in which the Persians excel.
The treasures were arranged in cases
about the sides of the apartment like
bookcases and in glass-cOvered recepta-
cles resembling showcases. The first
objects to attract our attention were the
chairs and tables.
COVERED WITH BEATEN GOLD.
There were about forty OF the former,
shaped like an arm chair, but differing
from the usual household furniture in
being entirely OVERLAND with sheets OF
gold nailed on with gold faSteningS.
These chairs. we were told, are worth
S.. 900 each; they certainly are of great
value. and s15O. COO does not seem an ex-
aggerated estimate for the entire num-
Der. The tables were about SIX feet
long and were completely covered with
the same precious material. These
sunni tuouS articles are truly Oriental in
character. for from the earliest time
beaten gold has been a favorite method
of decoration in the East, and IS often
mentioned in their poems and tales.
THE PEACOCK THRONE.
1t was an easy transition to pass from
examining these objects to an inspec-
ton of the famous peacock throne. This
is one of the most celebrated treasures
of the East. Ages before it was &C
quired by Persia it had world-Wlde
celebrity. 1t stood in the audience hall
of the great paI@ Of the Moguls at Delhi,
and was favorite object for ellcltlng
the enthusiasm and descriptive talents
of European travellers in India: Ia
vernier, himself leweler, well known
both in Europe and Asia as sucn, estl-
mated its value at some 2O,000,O0O.
Other experts have valued this aston
ishing treasure as high as S35, 00O,000,
while some place its worth under
s13. OOO, 900. 1t name is derived from the
form of the back, which radiates like
the tail of a peacock, each separate
feather glittering with the matchleSS
iridescence of countless jewels OF price:
The frame of the throne is OF gold, and
the surface is
BLAZE OF GEMS
arranged in intricate patterns, combin-
ing to a common effect, a mosaic whose
splendor has never been approached.
much less surpassed, since the days OF
Solomon or the stored magnIflcence OF
Bagdad when at the zenith OF her glory
and power. This bewildering comblna-
ton of the wealth of Oriental mines and
the skill of Oriental artists was seized
by Nadir Shah when he conquered
India at the head of the armies OF Persia
earIy in the seventeenth century. After
distributing spoil to the value OF 81 200
to each of his soldiers he brought home
with him, it is SAID, treasures to the
value of upward of one hundred mill
ions, of which the peacock throne was
the chief. Wherein the wealth OF the
East differs from that of Europe is its
less even distribution. 1t is concen-
trated in the hands of the monarch and
few of the MOBILES, and hence, while
the country may give an impression of
poverty. the court is always able to
dazzle by pageantry and genuine treas
ureS.
PERsIA'S GREAT DIAMOND.
On the seat of the peacock throne was
small box, covered with cloth of gold.
The key to this box, which is metal, is
retained by the shah about his person,
except on the rare occasions when the
case is to be opened, when it is given to
the lord keeper of the treasury, whose
head must answer for the result In
side of the case is silver casket, of
which the KEY is hidden in the royal
library in a box resembling a book.
Within the silver casket is one of gold,
whose key is kept by the lord keeper
himself.
On this occasion the three keys were
forthcoming, and the lord keeper,
placing the precious packet on his lap.
opened one case after another. When
the golden lid of the inner was raised
splendor like the radiance of the sun
burst forth, and we looked on the
famous Dar-i-Noor, or sea of light.
This is the great diamond of Persia,
one of the largest, most magnificent
and most costly gems in existence.
We were next shown a case covered
foot deep with pearls, lying together
in heap,
LIKE SAND ON THE SEA SHORE.
The pearl fisheries of Persia have
long been famous; the divers of Orymus
and Bahrein have rivaled those of Cey-
lon in the treasures they have wrested
from the deep. and for ages pearls were
no more accounted for at Ispahan than
silver at Jerusalem in Solomon's time.
The supply seem at present to be some
what less, owing to the fact that the
divers each year are forced to plunge
further down to find the pearl system.
But to Judge from that mass of pearls [
inferred that there were still a few left
in Persia.
In an adjoining case was glitteripg
heap of mohurs, a coin formerly current
in Persia. although none have been
struck since the time of Feth Alec Shah,
the grandfather of the present king.
These examples are kept like mine of
pure treasure, for the gold is yellow and
without alloy. These pieces are nearly
the size of small saucer, and worth
about $500 each. There appeared to be
several hundred in the case.
when the Folks Stomped."
rIy O.,