The sun., 1893-07-18
EUROPEANS IN CABUL.

| pees-GoId Coin.-T The Mandatory OF
Rifles In that Distant city sonp and
| Caudies-A ravoritc Pastime-Tho Brit
| isher In Cabui-81OO u Month with the
Daily Risk OF Hts Head-The CabuI Rail-
way-There Are No Russians In Cabui.
Life IN Cabul at the present time. does not
appear to be oil beer and skittes. 1t is cer-
tainly not inviting. Mr. McDermot who has
spent three years in that historic city OF mas
sacro and hoodshed. has Just been returned
to British India under safe escort. very much
in the way that Ameor Shere All used to send
back the cases Of champagne which an English
merchant ut Peshawer would try to palm of"
as suited to the palate OF his half-civilized
customer. 1T lie too moist. 1t is on inferior
| brand" the Ameer's secretary would write.
and back It all came to Mr.. - OF Peshawer.
to, his great chagrin. Poor Mr.. McDermott
has been sent back rs an inferior brand" but
he tells us some interesting things regarding
Cabul and its Ameer.
Mr.. McDermott was superintendent OF tho
Ameers mint, in which he used to manufac-
ture silver rupees out OF Indian silver coin.
and whore he has been successfully employed
for the last three years.
His own story OF how he came to leave the
Ameers service is this: 80 far as the Ameer
himself is concerned. neither myself nor any
thing to complain Of He treated us with
great consideration. and whenever we entered
his presence we were allowed to sit down and
were shown every mark OF courtesy. 1t Is tho
intriguing officials that cause tho mischief.
They become Jealous of our success. they recog-
nize the improvem ents we carry out, which in
most cases Interfere with somo time-honored
perquisite. and eventually come to the conclu-
sion that the preservation OF self demands the
removal Of the inAdel!
with regard to the mint We did very we'll
We struck OF silver rupees. half rupees, and a
quantity OF gold coins OF the value OF about
Rs. 25 each. Our output was about $4,000
coins day. The Indian rupee is melted
down and six per cent. copper added. and in
this way the Ameer gains considerable reve-
nue. Mr.. Pyne engaged me to teach tho AZ
ghans to coin and they are now able to carry
on the work in q rouGh-and-ready way. They
are not overexacting about the appearance Of
the coin. and SO long as it has tho Ameer's
name on 1t every one is satisfied"
The Ameer's workshops are under an
Englishman named Pyne. who seems to be o
prime favorite with Abdur Rahman. Mr. Pyne
was ut one time engaged in an arms factory in
England. but has served the Ameer OF Cabul
for nearly seven years. At Cabul they turn
out q rifle OF the Martini-Henr pattern. The
barrel Is made by machinery. but the stock
mechanism and sighting is done by hand.
with tho result that in very many cases IL is
not OF tho correct size. The cartridge cham
ber Is often either too large. or too small. and
the sighting Is very imperfect. About 5000
Martini Henri cartridges are manufactured
daily. There is also plant for manufacturing
Snider cartridgeR but 1t has not yet been set
up. The mountain guns are also roughly
made. and when they were tested, 1t was found
that the shells were too large for one OF the
guns. The Ameer Is also anxious to excel in
soap making. and Mr.. Pyne has had plant
set up. and with tho aid OF the soap boilers
pads mecun,. o quantity OF soap was made. Tho
Afghans. however. did not consider It q great
success. as 1t not only removed the dirt from
their persons, but tho skin as we'll However
''they are still experimenting" SO Mr.. McDer-
mott assures us. but he Is. perhaps. as "a re-
turned empty" not an unprejudiced Judge OF
Mr. Pyne's soap.
There is also large plant in course OF erec-
tion for manufacturing candles. although Mr..
McDermott says that soap is the Ameer's
specially" The titular head Of tho Cabul
work shops 10 q royal parsonage. A hint per-
haps. to tho unemployed princes Of Europe
This democratic prince is his Highness Yoo-
SUI Khan. son OF Dost Mohammed and an
uncle OF the present Ameer. With the prince.
soap Is passion. and he attempts to convert
everything possible into appliances for manu-
featuring that useful domestic commoGity. In
one OF the shops there was Cornish boiler
which. on discovering he Immediately gave
orders to have placed on end and filled with
tallow and set to boil. and considerable diff
Guilty was experienced by the Europeans in
persuadinG Yoosuf Khan from his novel soap
boiling experiment
The Englishman in Cabul gets the equiva-
lent to salary Of hundred to q hundred and
fifty dollars month. Small pay for man who.
as the Irishman said. may any morning awake
and find himself a dead mani
There have been reports OF tho construction
OF railroad In Cabul. but We are told 1t Is only
O half mile long and not working very well.
1t was Lord Lytton's policy to construct mar
row gauge railway from Poshawer. through
tho Khyber. to the city OF Cabul. but this has
not yet been effected. 1t has often been said
that there are Russian subjects in Cabul. but
Mr.. McDermott tells US there are none. He
says: "A number OF Afehans cross tho border
and go into Russian territory for the purpose
OF trading. but We do not hear much OF tho
Russians In Cabul. The natives are shy about
speaking OF political matters. as there Is a
general feeling among the AfGhans that still
tongue not only indicates a wise head. but 1t
also goes a good way toward the preservation
OF one. So all around 1t Is considered best not
to interfere In such matters-" 7. p II.
CANADA NEkDS Il CHANGE.