The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1893-06-16
Another Persian Letter.
TEHERAN, PERSIA, /
March 81 1904. (

EhSiA, [
March "a, 1893.
MY DEAR FRIENDS: had my first
glimpse of the Shah a few days ago,
and must tell you about it.
1t was March 21st, the Persian New
Years day. 1t is customary on that
day for all the Foreign Ministers and
| high Persian officials to call upon the
Shah. Such other ordinary people as
can obtain entrance to the courtyard
of the palace do so in order to see the
King ascend the throne.
Through the kindness of the Ameri-
can Minister we were permitted to be
present. On reaching the palace we
were shown into spacious room from
the window of which we could look
down into the courtyard and have a
splendid view of all the ceremonies.
The large yard was full of Persians,
mostly soldiers and officials, and very
picturesque they looked i'm their daz-
Zling costumes. 1t was no small sight
to see the Foreign Ministers and their
attendants pass through the yard as
they came from paying their respects
to the Shah. Some of the Europeans
rivaled the Persians in the gorgeous
ness of their dress. Our own Minis
ter was the only one who wore moth
ing in the way of uniform or decora-
ton. But of course the very
absence of these things makes our
Minister all the more conspicuous.
The Shah is said to admire the plain
American dress very much and on
that very day the English Minister
said to our Minister, "Mr. Sperry L
envy you the privilege of appearing
simply as gentleman" Afterward
Mr.. Sperry told us what the Shah
had said to the different Ministers.
He inquired of Mr.. Sperry about the
opening of the Columbian Exposition.
After all the official calls had been
made a pathway was cleared through
the courtyard and the Shah, accom-
panied by the Master of Ceremonies
and a few other attendants, marched
slowly through the yard and took his
seat upon the marble throne placed in
an open balcony. Then queer little
old man made a speech to which the
Shah responded, the people bowed
themselves, the Shah marched back
to the palace, and the show was over.
One of the Shah's attendants was a
boy twelve or fifteen years old.
asked gentleman standing near me,
lis that the Shah's sOn?" He smiled
and said mo, he is the Shah's below
ed" The answer rather puzzled me,
but afterwards learned something of
the boys history. He is boy whom
the Shah has taken and to whom he
has given the name "AziZ" (beloved). |
There are many different stories re-
garding this protege. Some people |
say that the Shah wanted to see into |
what kind of a man a boy who had |
never been corrected would grow. |
Others say that one day the Shah saw
the face of a beggar boy pressed |
against his window; the sight startled |
him, he jumped aside, just at that
moment the roof broke over the spot |
declared that the boy had been |
adopted him out of gratitude.
1t would seem that the boy occa-
sions good deal of conjecture without |
the palace and a good deal of disturb
ance within. The Shah takes his part |
against everybody. but one day he
found himself batfled. The Shah's
own son, lad about the age of Aziz,
was walking in the yard with his SER
NdubS hlltu UtlONtu Cduit
along and began to throw stones at
him. Finally he hit the little prince,
who ordered his servants to thrash
Aziz. The boy ran crying to the Shah
and told of the indignity to which he
had been subjected. The Shah took
him in his arms and comforted him
and then sent for the servant who had
thrashed him. The servant was
found in the room of the little prince,
who refused to give him up. The
Shah sent a second time when the
prince not only refused to give up the
man but had his servants beat the
Shah's messengers. Then the Shah
himself went to his sons room, but in
answer to the request that the man be
given up, the prince said, "My ser
want did not beat AZiZ. / did it my
self. The servant was only my agent
and is in no way responsible. If you
have anything to do in this matter you
must settle it with men 1 think that +.
boy would make pretty good King,
but it is not likely he will ever have a
chance.
The Shah's oldest son, the Gov. of
Ispahan, is not in favor just at pres
ent. The Shah sent for him recently
and deprived him of some of his au-
thority. The following incident, per-
haps, will show why the father and
son do not get along more amicably.
While here the Zilli Sultan invited
the Shah to dine with him, and with
the invitation he sent this message,
You need not bring your own gold
chair, as have twelve just like it,
MARY A. CLARKE.