The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1894-03-17
A DREADED GUEST.

"A O4G1i1OGD " OOx1O4s
European Courts Again to Be In.
vaded by the Shah OF Persia
His Conduct ON Former Visits So Shocked
Royal Society That It Held lts Hands
Up In Unaffected Horror and
Consternation.
"The shah is coming again! Good
Lord, deliver us!'' Such is the fervent
litany Of the courts of Europe. For il
is announced that during the presen,
year Nasr-ed- Din, the king of kings
will descend from the peacock throne
and make tour of the chief capitals
of Europe as the guest of the sover-
eigns thereof. To say that the news
causes consternation is to put the case
too mildly. It is reign of terror.
The coming of the shah will have much
political significance OF that, accord.
ing to the Philadelphia Times, there is
no doubt. And merely on that score it
is perhaps well that he is to come. AT
fairs are in a bad way in Persia.
There is widespread discomfort with
the shah's rule, based chiefly on the al
legation that he is subservient to Euro
pean influences. OF this discomfort
priests are the chief promoters. In
deed, the whole priesthood of the en-
pire is hostile to the shah, and its hos
tility is scarcely disguised.
Certain it is, at any rate, that the
Russian government is in close SYM
pathy and active alliance with the
Persian priests in their opposition to
the shah. And the chief object of Nasr-
ed-Din's approaching visit to Europe
is, first, to see what aid and comfort
he can get from England, Germany and
Austria for the maintenance of his
throne; and, second, failing that, to
make the best terms he can with Rus
sia. On these grounds alone there
would be no objection to his coming,
for England has set out to build a rail
road through Palestine and Syria to
India, or to the Persian gulf at the
least, and it is therefore highly desir-
able to get on the closest possible terms
of friendship with the shah. And that
end could far better be effected by hav-
ing him come to England than by send
ing any number of ambassadors to him
at Teheran. The trouble is, however.
that he comes not merely as an impor-
tant political parsonage, but as most
offensive individual parsonage as we'll,
and it is in this latter capacity that he
has literally stricken with dismay and
horror the courts of Europe, where his
last visitation is only too well remem-
bered.
His first visit to Europe was made in
1878 and his second in 1879. He came
again in 1889, and it was then observed
that his manners had not in the least
improved. He still insisted, for exam
pie, on throwing under the table his
plates and other dishes as fast as he
got through with their contents. Per-
haps that is the approved Persian
table etiquette. But in sumptuously
furnished European palace, with china
as fragile as eggshells and worth it's
weight in gold, it is, to say the least,
rather trying. At his first dinner as
the guest of Queen Victoria, in 1889, it
is said, he thus destroyed thousand
dollars worth of rare china. At all
subsequent meals number of walters
were kept standing close behind him
to snatch up his plates the moment he
seemed done with them, or at least to
take them from his hand before he
could throw them under the table.
Even despite these precautions he
broke several things and hit some of
the other guests on the feet and shins
with the dishes.
On one occasion the shah was seated
at the table next to one of the most
stately and dignified royal princesses Of
Europe. He was helped to some aspar-
agus, cooked in peculiarly delicious
manner. Picking up stalk in his fin
gers, he sucked the end of it with evil
dent delight. Then turning to his fair
neighbor he exclaimed: "Ba! ba! How
good it is!'' and thrust the sam stalk
into her mouth for her also to taste.
Nor was his conversation less en-
barrassing than his table manners.
Talking with q nobleman of great dis
tinction, he suddenly asked:
''Is that your wife over there?"
eyes, your majesty"
"But she is old and ugly. Why don't
you getrid Of her and take new one,
one of these young and pretty women?''
AS he spoke in tone perfectly audi
BILE to the lady under discussion, and
indeed to most of the company in the
room, the sensation produced may best
be left to the imagination. Nor was
the scene less embarrassing when the
shah one evening approached one of
the royal princesses and began to pat
and pinch her plump shoulders, saying:
"Ah, you are the kind of woman II
like! You are not all bones! / will get
rid of one Of my wives and take you in
her placer
The shah is, however, as q matter of
fact, particularly amiable and kind
hearted man. For this he has been
noted since his boyhood. It is q mat
ter of authentic record that the shah
on certain occasion was about to set
forth on tour through his dominions,
attended by all his court and d vast
all of whom were actually on
the road. when he found his pet cat
fast asleep on the identical fur mantle |
which he wished to wear, whereupon
he sat him down to wait until puss
should Of its own accord wake up and
leave it's couch; and that not coming
to pass for some time, the court and
retinue were dismissed for the day and
the start postponed until the morrow,
when, be it observed, the shah's at-
tendants took good care that no cat