Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1894-08-02
BICYCLING THROUGH PERSIA.
Two American Tourists Lose Their Way
on a Stormy Night.

Two American Tourists Lose Their Way
on a Stormy Night.
The two American students, Messrs.
Allen and Sachtleben. who made BIZ
cycle tour around the world. recount
interesting experiences during their
run through Persia.
The weakness of the Persian for men
dacity is proverbial, they say. One in
stance of this national weakness was
attended with considera BILE inconven-
fence to us. By some mischance we
had run by the village where we in
tended to stop for the night, which was
situated some distance off the road.
Meeting a Persian lad. we inquired the
distance. He was ready at once with a
cheerful falsehood. '.One farsak" -four
miles,, he replied, although he must
have known at the time that the village
was already behind us. On we pedaled
at an increased rate, in order to pre-
cede. if possible, the approaching dark
ness; for although additionally the
land of a double dawn, Persia has only
one twilight. and that closely
merged into sunset and darkness. One,
two farsaks were placed behind us,
and still there was no sign of human
habitation. At length darkness fell;
we were obliged to dismount to feel
our way. By the gradually rising
ground. and the rocks. we knew we
were off the road. Dropping our
wheels, we CROPPED round on hands and
knees, to find, if possible, some trace
of water. With burning thirst, a
chilling atmosphere, and swarms of
mosquitoes biting through our clothing,
we could not sleep. A slight drizzle
began to ascend. During our gloomy
vigil we We're glad to hear the sounds
of caravan. toward which we CROPPED
our way. discerning. at length, long
line of camels marching to the music
of their lantern bearing leader. When
our nickel-plated bars and white he'll
met flashed in the lantern-light, there
was shrek, and the lantern fell to
the ground. The rear-guard rushed to
the front with drawn weapons: but
even they started back at the sound
of our voices, as we attempted in
broken Turkishto reassure them. Ex-
plantations were made. and the camels
soon quieted. Thereupon we were sur
rounded with lanterns and firebrands.
while the remainder of the caravan
party was called to the front Finally
we moved on, walking side by side
with the lantern-bearing leader, who
ran ahead now and then to make sure
of the road. The night was the black
est we had ever seen. Suddenly one
of the camels disappeared in a ditch,
and rolled over with groan. Fortu-
nately. no bones were broken, and the
load was replaced. But we were off
the road, and search was begun with
lights to find the beaten path. Foot
sore and hungry, with an almost in
tolerable thirst, we trudged along till
morning, to the ding-dong, ding-dong
of the deep-toned camel-bells. Final
ly, we reached sluggish river, but did
not dare to satisfy our thirst. except
by washing out our mouths. and by
taking occasional swallows. with long
intervals of rest, in one of which we
fell asleep from sheer exhaustion.
When we awoke the midday sun was
shining, and party of Persian trav-
elers was bending over us.-Century.
What counts as a good trade in
large cities depends on the sort of busi-
ness a man is doing. Suppose a man is
selling bananas from push cart in
locality where the trade runs mostly
in pennies. A boy rushing past throws
down a cent and picks up a banana and
hurries on. That's good enough busi-
ness. but perhaps the next boy stops
and surveys the bananas carefully be-
fore making his selection; he has only
cent to spend, and it is important that
he shall get good one for his money;
there is no recourse if he doesn't: that's
slow work. Now, suppose somebody
comes along and buys, say, three ba-
nanas at once: picks up the nearest
three good-looking bananas at a cent
each without delay, and hands over
three cents to the vcnder and passes
on; that's good trade.