The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1894-07-22
TgHERoI 4 BEAUTIFUL CITY
Plenty Of Pleasant and Cultivated Society
Found There.
THg YELLED PERSIAN BEAUTIES.
The Women are Never Boon by the Male
visfters-"rewsrs Of silence" in Which
the Dead arc PIscsd-Many Interest
Ing Points About . Country OF
which Moore Has Described.
Lynchburg, July q. 1894.

home. Your Washington correspondent
gave you. more than a week ago. an an
nouncement OF his arrival in that city
and in interesting report OF a brief col
loQuy with him as TO his impressions o
that portion Of the far Orient ia which
he has soJourned for "A year.
Mr.. Mcdonald is. apparently. not very
stout as to his health. and has ! think
certainly lost flesh since 1 babe him
adieu fourteen months ago. Although the
Persian capital Is upon slope Of the
Eiburz range. and at an elevation OF
some five hundred feet above the sea-
level, y is. nevertheless. subject to ma ma
larai fevers, and from these Mr.. Nc
Donald has twice suffered His thoughts
very naturally. therefore. turned long
ingy 10 the exhilarating. breezy atmoS-
phere Of his native Blue Ridge.
Very Interesting is the story he has 70
give OF his travels in the Fast, and his
youth the Arabian Nights and Lalla
Rookh cast a spell OF delirious enchant-
ment, and where In our school-boy ex-
sang With Parius and cyrus and Artex-
erxes. and the other worthless OF our
dog-eared Anabasis. SO accustomed are
we TO refer our ideas Of Persia to these
far-iistant ideal land. OF which we
think as Of the tabled Hesperides.-
The land OF fiction and OF truth
The lost Atlantis Of our youth.
And so to see "in tie flesh" one just
arrived from this day-dream land of
poetry. romance and historic myths, is
as II We should encounter some visltant
new.nghted from another sphere. We all
amazement with which. two years ago.
We received the announcement of a
French astronomer that he had discov-
canals and signals by which the denizens
OF that planet were attempting to commu-
ntcate with our Earth. II Persia is not
solar system. IL nevertheless in a certain
sense. belongs TO the outlying regions of
rare and dubious communication.
Everything that freshens and bright
ems the faded colors of childhood memo
ries: everything that lifts the mist of
romance from the legendary land of
youth everything that gives a local habi- |
tation and name 10 what has been a
pleasing myth and an impdlpable illus |
ION; everything, In a word, that gives a |
realistic presence 20 an ideal world, must |
possess an eager interest for the intelli- |
gent mind.
] have. accordingly. thought that 1t
might be an acceptable Offering TO you
readers TO impart 10 them the informa-
tion l have received from my converse
tons with Mr.. Mcdonald: and i will
employ the expedient Of the Interview"
as enabling me the better to adopt the
very language in which the facts were
let fall from the gentleman recently near
the court Of the Shah. and always near
IN the regard and esteem his numerous
friends In Virginia. SO here we 80.
Mr.. N'DoNAID's IMPRESSIONS.
we'll, hNDolldlu. NOW 90 you dOv
And what do you think of Persia? And |
how did you leave the Shah? And are you
going to obey the Injunction l see he has
are the Persian women as pretty as
Moore represents them to be?
Why, said MIR. Mcdonald you ask me
Rosalind in the play. and like Celia 1
Imouth, TO answer them all at once. But
] VIII say this much, that although |
have enjoyed my life at Teheran, and
the courteous entreatment of the mild
monarch who there reigns. | am re-
1oiced once more to meet. my friends In
Well. then. said l. to ask one ques-
ton at time. now that you have been
aseTs ana Se sng for is it. true
Europe than a cycle of Cathay?"
Now. replied Mr. Mcdonald. you are at c
fault at both ends OF your catechism. t
Cathay. The latter, as | understand it, I
Is medieval appellation OF China, and ! I
China Is an entirely different country v
customs and habits. and
while her history and her civilization O
carry the mind back until 1t is lost in d
The twilight Of antiquity. still she is not I
nclosed by a Chinese wall; there is not n
he same unreasoning rigidity in adher- L
~ to the old simply because 1t is old. c
eople: and, although slow to accept in "
0vations they do still feel and acknowl- 0
dge the influence and impress OF MANY | |;
iodern ideas. They have postal sys- "
Elimination. sewers and a police system. | o
here is already one short railroad and | 81
ne ne P Pre- I,rr generation may not unlikely
scuons by the iron arteries of trade and | a
'avel. The great distance from Europe n
nations and consequent want of con- d
nd OF course TO repress the spirit of | n
rogress and Improvement. But, as / | n
osed themselves within a Chi Il
for Imaginable FeSaraD om pre GS,.s And ii
lat Sc far as my experience goes II is in
many respects very delightful city. IN
nd | have enjoyed as pleasant and cul, W
waited society there. and formed as is
any. agreeable acquaintance, as IA
iouL1 likely have experienced in any | in
.pital OF me western world. In the same 81
What you say about the society and a a
you enjoyed surprises me wi
D little: ] had supposed that an Ameri- n w,
IN or European would be in state of IN
Far from II. You must remember that ma m'
'ery pricipal European country is rep. pbS'
s IS ,e az me Persian -ourt. so that
nong themselves cultivated and de-.
sht1ui society. There is also a large | Dc
"a cultured population Of all European do
" some fifteen missionaries. male and no
male, OF the Northern Branch of the | mn
resby;erian church. of the United STATES | mr.
OF them cultured and accomplished su
no then' TOO, there are. of course many | APP
'reeable and educated persons among an
e native Persians of rank: and | have | pc
Joyed the acquaintance and hospitality | liz
some OF these. Life In Teheran has |
any OF the charms OF an elegant and | of
complished society During the social me
ason there IL ceaseless round of GAL the
5 ana enjoyments, both sfflcial and | mo-
l'ate. Ihere are many houses in Tehe- sue
~ where visit as freely and with as car
We ceremony. as / do the house az nv | lido
Innate friends here In LynchbJre not
ow no city OF the size where mere ara | IL
many pleasure carriages There are | del
least thousand. Many private citie N
hs nave six or eight. and | would saw hol
Al 'he Shah has not less than nfty' got
TH' rrRS'sv wo,r, sub
Nnen you visit Persian family 20 vo,, you
' tn acqualnted with all the members ~
~ no means. The Persian wome, ora IN
'Ius,on rfp To- or seen. They live in | Fre
q the ladies OF the h taves are yelled: | Telt
I'm upon the street but go In ea Lex
49,. All or the houses in pa,si. NaI- ana
Instructed with regard =" fefsia are The
'luded life for the wo,n o separate. letir
y uepartments are called awdsrodpnri- ny
'h y o. the master is ever seem nsnh save kept
,oidden. almost to the po,n, ~ n Is OF
80 pvs'xxve anront. TO speak 70 peins IN q
s.. uis VIE or female rnarah man som
yes ga me women visit among tbarn tnlh
! no 1 uas, a. l have reason 10 bslisva nave
sity co9ua,. cient IN the traits of or, stnc
which cbsrss, nseliness. and loquaci. t snr'
intries. This exclusive,'e.e eN W other can