Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1894-12-08
TRAVELLING In PERSIA.
e Means Much Hard Work and
Great Discomfort
ess ehah's Empire IL Entirely without
osNvays. Steamboats, or Good Roads-
How Wealthy Women Journss
from Place to Place.
Especial ispahan PERSIA, letter.

II Is difficult for the average Amer
Fan TO imagine whole big country en-.
ti-ely devoid of railroads. steamers and
oil other means OF locomotion save
/, lose which were already In vogue In
liblical days, |. e., ON foot or on the
back Of horse, mule. donkey or camel.
That, however. is still the actual condi.
lion Of thugs in Persia. as in some
other oriental countries. Added to this
Is the further difficulty of the absence
Of good roads, navigable rivers. of
bridges. etc. so that travelling In Per.
da Is, indeed, not n pleasure. but
piece Of very hard work. II may he
hard 70 believe. but 1t is an absolute
tact that the roads--or what goes by
hat name-in the Persia Of to-day are.
tor the greater part, the same which
we're trodden by the armed hosts of
Cyrus. Of Darius uystaspis. Of Chosroes
and other great conquerors Of ancient
times, aud even the route taken by
Lenophon in his return to Greece may,
In part, be followed to this day by trav-
slcrs similarly situated--tlay's journey
after days journey you can walk over
che same ground which he describes in
his "Anabasis, q" but with this difference:
In his time. more than 1000 years ago.
there were shady groves to shield the
wayfarer from the fiery darts Of the
sun. and there were purling brooks and
many villages and hostelries by the
wayside, whereas now all this Is most
~ done away with. and with the ex-
0eption Of the vermin-infcsted postal
go H. d, -.
Khanis," and the infrequent caravan
Serais." there is nothing wherein to
look for shelter from rain. sun. wild
beasts and robbers.
II had been the intention TO build
railroads In Persia. baron Reuter-. OF
London, had obtained charter to con.
Struct one from Tehcran to tho Persian
gulf, and O Russian syndicate had
planned a road from the shores Of the
Caspian to the capital. but both schemes
fell to pieces. due to the rapacity and
faithlessness of the Persian government
-or rather some Of its high officials. The
last attempt know Of TO build good
railrosd-likcwisc from the Caspian or
from Tabreez TO Teheran--was made
bv the American ministcr-whosc score.
harry was ut the time. In iss6-Mr. 4.
q. Winston. of Chicago, but Il did not
even get beyond the initial point, be.
cause the Persian authorities were still
Is eager to be bribed and to impose on
The stranger capitalists who wished to
benefit this country-and incidentally
themselves. OF course-as they had been
before. Thus IL Is that this whole wide
sot,, Nar stps
equal to the whole Of our eastern and
middle states In sizc--is still innocent
Of railroads and centuries behind the
times.
Women the world over represent the
iovable half Of humanity. and climate,
religion. race. form but minor modifica.
tons to this general rule. That was
what Goethe meant with his Eternal
Womanly." To me the supreme proof
that woman in Persia Is also lovable
smiable and long-suffcring has always
been the fact that she has smilingly
uncomplainingly stood the awful modes
Of travel which they have to submit &c
throughout Persia. would like to sec
On American woman. for instance, trav
eling in "kadjavay" for week or q
fortnight. But the mere idea Is pre-
posterous. Seriously. I wouldn't blame
the Persian women II they. some night
would arise in their might and xii
svery mothers son of thcm-just out Of
revenge for this diabolical contrivance
the "kadjavay."
Imagine a horse Or a mule carrying
On its back n sort Of hooded box, will
curtains on the one side where fresl
Dir could be admitted, this box strapped
tightly to the animal. The whole kad
iavay--for this little boS, about tw'
teet high. Is q kadj constructed
70 that the woman inmate Of II cal
neither lie down in 1t, nor sit straigh
or upright. but is forced to keep he
body In half crouching position. witt
her limbs crossed. How she manage
70 escape out of these awful tortur
chambers comparatively unscathcd Is
MIRACLE. But there they sit, for day
and weeks and months even, while pei
forming journeys OF some distance
like craven images, with not q syllabl
In accusation Of those who make Their
undergo this horrible ordeal; and no
only that, but they must, forsooth. b
closely yelled as we'll. and whenever
stranger draws nigh must pull dow
the curtaius Of their kadjavay.
must he the force of inheritance an
habit .rcm early youth up, for to IN
Il always seemed as II they must di
the double death of suffocation and {
PARALYSIS. The chaddar or Persia
veil-is much worse than the Turks
yashmak, for II falls far down owe
face. bosom and torso. and Is so closel
itting that almost no air reaches tn
month and nose OF the hapless wearel
The small piece Of !ooser web inserte
over the eyes allows but mere glimps
Of light, and barely permits the weal
srs to distinguish the objects outside
In a word, OF all the barbarous an
brutal outrages which custom allow
the Persian to practice on his wome
folk, this, think, is the worst, But
must add that even these restriction
are not proof against woman's wit an
cunning, for it happens frequentl
enough, despite it all, that love il
trigues are arranged by the Persia
women while travelling just In tn
way. have seen myself-and give
them credit for doing it-how at Il
critical moment they understand
lift that cumbersome 'chaddar"
theirs, Just for moment. OF cour
that was because they had to arran!
something about IT, But that momeI
was all they needed to tell with the
eloquent eyes what they wished to So