The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-05-17
STORIES TT THE LATE SHAH
some OF His Remarkable DoinEs when He
Was in London and Paris.

some OF His Remarkable Doings when He
Was in London and Paris
LONDON. May 9.-Thcre Is no end to the
stories about the late Shah. They are of two
kinds-trLe stories and stories good enough to
DO true. The proportion of one kind to the
other is about one in one hundred. 1t is
not easy to get at the truth about the reports
with regard to the wealth of the Shah. 1t Is
well known that the late monarch considerably
Increased the royal possessions during his
reign. Everybody has read about his treasure
house. with It's quarts of diamonds, pecks of
pearls, and bushels of less precious Jewels,
but 1t is necessary to discount these yarns
very materially. II is true that the Shah's
treasures in jewelry and precious stones are
of almost Incredible value, but much of the
contents OF his carefully guarded treasure
room is mere trash. There are diamonds.
rubies. and pearls of wonderful splendor. and
hey are kept loose In glass tumblcrs and de-
~canters. so plIced by direction of their late
owner in order that he might see at a glance
II their quantity had appreciably diminished.
Perhaps the most tempting sight in the whole
room IL q large aquarium glass case filled with
nothing but carefully sorted pearls of the
finest Oriental lustre. By the side Of this
stupendous mass OF riches is a heap of tawdry
articles de Paris" hardly good enough for
a charity bazaar. Some beautiful enamelled
paintings on gold have between them a lot Of
cheap German acknowledgements. Prof.
Vambery Of Budapest, who has carefully ex-
amined all the Shah's treasures. estimates their
total value at $50, OO0. 900.
Most of the London and Paris stories about
the Shah are told in connection with his
past visits to those capitals. Below / give a
small collection of what l believe deserve to
rank as true stories about his dusky Majesty:
nv t1. Clal1, 80 ,t,; o. -Iu- -
salisbury gave a garden party in his honor at
Hatfield. The entertainment of the guests
included an exhibition Of craftsmanship by II
man who shot cOrks off of q lady's head. The
shah, seeing 1t was 80 easy, apparently. asked
II he might try. He took a repeating rifle. in
his hand, and swung 1t around carelessly in
the direction of Lord Salisbury and some Of the
guests, very much to their CONSERVATION. The
lady performer was impolite enough to refuse
to allow the Shah to shoot at anything on
her head. Very WELL" remarked his Males.
ty. and turning to the Prime Minister he In.
vited him to take the lady's place. Lord Sails
bury's declination was kind and polite, but
very firm. In the end the Shah was disarmed.
The Prince Of Wales took the Shah to ths
sandown Park races while he was here.
| During the afternoon the Prince put q 95
| note on one of the horses in the Shah's name.
After the race the Prince handed the Shah q
flO bank note. which he explained were his
winnings. The Shah handed the note to the
little 10y OF his staff to play with. This little
boy, by the way. who never left the Shah's
side while he WAS in Europe. was not a boy
at all. but the favorite lady of the Shah's
harem. who travelled In this disguise out Of
respect to European sensibilities.
Not long after the boy received the bank
note there was a futter of bits Of paper from
tJn rnpnl In~ rn1 pnlar ~ a. .---
tan police, who was in chargs of the arrange.
ments. had the pieces Of paper carefully col
lected from the track below. He pasted them
together and presented the restored note TO tho
Prince, who still retains II as a memento of
the Shah's visit. The Shah rem arked after
ward that of course the horse that the Prince
su pposed would win was sure to do scat
least. he said. 1t would be that way In Persia.
The greatest trouble which his English en-.
tertainers had TO contend with was the Shah's
utter lack of the virtue Of punctuality. On
one occasion he had promised to attend a swell
social function. where he was to arrive at 8 80
In the evening. Ten and even IL o'clock came
without any sign of the Shah. At last the So
luton of the mystery arrived. His Majesty
had gone to sleep after dinner, and no one
dared awaken him. for the Persian belief is
that when Il person Is asleep the soul leaves
the body, so that If suddenly awakened the
sleeper will die.
The host OF the evening was equal to the &C.
aston. He chastity DESPATCHED the band in
his garden to play outside the room where tho
Shah was sleeping. The drum ner had strict
instructions to put all the muscle he possessed
into tho manipulation Of his instrument. The
plan succeeded, and shortly before midnight
the Shah arrived.
The late monarch possessed n certain frank
pasa NJ a YDrasgion which VIVA anTnatip,na -
cullarly embarrassing to those about him.
An extremely clever English woman, who is
not beautiful of feature. was among those pre-
sented to him at a London reception. The
Shah favored her with a prolonged stare and
then exclaimed, "What does her husband keen
her forE"
His Majesty was taken to several English
factories. At one n large number OF female
operators were employed. In honor of the oc-
casiOn. they we're clad In spOtlessly clean cotton
gowns, with red shawls folded picturesouely
over their heads. The Shah was immensely
lnterested-not in tho manufacturing. but In
the young women. lie looked from one
comedy face to another and finally turned sud
denly TO tho proprietor, e%xclaiming, ''Oh, You
sly Englishman, this Is your private quarter,
and n very good ono, too" 1t was impossible
to convince the shah that the establishment
was not the owners private harem.
For months after the Shah's visit to Paris
he was made 10 figure in most OF the question
able club stories of the town. AS far as ia
officially known, however, this Is the extent
Of the foundation OF them. His Majesty orc
dag asked NJ, Dufaure, a me.Aber OF the Cahi-
net and a stern rigorlst In soc ial morality, TO
act as his guide in a round of Paris frivollties.
Dufaure replied that age prevented him, and
slyly suggested that VI. Barthclemey Saint
Hilaire would lie his best cicerone. He intro
duced that statesman, who forthwith started
oil with the shah. lie took hin To I 40 places
the French Institute and the National Ii.
brary.