Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1896-04-09

An AsYsslkiIIlll RON MOE
wxhe queen OF Queene,s Wl1e -
Ne9us q Ethiopin
It is said that much Of King NO.
lexis success IN life is due to his que
Ta0ti, lady Of 46 summers, and 10 N
ton. Like Menelek. who is her cousin,
she is descended from Solomon. She
seems to have inherited that mon
arch's propensity for marriage. for she
has been Joined in wedlock, first and
last. no less than six times, her several
husbands including two neguses Cor
emperors), two generals, one governor
and an insignificant Abyssinian Croe-
sus. Aside from the fact that they
were men Of distinction, the five prede~
cessors of Menelek were not very de-
sirable husbands. She was betrothed
to her cousin, Menelek, as far back as
1866, when she was only 16 years old,
and Theodore. who was then 1egus.
invited them to visit him-probably
at Axun. The moment Theodore set
eyes on .Taoti he desired to marry her
himself, and told the young people SO.
They demurred, but Theodore was per-
sistent. He Immediately made Taoti
his wife, and conso1ed Menelek by Civ
ing him, out of hand, his own daughter.
Tofana. Menelek was then in no POI
sition to make row. He thanked
Theodore, and carried away Tofana to.
Ankobar, the capital of Shoa, the king
dom of his fathers.
Theodore, they say, used to beat his
wife, partly from jealousy. for she
mourned for Menelelx; but in the spring
of 1867, when Lord Napier and his army
stor1ned the grim fortress of Magdala,
in which Theodore had shut himself
up, she was released from him by his
suicide. A little while afterward she
married Ualde Gabriel, an Abyssinian
general. who a year later was killed on
the field of battle. She quickly mar
ried another soldier, Zen. Tackle
Ghiorghis, commander In chief Of the
army of the king of Tigre. She wear.
led of him, and obtained divorce, In
order to marry the governor OF Egiou.
Their honeymoon WIS interrupted by
Negus John. who, on political charge.
clapped the governor into prison, and
presently made away with him. Taoti
evidently loved this husband, for she
shut herself up in q nunnery for awhile.
But she soon found that she was
born for the world OF affairs, and OBJ
tanned dispensation from the abouna
or archbishop of Abyssinia, which re-
leased her from her vows. Shortly
after this she met Mr.. Zeccaragagiou,
who had made substantial fortune
out of the slave trade, and other mer-
camille ventures. Him she married
only to find that he was q worse wife
beaten than Theodore of somewhat
dim memory. Telling him one day
that she was going to visit her mother.
she gathered together her belongings
and left him, never to return. In 1882
while she was living with her brother,
she met Menclek again, after 16 years.
It was case of love at second sight.
Menelek begged her to return to An
kobar with him. She replied that she
did not propose to play second fiddle to
Tofana, her step-daughtcr. Menelek
vowed that he would manage that IL
she would go with him. She consent
ed. It is said that when Taoti and
Tofana met there was scene. But
Menelek Gained the troubled waters
Whose death followed .w;th an alto.
gether suspicious rapidity." In 1885
Taoti was married to Menelek with Inn
posing ceremony. Four years later.
on the death OF King John, he pro-
80. 49,, .,,h,;o,,s o,o,rr.a -.
= AZ, ....s -, - 49,.