Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1896-05-07
Assassination Of the Shah of Persia.

While visiting Shrine pear the CIV %
Teheran, last Friday afternoon, the Shah
of Persia was shot by man disguised as
a woman. The assassin fired point oiank
at his breast, and the bullet entered IN
the region Of his heart, and he died with
in a short time thereafter.
Affairs in Persia have been i'll a bad
way + or long time. There was vice
spread discomfort with the Shah's RUE,
based chiefly on the allegation that ne
was subservient to European influence
OF this discomfort TIE priests were tae
chief promoters. Indeed, the Whole
priesthood of the empire was hostile 10
the Shah, and its hostility was scarcely
disguised Before he came to the throne
the priests were all-powertul IN state as
we'll as church, but he had greatly dltilill-
ished their power and largely freeu lhS
Civil Government from their contIoI.
For this they hated him and also tor his
introduction OF various European REFORMS
and his negotitions with European pow
erS.
So for. indeed, had their enmity toward
him proceeded that they omitted from
the ritual of thu mosques the khutoeh,
or praver fer the Shah, and they actually
announced the appearance of the Twelfth
expected Mahdi, or Mohanmedan Mes
81 III. who is to sweep all unbelievers from
the face of the earth and make the True
Faith universal. He had arisen, they
said. at Samara, near Bagdad, and was
known 10 men as Moilah HadJl MIRA
Hassan Shirrzi All the priests avowed
allegiance to him, and so did many OF the
civil dignitaries of the Persian court, IN
Guiding even the Minister OF Mar, Prince
-es-Sultaneh, who is the Shah 5 third
son. Nor was it without omlnous import
that the appearance of this Mahd1 fol
lowed close upon the proclamation OF the
Russian Gar as Emperor OF Central ASA
and his formal recognition OF Nlohanlme-
danism as the established religion OF that
portion of his realm.
Nasr-ed-Din, Shah of Persia, was born
April "a, 1929, and succeeded to the
throne on September 10, IS4S, on the
death of his father. He was crowned at
Teheran, October 20, IS4S, and his Va
liahd, or heir-apparent, Is his eldest son.
uzaf-er-ed-Din, was born March rs,
1872. and who has four sons and fifteen
daughters. ..,
Nasr-ed-Din, although only with the
title Of Shah Of Shahs, or Monarch OF
Persia, dignifed himself King OF Kings;
He was a son of Mohamned Shah, and
| the fourth of the dynasty OF kadJar, a
Turkoman tribe, which gained absolute
control of Persia near the end OF the last
| century.
He leaves a somewhat considerable FAM
| ilv of six sous, fifteen daughters and a
| haren believed to contain upwards OF a
| hundred occupants, only four OF whom,
however. are recognized by the Moham-
medan law as wives.
Little was known of the Shah in the
| western world until the first of his three
| visits to Europe When the Shah LETT
Teheran in 1873 to visit European capi'
| tails. he took with him an enormous toll
! lowing of princes Of the blood, minis
| ters, cooks, pipe bearers, executloners
| palace guards, eunuchs, and few OF MS
| wives. The last named, however, accom-
| panied him only as far as Moscow, toi
| when it was intimated to the Czarina that
| she would be expected to entertain hall
| a dozen Saltanas, she announced that she
would either 90 abroad or declare herself
| i'll and invisible throughout the Shah''
soiourn at St. Petersburg. He. finally
shipped them all back to Teheran.
A characteristic incident occurred wher
he was taking leave of the Gar. After
thanking the latter for his magnificent
hospitality, the Shah of Shahs said:
81 have noticed the way in which you
| govern this great country. l am vel
satisfied with it, You may continue tC
| govern it, for you do 50 very WELL, and
am entirely pleased with YOU
Then he stepped aboard railway train
leaving the Car on the platform, trans
| fixed with astonishmen..
| In Berlin the Shah's conduct was so III
| tolerable that old Kaiser Wilhelm will
| drew from the festivities on plea OF IN
| disposition and refused to see his Persian
| guest again The Empress Augusta was
| put to great endurance i'll entertaining
| the visitor.
| One evening he occupied box at the
| opera with the Empress and Princes
| Ka1l. Whenever he wished to attract the
| Erupress' attention he would clutch he
bare arm as if it was a saber hilt Hav
| ing called for a glass of water, he drank
| the contents at gulp and calmly handed
the empty goblet to the Princess Karl tc
| dispose OF, as if she had been a menia
| attendant. Presently he cleared HI:
| throat, once, twice, thrice, with ever IN
creasing vigor, and then, to the horror
of all around him, deliberately spat into
| the stalls below, which were throngeo
with the hereditary and official arIstoc
racy of the nation, specially invited by
| the Emperor to attend the performance
The Shah occupied apartments in the
royal palace which had been specially
fitted up for his reception. On the tooi
were superb carpets and on the wall:
| priceless tapestries. When he lett the
rooms were found inconcelvably denied
| On the matchless carpets fowls had beer
killed and roasted over braziers of glow
ing charcoal. The rich hangings and the
satin covered upholstery were begrlmec
with dirt, and almost covered with grease
| stains.
At grand state banquet in the Shah:
| honor in Berlin, whenever he got In nj:
mouth food not to his taste he coolly re
moved it and placed it in the lap OF thI
| Empress, who sat next to him. s.
But there was worse in store tor his en-
tertainers in England. On his arriva
| there he was quartered in Buckingham
Palace, and while there sorely tired the
temper OF the Prince of Wales by placing
| his hands on the bare shoulders OF the
| Princess while talking to her.
During his visit he was entertained by
the Duke of Sutherland at his magnifl
| cent country seat at Trentham. tie al
tefwards suggested to the Prince ct Wales
that it would be very advisable to put the
Duke to death, as he was much too pow
erful and wealthy for subject.
When the Persian visitor left England
it cost $4,000 to render Buckingham
palace habitable The slaughter OF
! live sheep for sacrifcial purposes III one
of the Queens daintiest ooudolrs was hui
4 oh of 40
grandee's offenses Quantities OF disin
fectants had to be used before the palace
attaches would venture to clean up some
of the rooms occupied by his Persian ma
| jesty.
At Paris, where he was received II
| great state by President Mcmahon, he
| did somewhat better, but when he left
| the country his baggage was stopped OF
the French frontier by several Parisiar
| jewellers, and the Government was com
| Delled to pay them for articles he hac
| bought for the defni -mondaines OF the
capital.
At Vienna, where he was entertained
by the Emperor, Francis Joseph l., anc
where he was quartered at the chateau o.
| Luxembourg, afterward the residence o
the Crown Princess StephHnie, he go
| into serious trouble over young woman
whom he treated with gross brutality
The Persian monarch had developed dur
ing the previous portion of his tour
strong taste for champagne, and wa
staggering about in a maudlin state dur
ing the major portion of his stay IN th'
Austrian capital.
Nothing was more curious than t
watch the Emperor present some dlstin
guished statesman or soldier to his Orlen
| ,,,-,a