The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-12-06

in the middle of two hundred folks was
not easy 1t was difficult to be patient
On one occasion q stone was thrown
then another The crowd opened out
to give facility for the stonirg. We
dashed inside the chapar-khanna. \
dash was made to follow. But when
once our machines were safe--and we
were always more careful of our
machines than of ourselves-wc would
turn to the. doorway, and, following
the Hibernian advice of when you see
head, hit it, let loose with our fists
with all the energy we possessed
When the doors We're barricaded, we
would look round. The room was
grimed with smoke, and smothered in
dust. First of all, we ordered wood
fire, Tor the nights in Persia are cold
There was always trouble in finding
wood; when ablaze, the smoke nearly
suffocated us. We told the postmaster
to bring rugs.
Rugs" he would eXciaim, there
isn't such thing in the village" Go
and fetch rugs we would reply; land
look here make your boy prepare tea
at once and in an hour and a half you
must bell Us a lot of rice and fetch
us q dozen pomogranates."
In vain he protested that it was i'm
possible.
"Go? we roared. and, Selling him,
we gave him push on his way.
He brought the things.
1t was absolutely necessary to be de-
termined and bullying. At first we
tried gentleness and persuasion. The
result was we starved. A Persian re-
spects you if he fears yon.
We never secured much variety of
food. We generally asked for mutton.
But to secure mutton in Persia one
must usually buy the sheep alive, and
lii c-l- ina
cooking occupies too much time when
three men are irritable with hunger.
We rarely paid more than fourteen
cents for leg of mutton. One of us
prepared a nice ember fire, while an
other hacked the joint into one-ounce
morsels. These were threaded on
wire, and then, twisted and twirled
over the red ashes, were cooked. This
method of preparing mutton was
favorite one with us.
Often we had fowls, paying ten cents
apiece for them. Indeed, to, be strict
ly accurate, we nearly always had
fowls. because they were easily OBJ
tainable, whereas mutton seldom was,
and we did not care to embark on the
wholesale extravaganza of buying
live sheep, for which we would have to
pay half a dollar.
The PerSians are not bigoted Mo-
hammedans. and frequently we had
food in native houses. Removing our
| shoes. we squatted on the floor, sitting
| tailor-fashion. A big tray piled with
rice would be in the center. Knives,
| forks and spoons are not USED tfcre,
| so everybody eats with his fingers. 1t
| is hard at first to eat rice without
| making a hash of yourself and the
! floor But after Il while you succeed
! in kneading a little ball. This is rest
ed on the forepart of the fingers. rails
| ed to the mouth, and finally shot IN
| with the thumb. After you have mad
a lot of rice. green, shiny steWs are
! nlaced before you, and you dive IN
your fingers and pull to your plate
what YOU want bowl of sherbet
| stands by. and you all drink from the
! same SPOON 1t is quite the proper
| thing for the host to pick something
| from your plate, which is an 1ndica-
ton there is no poison. Indeed at the
| house of the Persian gentleman, ne al
wavs took something from my plate
| before commenced eating myself. The
! greatest mark of honor is when the
host discovers a tit-bit on his own
! Mate and. holding it between his finger
and thumb, pops it into your mouth
There were some singular experiences
on the road At Tabriz we were pur-
sued by a bowling mob right through
the baZars. We saw a couple of police
men, or guards, pr solulelS' vi uiii'Is'
and requested them to show us the
wav. .'How much will you give us?'
was the first thing they asked. And
| there we had to stand bargaining what
was the price of their civility. Per
haps. after all, there was nothing
strange in this. Every office in Persia
goes to the highest bidder, and the
town guards must pay for their posi-
lions.
We rather expected trouble, leaving
the town; so we got a couple of mount
ed soldiers to see us safe beyond the
gates. One rode on in front. bawling
for way to be cleared, slicing at peo-
pie with his whip, and turning camels,
donkeys and their drivers UP side
streets Four or five hundred people
tumbed after US, making fearful din.