Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1900-03-05

thing About Rev. Samue1s' Work.
At the st. Johns German Independ-
emit Protestant church, yesterday morn
ing, Rev. Ablahat o. Samuel, the noted
pulpit orator, gave an interesting talk
upon the topic, Persia and the Per-
sians," to a large and appreciative
congregation. Mr.. Samuel is a native
of Persia, and has been ordained by
the American board of Evangelical
churches as a minister among his
countrymen. He has been teaching
and preaching the gospel among the
Persians for the past nine years, and
has met with much success.
Mr.. Samuel began by giving very
beautiful description of Persia in gen.
eral, and spoke of it in fitting terms
as the land of roses and birds and
sheep and camels. 1T has been ruled
over by two hundred and fifty-five
kings he continued, land was known
a long time, probably two thousand
years, before Christ. The tomb of
Queen Esther and Daniel, the prophet,
are found in that country. Persia is
now governed by a Psah, or king,
and he is Mohammedan. He has abb
solute power to do as he wishes. Be-
cause he is a Mohammedan and all
Mohammedans are polygamists, he is
allowed to have about fifty wives and
forty concubines at the royal harem.
AS to Zoroaster, he was the founder
of the religion of fire wOrshipping.
These Zoroaster people have temples,
where they meet for worship. In the
center of each temple is an iron altar,
on the top of which wood is kept con-
stantly burning. They call it the ever
lasting fire and believe that God dwells
in the center of the flames. When they
go to the temple they gather round
the fire in circle to conduct their
services. These people believe the fire,
the ground and the water are sacred,
and also they claim that dead bodies
are defled. Therefore, after a man is
dead, he is not buried in the ground
or burned in the fire or put in the
water. They have no cemeteries at
all, but instead of burying grounds,
they have large tower without a
roof, in which there is a deep well in
the center. Five or six men are ap-
pointed to have charge Of funeral,
and the dead body is taken into the
tower and the gates of the structure
are closed Then vultures descend into
the tower and eat the flesh of the dead
body. 1t requires only few days for
these birds to consume the flesh from
a single body. Later the men having
charge of the funeral again enter the
tower and gather up the bones and
cast them down into the WELL"
I16 OdIu tudI I1C plCf ACAiGiOh
in Persia at present is Mohammedan-
ism. More than nine millions in that
country and over two hundred millions
in the whole world are Mohammedans,
and they are the worst enemies of
Christianity. While these people be-
lieve in the unity of God, they claim
Mohammed as their prophet and medi-
ator. They are a very religious peo-
pie in their own way. When they
have revival services among them
selves for ten days at time every
year, they put infections upon them
selves in various ways. Some tear the
flesh from their breasts by means of
iron hooks, and others dash out their
brains by the use of swords in their
fanatic devotion to their religion.
Persia is now as it was about two
or three thousand years ago. No i'm
provements have been made by the
people of this country during all this
time. They have no railroads, no
manufactures and no steamers. The
native population is in very narrow
financial circumstances ana shows no
desire whatever to progress in the
least their condition in any respect "
Mr.. Samuel further stated that he
was hopeful that a Christian nation
may secure control of the country and
took occasion to remark that while
the English are engaged in South Afri-
ca, Russia has an excellent chance OF
setting a substantial foothold in Per-
STA. She has already consented to per-
nit Russia under certain conditions to
govern her customs houses and build
railroads for her. In this land Eng