The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-10-27

and the scenes about me are stranger thah
those of the days OF Haroun al Raschid IN
Cairo and Bagdad. Princes and mobiles III
gorgeous costumes strut through the streets
with their woman servants ana slaves iot-
lowing them. Some so about under huge
umbrellas of gold. silver and cloth of bright
colors. The common people squat down on
;he ground as they pass and look up IN
reverence. This city IS the capital of one
of the native States. and ii has a Sultan,
who has a great palace city within it
The palace city has white walls % feet
high all around II. 1t c~ontaiIa magnificent
buildings. the homes OF the Princes and the
poorer houses of the mobiles of the court.
1t contains an enormous harem. 1t has a
menagerie of tigers. lions and other wild
animals. as well as State elephants which
go about in his Majesty's professions.
There are more than 1900 people connect
ed with the court of this Javanese monarch.
and he has soldiers. slaves and treasures
galore. He maintains the same state no"
that his ancestors had hundreds of years
ago. for though the Dutch rule his Province.
they do So solely through him. making the
people believe that they are obeying the
Sultan. 1t is the same with the great State
adjoining. that Of Soerkarta. where the Sui
tan of Solo lives. of whom 1 shall write
later on.
island. and they are still looked up 10 by
the natives. The Dutch appreciate their
power, and keep the hand Of iron concealed
In the velvet glove with which they handle
them. Right in front of the palace inclosure
there is "A barracks filed with Dutch SOL
diers. and about the whole is a moat with
drawbridges which can be lowered or raised.
The palace is fortified. and there are cannon
on the walls, nominally to protect the Sui
tan. but SO arranged that they could be
easily turned on his palace ard shatter his
imperial city to pieces.
VISIT TO THE SULTAN.
The Dutch resident Governor has the
same standing as the Sultan. He sits be-
side him on public occasions and is on a
level with him. The Sultan sends word
to the resident every morning asking how
he has rested and the resident replies in
turn. When the Sultan goes out In state he
has gorgeous gold umbrellas above him,
held by his servants, and when the resi-
dent calls on the Sultan 1t is in a coach
with four horses with similar umbrellas
held over him.
Through my letters from the Governor
General of the Dutch East Indies / was
invited by the resident to attend a great
function at the palace of the Sultan. 1t
was the circumcision Of one OF the Sultan's
sons. according to the rites Of the Moham-
nsedan religion. and all the court and the
highest OF the Dutch officials were invited
TO attend. Before my invitation was ten
dered I was asked II I had a dress suit and
white necktie and was told that 1 must be
in full evening dress. although the ceremony
was to take place at Z o'clock in the morn
ing.
We started from the palace Of the resi-
dent At $50 q. n. Our party was all in full
dress. There were a dozen rich Dutch
planters. several Officers of the army, each
of whom was respondent in gold lace and
trimmings, and also the civil officials who
wore evening clothes. The party all told
was moro like a group of the best-dressed
mep taken from a diplomatic reception at
the White House than what you would ex-
pect to and on this island. generally sup
posed to be a Jungle of savages. rhinoce-
roses. tigers and snakes. We rode to the
palace in state escorted by the European
guards Of the Sultan. These number thirty
two. They were mounted on fine. black
Australian horses and always
the Sultan when he goes out OF the palace.
They are stationed inside his city nomi-
na1y Ter his protection and nominally I'M
der his control. but in reality as a guard
to prevent revolution or conspiracy against
the Dutch rule without.
GOING IN STATE.
Our procession was. I Judge. at least a
half mile long. The resident, surrounded
BY his guard. rode at the head in a splendid
carriage drawn by four housekeeping. fawn-
colorod Javanese ponies. His coachman was
In livery. and his footmen stood beside him
carrying the great golden umbrellas which
formed Q part Of his state. Behind cana
the assistant resident. a fne-looking Hoi-
lander. in q coat Of gold braid, but with
more modest umbrellas. He had also four
horses. Further back were other four-horse
eQuipages. and then came the more modest
two-horse carriages. each with its swell
coanhmen and footmen. containing the
planters and ~visitors. and among them my
sell.
I wish you could have seen the natives
dropping down to the earth and looking up
1t us almost with reverence as We dashed
down the long avenue Of wide-spreading
trees which leads from the home of the res
ident to the kraton, or palace city Of his
Majesty. We went through a great gate
BY Q crowd Of native soldiers and officials,
who s~traightway sQuatted until our pro-
cooston was by. We drove across q great
court inside the wallis. and finally stopped
before another gorgeous gateway. the en-
trance 70 the palace grounds proper.
Horo there were officials wearing high
white and black suEarloaf caps. not unlike
those worn by the Persians or Korean gen.
tlemen at home. Each cap was about eight
inches high, without visor. 1t was tho eI.
act shape Of a sugarloaf. with the top
chopped or. and was made OF some trans
parent material which looked to me like
parafiine wax. From the ears to the waist
the officials were perfectly bare. for. accord
ing to court etiquette no man must wear q
Jacket or anything around the upper part
Of his body while In the palace of the Sui
tan. Eacn 0Inclal na0 q gorgeous WAIST
cloth belted about him.. falling from his
waist to his thighs. and under this a pair
of tight pantaloons. Each man had a great
knife or kris. with gorgeous handle Of silver
or gold, In his belt. and the richly-carved
metal showed out against the highly-colored
calico waistcloth. We saw Thousands OF
these men as We went on inside the palace.
They sQuatted in salutation as we passed.
and later on squatted about in front OF the
great pavilion where We were entertained
by the Sultan.
THE SULTAN AT HOME.
This pavilion had a vast roof. upheld by
many wooden pillars, beautifully carved and
decorated with red lacquer and gold. The
Sultan was sitting upon a throne within it
as we came up. and the Crown Prince
stepped down from a lower seat and came
out to the Dutch resident and shook hands
with MIN. As the Sultan saw the resident
lie arose and stepped forward. the Dutch
resident moved toward him. and the two of
them shook hands and sat down side by side.
We merely bowed to his Majesty and were
then conducted to seats in the rear Of aim.
which gave US an excellent view of the
court.
The scene was a curious one. In front OF
US and to the left. extending on and on to
tie walls. was a sea Of these half-naked
mobiles. each sQuatting on his launches.
with his white cap on his head. To the
right. more in front Of the Sultan. was an
equally large collection Of women, all bare
headed. bare-necked and bare-shouldered.
and all squatting down on their heels. Each
had a CAV saro1y wrappei tightly about