Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1903-01-29
SULU SULTAN
INTERESTING
HAD MANY WIVES AND WAS
UNCLE SANS PENsIoNER.
FALLS VICTIM TO CHOLERA
Was a Unique Character and Welded
Great Religious and Civil Power
His Mother Went to Jolo as
SIave-Fier Rise to Power Com
pared With Dowager Empress.

pared With DoWager Empress.
The sultan Of Sulu, who died recent
ly Of cholera was an interesting char
acter. His mother went to Jolo as
slave. Her career has been compared
with the rise in power of the dowager
empress of China. She once asked
the Philippine commission for
poison in order to enable her to pro-
tect her son in the sultanate.
Fo~ a salary of $3.50 a month in
Mexican money, equal to about 1925
in gold, Mohammed Jamalul Hiram,
the sultan of Sulu, came under the
protection of the American flag. Be
sides this the United States pays 500
year to his heir and $500 a year to
each of his three cOunselors.
Gen. John c. Bates negotiated the
treaty by which the sultan made him
self and his people subjects of the
United States. To assist in making
the treaty General Bates carried with
him to Sulu $4,000.
Frank G. Carpenter, after a recent
visit to the sultan, wrote him as fol-
lows:
Imagine a stocky little fellow of
not over five feet four inches with the
face of a mulatto, slightly potmarked.
Let him have a high receding fore
head, large yellow ears and sensual
lips, on the upper one Of which is a
thin black moustache. Upon his head
put blue velvet cap about six inches
high and let this be pushed back
from his dark forehead. Let him
seem uncomfortable in a light Euro
pean business suit and a white shirt
with a turnover collar, fastened with
a collar button.
Watch him as he opens his lips
and notice his teeth are jet black, and
see, if you can, the sly, cunning cruel
look under Lis apparently dignifed
manner Up>n his hands put rings,
each set with pea. Is as big as marrow
fat peas and in one of them let him
hold a gold-headed cane, and you have
a fair idea Of the sultan as he sat be-
fore me not "a hours ago.
indeed, the dattos and servants about
him looked much more imposing than
he. The sultan's brother, Rajah Mu-
ia, had a great bolo at his side, his
headdress was a turban. He was
clad in the picturesque Moro costume
as were all the men in the room, ex-
cept the foreigners and his majesty
himself
The p. esent sultan looked to me
very weak, but he is a man of great
power among the Moros, and he could,
if he would, cause the United States
no end of trouble. He has been dip
lomatically managed in the first place
by General Bates and of late by Nal
Owen J. Sweet. He is, you know, the
greatest of our Filipino Mohammed-
ans, being reverenced by them not
only because he is the heir of royal
line of sultans, but also because he
has made a pilgrimage to Mecca, and
is supposed to have his Mohammedan-
ism direct from the fountain source
He is the ruler of the Sulu islands
alone of about 100000 Moros, and is
also the head of the Moros of north
Borneo He has some kind OF author
ity ove- the Moros of Mindanao, but
is more nominal than real, and such
dattos as Mandi and others hardly &C
knowledged him.
Here in SuIu he is supposed to
| have the power Of life and death over
his subjects His power. is limited,
however, somewhat like that OF the
kings in the days Of feudalism Some
of the dattos refuse to obey him and
make war upon him in case his de-
mands do not suit their ideas and
plans. He has always more or less
trouble with is people, depressing
them as far as he can without causing
rebellion.
"A large part Of the income of the
sultan comes from fines. He has his
men watch to see which Of his sub
jects are making money, and as soon
as a man gets something ahead he is
charged with some crime and the re-
suit is fine.
According to the laws here every
pearl which is found of a value of
/ about 500 goes to the sultan. and
. am told that he has a great fortune
in pearls stored away in his barn of
a palace Just before he went to
Mecca he sold pearls to the amount
of 100000 He carried lot of pearls