Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-03-15
Cost Over $50, 1000, 600.


The records show also that the tomb cost
more than s20OO0.0OO of our money. not
including labor. for like those other famous
tombs, the pyramids of Egypt this Won
derful structure, was erected by forced la
Dor. by unpaid workmen who were drafted
from their shops and farms by order of
the mogul for that purpose and according
10 che custom of the time, they were com
PEELED to support themselves as well as
their families during the period of their
employment.
Thousands of those poor helpless crea-
lures died of starvation and exhaustion:
thousands died of disease and thousands
snore' lncluolng women and children, suf-
Tered untold distress and agony. all be-
cause one loving husband desired to do
honor to the favorite among his MANY
wives. The Workmen were changed at In
serVals, o.Uo being constantly employed
IoT twenty-five years upon this eIegy in
marble The descendants of some of the
trusts engaged upon its matchless decora-
tlon sun i've in Agra and enjoy a certain
instruction because of their ancestry Forty
OF nrty or them were employed by Gov
ernor La Fouche in making repairs and
RESERVATIONS last year. and dozen or more
are Still at work. 1t is customary in this
country Ior sons to follow the occupations
of their fathers
The road to the Tai MahaI from the civ
o. agra crosses the River Jumna, winds
ABOUT among modern bungalows in which
bIitIsh oHclais and military officers reside.
alternating with the ruins of ancient nal
aces, tombs. temples and shrines which re
allowed to deface the landscape Some of
the fields are cultivated and at this TINE
OF the year the business of the farmers
seems chiefly to be that of hoisting water
from wells to irrigate their crops They
nave curious method team of oxen
ho1sts the buckets with a long rope run
nlng over pulley. and every time they
make trip along the weIl-worp pathway
they dump barrel or more OF m,lch-need
ed moisture into ditch that feeds the
thirsty ground. The roadway is well Kent
II Was MADE several centuries ago, and
was put IN perfect order last year on ac-
count of the durbar at Delhi which
brought thousands of critical strangers to
see the Tai Mahal. which really is the
srea'est sight IN India and is more famous
than any other building, except, perhaps.
ST Peters Cathedral at Rome.
Inc road leads up to a superb gateway of
red sandstone inlaid with inscriptions from
the Koran In white marble, and surmount-
ed by twenty-six small marble domes
Moorish kiosks, arches and pinnac1es. This
gateway is considered one of the finest ar
chltectural monuments in all India. Bay
itself '
You pass under noblearch 40 feet high
and ITO feet wide, which is guarded by a
group OF Moslem priests and squad of
from vandals. Having passed this gate
way, you find yourself hi the top of a flight
or wide steps overlooking great garden.
which was originally laid out by the Mo-
gui Shah Jehan, and by Lord Curzon's or
ders was restored last year as nearly as
possible to its original condition and an
pearance About fifty acres are incIosed
by high wall of design appropriate to
its purpose. There are groups of cypress
equal In size and beauty to any in India
groves or orange and lemon trees, palms
and pomegranates. towering plants and
shrubs, through which .yinding walks of
First View Of the Tomb.
From the steps of the gateway to the
tomb is vista about hundred feet wide.
paved with white and black marble with
tesselated designs. inelosed with walls of
cypress boughs- In the center is a series
or tanks or marble basins, fed from fount-
aims, and goldfish swim about the limpid
water. This vista, OF course was intended
to make the first view as impressive as
possible, and 1t Is safe to say that there is
no other equal to it. At the other end of
the marble-paved tunnel of trees, against
eloudless sky, rises the most symmetri-
cal. the most perfect, perhaps the only
faultless building in existence. At first
one is inclined to be little bewfldered. a
little dazed. as IL the senses Were para
lyzed and could not adjust themselves to
this poem in MARBLE" or vision in mar
BILE, or dream in MARBLE" as poets and
artists have rhapsodized over it for four
centuries
A Mode for Centuries.
No building has heen rx1oro often d.