The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-09-25
.SECRETSOF 1 'ASSA AT LAST DISCLOSED First Glimpse of the PotaIa is
 Wonderful TREASURES OF GOLD THERE coIden-domed Palace Stirred the Ava. rice of English soIdiers-Fate
 of Early Travellers In the
 Forbidden City.
TREASURES OF GOLD THERE

| ace of the Dalai Lama, while General Macdonald tramps through the streets of the mystery so well preserved for cen turies and rails because there are no l trolley cars.
 Above the heads of the British soldiers rear the massive, gold covered roofs of the palace of the Lama, the famous Red Palace" as It is called and of the Jovo Khang, or temple of the Lord Buddha," of the Kunduling or residence of the Re- gent or King of Tibet. and the massive buildings of the upper and lower Schools of Mysticism.
 There is gold enough in Lassa to pay the national debt of Great Britain and | the United states if the rumor constantly repeated be true, and something of the l truth of this statement Is inferred from l the massive plates of gold which cover the roofs of these buildings
 l As General Macdonald led his little force of British soldiers Into Lassa as l escort to Colonel Younghusband the ] setting sun beamed upon those great acres of massive golden plates in a way that struck the weary marchers with wonder and awe, and as one man they 1 burst into the chorus of Kiplings song, Loot, Loot, Loot!'
 For the first time since time began | for Lassa the great white roads were trodden by the feet of Western men in armed force, singing a rude lit of the I British camp.
 | Already scores of photographs of Lassa | have been taken, and the great heart of the mystery of the secret city has been plucked out ruthlessly.
 1 For the first time since western men began to hear of the secret city of the Lamas. perched high upon the roof of the world" it has been photographed and accurately described
 l The first thing the military men Of 1 Britain did when they entered Lassa, after taking photographs of all available l positions, was to chart and map the town l as though it had been an enemy's forti- | fcation.
 The British foreign office not only pos | esses complete and accurate reports con- | corning the character of the city, the | practices of the Buddhist priests, and the | habits of the citizens, but also charts drawn to scale of every foot of the space within the circular road which bounds the city.
 Form of Great Oval. l Seven miles in circumference is Lassa | in the form of a great oval, but the densely populated part of the town IS 1 comparatively small, and its golden roofs and minarets cluster thickly to- gether.
 The British were met when they enter | ed Lassa not by the Dalai Lama, but by the Amban, the Chinese resident m | Tibet, who is the head of the Tibetan army and the medium of all communlca- ton between Tibet and and the suzerain power, China. Almost as cordially hated | as the English, the Amban greeted the | newcomers pleasantly and with hearty lod hidnOII2-l00klnR priests of the faith the moiks Of Sud 1 aha. refused to venture forth from their l houses and contented themselves with peering forth from within at the Brltlsn | invaders.
 The Dalai Lama who Is but child. but whose body is supposed to contaln | the soul of the great Lama hed rom I,assa when 1t was known that that the British were certain to enter the clty' and at this time he is in hiding in one | of the monasteries in the vicinity Outside of the officials of the Brltlsh government, no one really knows why 1 General Macdonald and Colonel Young l husband have fought passage thfousn l Tibet to Lassa. There Is the pretty iaiiy story of the refusal of the Tibetans to | drink Ceylon tea as required py soiie soi of treaty made years ago. | The Tibetans live on tea and nour' made into a sort of thick paste, and the | sale of tea Is enormous. For thls feasoi tta MacDonald-Y -Younghusband expedition has been the aspect of a military traoe- drumming trip. e.x,a
 Tn Tibet Russia is seeking Iootnoiu' an approach to the boundaries or lhoia' | Russia has always sought to get close U as mauv of the doors into India as pos
 sihla and for this reason the British smiled cannily when, after their hghts III tbe mountain passes, they found that the | guns lying beside the bodies of the deao | ,ribatans who defended the passes agains'
 tbor, hore the marks of the imperial ar senal of Russia
 Whatever may have been the mar
 cause or reason for forcing Brltisf
 column through the mountains or Ilpet
 the people of the civilized world ar'
 chiefly interested in knowing mat tn'
 weird, golden-roofed city or Lassa na'
 been entered at last by white men an'
 that the secrets of the place may now b'
 known.
 The fact that Lassa is situated on
 plain higher than the top of Mont Blan'
 adds something of interest to the aitar
 hut the weirdly mysterious religion
 the people of Lassa and their manner o
 secluding themselves from the world ID
 centuries will appeal in strongest fashiol
 to those who read of the exploit.
 Fate of the Traveller.
 The world has known of Lassa; or tn
 devil dances of the priests through tn | streets of the city; of the approach or pil | grims to this Mecca of Buddhists on tnel
 knees, crawling through the dust or mu
 of the roads, of the torture of the VIC tims of the Buddhist priests.
 Henry Savage Landors fearful suner ings through his attempt to enter Lass
 a few years ago are well remembered
 He got no further than the outskirts 0 the place, and was there seized by priests
 who tortured him in various ways, an
 finally held a white hot sword within
 quarter of an inch of his eyeballs. blind
 ing him for weeks, and impairing hi
 sight for life. He was turned back with
 out having caught more than gilmps of the golden roofs of Lassa. In 1871 an adventurous Englisnmar
 Walter Manning, entered Lassa in dis
 g,,ise. according to his cwn story, bu
 his descriptions were not clear enoug
 to be of any value, and there have bee many who have doubted that he ever go
 within long distance telephone reach o | Lassa.
 In 1s46 two French missionary priests 1 Hue and Gabet. passed inside the gate | of the city with a great mass of pilgrim
 and succeeded In getting out withou
 being discovered. No other European wa
 able to approach the city after that un til Landor got within sight of the gates.
 Pundit Main Sing, an Indian survey ex | plorer entered Lassa in 1866 and In 1S7; and tr 1Qe1 Charles Daa nember n