Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-07-02

L
Tended his people by granting too liberal
concessions to foreigners. and among these
monopoly of tobacco to a group of English
| spectators. In 1896 a mollah. or religious
chief. shot and killed the shah while en-
tering a shrine near Teheran. His son.
Muzaffer-el-Din. succeeded. May !. 1896
Muzaffer. whose native title is hahinsha
(king OF kings). was born in 1853. His rule
is absolute. being. In fact. lord OF all with
In the limits OF Persia. The Office of sadr
azam. or grand vizier. is held by Prince Aim
el-Dowleh: the portfolios of war by Amir
Khan Serdar: finances by Mushir- el-Salta-
nah: Justice by Nizam- Mulk. commerce.
instruction. posts. telegraphs and customs
by Mr.. l. Naus. Belgian The shah may
claim that he Is In no danger from race sui
| eide for the palpable reason that his prog
| eny consists up 10 date of six boys and
twelve girls.
The Persian colony in Cairo. Egypt. is
considerable. There the writer. during a
long residence. witnessed n peculiar mani
festation of their faith In Hussen. the son
OF All and grandson OF the prophet Mo-
| hamet. The Persian schismatics are
known As SchifteS, the orthodox Mussulmen
as Sunites.
The fete of Leylet Ashoora. or Night of
the Ashoora. commentaries the death of
Hussein. A procession num-
PICTURESQUE bering several thousand Per-
Custom. sian Schiites. clothed I'm white
ropes ana prece0eu Dy Cnitu
mounted on a white horse and holding aioft
tiny sword. forms at midnight Of a GER
| tain day of the year and marches through
the streets to a mosque. At given signal.
while route. the Schiite cuts and hacks
his body with knives until his garments are
dabbied and saturated with blood mean
while rending the air with lamentations and
cries of ''Hussein! Hussein. The Egyptian
government protects this schismatic mani
festatfon from the fury OF the faithful by
the presence of strong detachment of reg
ular troops.
There are other sects in Persia. notably
one named Bobe. established by Mira Mo-
manned All Of Chiraz country famous for
Its wines and as the birthplace of the cele-
Mira Mohammed. who ascribed the at
tributes of Christ to his ideal. taught that
there would come the millennium and that
he, Mira. was the true prophet.
An article from the Daily Consular Re-
ports. published by the Department of Com
merce and Labor, and entitled THE Recla-
nation of Mesopotamia," says:
European manufacturers need cotton,
wool, hides, minerals etc. Asia Minor will
be called on before long to supply in part
these demands. Europe also requires food
stuffs. Anatolia. Mesopotamia and the Irak
(Persia) are expected almost to equal Rus
| STA as a granary. Divested from her deal
| ings with the midas by the discovery of
America, Europe is once more turning her
u
| toward the new world laid Asia Minor and
Mesopotamia waste so it's new march from
central Europe toward the east will cause
the countries of western Asia to thrive and
| flourish.
French. British, German and Belgian cap
italists are engaged in projecting and con-
structng a network of rail-
modern ways from the Red. Mediter-
Enterprises. ranean. Black and Caspian
seas, converging at Bassorah
on the Persian gulf. thence across Persia
| to the Indus. The value of these lines to
Russia was made the subject of an article
| in the London Standard of September 5,
1903. based upon a note from St. Peters
burg:
"A railroad, says the Novoe Vremya. run
ming from India through Bauchistan,
southern Persia and Mesopotamia to the
Bosphorus in British and German hands
| would deprive Russia of all outlet in the d.
rection of the Indian ocean and render
nugatory her advance movement In central
Asia toward the south. Such prospect
remote though it still appears to be- cannot
fail to alarm Russia. . Persia is to-
day the only position which Russia could
| occupy peacefully and whose possessions
will bring us on the flank of the Germans in
Mesopotanlia and of the British in Balu-
I
| taken, however, since every delay will rem
der more difficult the attainment of an OBJ
! ject which historical reasons prevent us in
any case from treating with disdain.'
With such knowledge and appreciation of
her immense interests at stake in Persia ii
! is incredible that Russia should have COM
mitted the mistake of provoking the present
conflict with Japan. The withdrawal OF
Russia's pretensions in Korea would have
deferred collision which may have been
inevitable, but it could have been adjourned.
1t appears that the counsels of such spirits
as Murayieff and Ignatieff no longer pre-
side at the council table at the KremIin;
that Russia indeed has lost her traditional
tact and cunning. Those whom Jupiter
| wishes to destroy he first makes mad"
Small wonder. then, in the light of such
unexpected events that the Emperor Will
liam should conceive the idea that Germany
might take the place of Russia alongside of
France. with all it meant to Russia along
the Persian pathway to India. France it
is true was left alone in Europe. but was
not Germany also? The triple alliance is
only an unmeaning expression. The visit to
Tangier was blunder. 1t would not have
been counseled by Bismarck: it surely was
not inspired by Buelow. The blow aimed al
France would wound England and consti--
tute an alliance which would defeat the
emperors intention fatally. The emperor
played upon the happening of the unex-
pected in oriental things and lost If the
Enic frr