The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1906-03-18

that he bade fair to rival the ruler him
self His ability to make such d dis
play could be explained in no other
way but that he was rObbing his mas
ter's cash box Rumor had it that this
unwise official had made Overtures to
certain foreign representative with
the intention of placing himself, and
whatever swag ne could get away with,
under the protection of another power.
Before he could make this move, how
ever he was called to the palace and
MS friends never saw him again No
one paid any attention to the report
/ that he had been sent away on an i'm
pOTtant mission, because the story got
out about his refusing cup Of pois-
oned coffee, only to be strangled when
the plan failed. The details OF the
ira gedy became known and were re-
cited everywhere in public and private
even to telling how the doomed man bit
off the thumb of one of his assailants
during the scuffie- It gives one a start
TO have his informant conclude this
story by saying: See that man over
there? Well, one of his thumbs is
gone
This daring man. who allowed moth
ing To stand between him and his fan
ciful dreams of grandeur, had long
sought to be entirely independent of
COnstantinOple Although he held his
place by favor of the sultan, he wanted
to be free of all restraint and go it
alone-a monarch among mOnarchs. As
/ it was he started out to reproduce the
/ gardens of Paris in the desert sand,
and if he had succeeded in all his plans
they might easily have included the
gliding of the pyramids.
How IsmaiI Was Crowned.
/ Believing that the sublime porte
would surely grant him the severance
/ he so earnestly desired. he made his
/ arrangements in advance. He gave a
/ banquet to a company of his closest
/ friends, concluding it with a most orig
/ inal surprise. A duge pie which had
adorned the center of the table during
/ the repast, when opened by the chef
/ released a slender girl dressed like a
fairy. This little sprite stood for a
I moment in the ruins of the crust that
had imprisoned her. looked about in
startling indecision, then tTipped daint-
/ lily across the table to where Ismail
/ sat and placed crown upon his am
! bilious brow.
/ But instead of elevation to independ-
| ent rulership which had thus been prac-
/ tically announced. the sultan sent a
/ telegram addressed to ''Ismail, ex-khe-
/ dive of Egypt" The builder of palaces
/ on land and castles in the air did not
need to open the envelope to know its
contents. The whole story was in the
address He was dethroned in favor of
/ his son. Tewfik Pasha. AS the dreamer
sat brooding over his misfortune the
{ bOndholders were hurrying to take over
the reins of government in order to
/ protect their interests. Ismail made
ready to leave the country at once.
From his harem of a thousand beau
/ ties he selected seventy favOriteS to
accompany him. BY forcing the others
/ TO disgorge their jewels and valuables
/ he managed to save a fortune from the
wreck of his affairs. In addition to
/ this he loaded whole train with costly
/ belongings from his numerous palaces,
/ transferred these to a ship at Alexan-
/ dria. and his countTymen knew him no
1 more until the funeral cortege of the
exile wound its way through the streets
I Of Cairo sixteen years later. The tour
/ ist now looks upon his mausoleum in
/ the Rafai mosque, itself an uncom-
/ pleted and cTumbling relic Of the reign
of him who wasted the substance OF an
empire for a glory that was 'fleeting.
The First-Born Son.
Tewfik Pasha made a small place for
himself in the history of his country.
I His reign was as sombre as his fathers
/ had been brilliant. Tewflk's mother
was a slave in Ismail's harem, and
I when the boy was born she was added
/ to her masters list of legal wives Al
! though it is said that the father form
I ed a dislike for this child of the slave,
/ he could never be persuaded to inter-
/ fere with his rights as the first born.
1 Although the mothers of other sons in
dulged in much plotting to annul the
rights of Tewfik, their efforts proved
unavaiiing- Yet this young prince did
not take advantage of that phase of
Moslem law which made him eligible to
! the Egyptian throne-he had only one
wife.
The experience of TeWf1k proved an
other case whs~e the sins Of the father
we're visited upon the son. He came
70 office almost shorn of power at a
time when his people clamered loudly
TO him for assistance. Being unable to
obtain help from him. they blindly fol-
lowed a false leader. joining in the re-