Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-12-08
!
The Empress Ethiopia CenteJ ande Emperors Gandcd

Lord" THE King of Kings" is dead or
dying, and the next day the statement is
contradicted. Abyssnia is a poor pace to
look for accurate news There are no news
papers in the country. correspondents are
very scarce and the gentle art Of writing
is not so we'll developed as it is in the Dis
trict of Columbia and at other capitals.
Mr.. Robert P. Skinner of Massillon, Ohio,
and our consul general at .Marseilles, in
charming book entitled Abyssfnia of To-
day, which has just been published says
that Menelik Knew of our war with Spain
and he had realization, though vague, of
our might and power. His thirst for in
formation is phenomenal Europeans in
the east, where newspapers are scarce and
slow in coming, fall back upon very use
full institution, called Reuters Reuters is
a news-gathering concern, whose brief tele
grams are sent to those able to afford this
luxury They come. in typeWrtten sheets,
and are usually to be seen at hoteis and
the clubs of the seacoast cities. When
weeks dispatches have accumulated. they
are sent by the mail boat frcm Alden to
Djibouti, whence they are reforWarded to
Dire Daouah. Here the English is put into
French, and the important facts are i'm
mediateiy teiephoned to Addis-AbaDa, the
longer dispatches following by d courier,
to be translated into Amharc Tor the deco
tatiou OF the emperor.
His majesty speaks no language but
Amhar!c, un.ess, perhaps, one or two OF
the local dialects. He doubtless recos-
nzes a number OF the comnonly used
French expressions, and on the day when
We left the city he paid us a delicate com
plment by saying in English How do.
He has always at hand Il very competent
interpreter. who is also his private secre-
tary, NJ. Sourvis, a Greek gentleman who
speaks French, Spanish, Italian and Eng
| lish. Cur conversations were invariably car
| RED on in French. as between the inter-
prefer and myself; indeed, French is the
| only foreign tongue one hears much in
| Ethiopia. 1t was surprising to find in
| country where English political influence
was predominant so little of that lam
guage. There are no English merchants in
| the empire, although there are hundreds of
Freuchmen scattered throughout the coun
t Many of the natives have smatter-
! ing of French and servants seem to pick
it up more readily than they do English"
Mr.. Skinner, you know, went to Ethio-
pa which is the proper name of Abys-
siaia as a special commissioner from the
government of the United States to open
up relations between one of the Oldest gov
ernmentS on earth and our own, and he
negotiated a commercial treaty with the
son of solomon and the Queen of Sheba.
Al yssinia is very little known, although, S
Mr. Skinner declares, the opportunity for
| fruitful historical and linguistic research is
/ a most tempting one. We devote millions
| to the uncovering of ancient cities dead.
he says, land we neglect an ancient civiliz&-
| ton living; a civilization which found it's
| inspiration in Solomon's court, and which.
preserving it's Christian faith through six
| teen hundred years, and during many CEN
| turtles cut off from all contact with the out
| side world, hands itself down to us In all
essential respects, identical with that which
prevailed in Bethlehem two thousand years
ago. I trust that the earnest student will
| not be too late. for when steam has replaced
! the camel and the mule. the old Ethiop. a
! Will have passed away forever"
The Queens Visit to Solomon.
The Abyssinians are Christians They
accepted Christianity in the fourth century.
| but still retain many of the ancient
| Mosaic laws and customs AS Mr. Skin
ner says, their judges administer justice
based upon the prccepts of the open Bible
in their hands" Abyssinian tradition
recognizes Meneiik descendan Mt of King
Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, who is
identified as Makeda, Queen OF Ethiopia.
| bern 1920 b. c. and placed upon the throne
at the age OF fifteen. One of So.omon's
generals Boulboul by name, while on visit
TO Ethiopia, saw Makeda. the Queen of the
South. and upon his return to Jerusalem,
gave Solomon such a glowing account of
hundred wives already, the w.sest of kings
ginning with these words
In the name of God, Clement and Merci-
full. Solomon, servitor of God. and son of