Los Angeles herald., 1906-07-29

William Walker has not since |annearod ,,o+
there is no lack of modern instances of adven.
!urers VINO have set up for themselves monarch
les IN out-of-theway corners of the earth
Africa has always been a fovorite bun+;p,.
ground for would-be kings. The most successful
OF modern enterprises of the kind was when
Leg hassa1, an adventurer of Arab origin. who
was born on the Blue Nile, collected an avn,
and, rising against the Ras of Abyssina, crushed
nm n made himself king under the title Of "Theo-
dore hlng OF the Kings of Ethiopia" and de-
clared his intention of building up Christian
Dynasty. He raised army of 100000 men
and sent letters to Queen Victoria and the En-,
peror of the French. No notice was taken ard
Iheodore, in revenge, began to maltreat the En-
ropeans in his domnions This led to tho se,,J.
ing of British expedition His capital. Mac.
aaa, was taken by storm, and Theodore shot
himself. But this self-made king cost Great
Britain the tidy sum of nine millions to s1b
due. ~ SUI
THE LUST OF POWER
More recently Russian, by name Leontief.
mas been causing very serious alarm in South
ern Aoysslnla by his ambitious maneuvers. Hav-
ing lngratiated himself with the Negus MeneGk
ne managed to secure the Governorship of the
country around Lake Rudolf Little is known
OF his proceedings, except that he has raised
considerable force and drilled them after En-.
ropean methods. It is said that he is planning
coup d'etat, but that both the British and
Beglans are keeping eye upon him.
The French declare that there is sometb;no
about the climate or soil of the Dark Continent
which drives men mad with the lust of mower
They call the disease la Soudanite" and TO II
attribute the many crazy attempts that have
been made to found empires in Africa.
A notable instance was the terrible tragedy of
the murder of Colonel Klobb A certain Can
tain Voulet was stationed at Timber, on the
borders of the French Sahara. Reports reached
Paris that he and his fellow-officer, Lieutenant
Chanoine, were seducing the native troops from
their allegiance, and Colonel Klobb was sent out
to take over command of the mission Wben
he arrived near Timber, Voulet sent him a let
ter ordering him to return. The latter refused,
and advanced. Voulet ordered his men to fire
Not only Colonel Klobb, but another Officer
Lieutenant Mennier, were killed. Voulet then
ordered bayonet charge, and the other force
retreated. But his attempt to found an empire
was totally unsuccessful, and when large French
re-enforcements advanced, Voulets men deserted
him, and he committed suicide.
GUARDED BY LIONS
Before leaving the subject of self-made African
monarchs, mention must be made of Zubeir
Pasha, who, about the year 1870, and indeed
up to 1875 was the most powerful individual in
North Africa. Originally mere Arab slave
trader, Zuber made himself head of huge con-
federacy of more than 1000 traders, each con-
g..
established a Court at Dem Suleman, in the
Bahr-e Ghazal whose splendors rivaled those
of the Arabian Nights.
To each side of his throne were chained real
lions, and he had 25,0OO silver dollars melted
down into bullets for his bodyguard. He con.
quered all the surrounding country setting att
nought Sir Samuel Baker and other Governors
of the Soudan. 1t was the Khedive of Egypt
who finally trapped by this redoubtabIe
slave-trader, and he sent as an exile to Gil
braltar. Zubeir is, or was recently still alive,
and living quietly in Egypt.
Thibet was the scene, about ten years ago. of
clever attempt at revolution. A Siberian
named Dorjieff fancied he saw his chance 10
found an empire; but with true Oriental cum.
ming, did not use armed force He made friends
with the Dalai Lama, and soon became as indis.
pensable to him as Kaid Maclean has been to
the Emperors Of Morocco There is good reason
to believe that he meant to throw off the mask
and make himself king, but before he did so he
was assassinated.
The two most recent instances of empires be-
ing started by private individuals have been in
South America, and both have been at the ex-
pense of Brazil, About ten years ago an Ameri.
can named Hickey, who called himself Baron
Harden Hickey, suddenly seized the island OF
Trinidad, and proclaimed himself an independ}
ent monarch This island is not the British
Trinidad, but a small and barren islet 700 miles
east of the Brazilian coast