Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-01-26
Tn 0Ng Of HIS MAJEs TYs PALACES -

forms. and the people, who, like good Mo-
hammedans, have been fasting throughout
RamaZan which Is their Lent, give them
selves up to rejoicing. The chiefs Of the va
ents to the sultan, and in the past vast
sums have been 50 received. Some tribes
bring money often running into the thou
sands Of dollars, some horses and some
slaves, negress being a common gift.
During the present year the gifts were
few, and the horses poor. This was tho
result of the recent rebellions, and was
brought about by the association Of the
and distrust with which his people regard
him.
The Sultan and the Christians.
Indeed. the sultans tastes seem to be
Christian rather than Mohammedan. He is
fond of western methods. and he would, if
he could. introduce them into his empire.
He has made some attempts to do SO, but
his people object. and this is one cause of
his unpopularity. He is. notwithstanding,
an independent young man and persists in
counting the favor of the foreigners. I am
told that he spends a part of every day
with Europeans, and that he is not at all
exclusive in his selection of them. One
high-clasS Moor complains to me that his
majesty allows common merchants and
others tell me that he has spent millions
of dollars on all sorts of foreign nicknacks
begged him to buy.
His Gold Camera.
One of his extravagances is a camera of
solid gold. which cost him $4,000. At the
same time he bought $1,000 worth of print
ing paper and $4,000 worth of other sup
plies. His Photographic outfit. in addition
to the camera. cost him all told $4,000, a
large part of which went. as a matter Of
I'm 10 of w n
dered 1t.
Another extravaganza is bedstead Of
crystal mirrors with pendants like a chande-
lier. I understand that he sees three i'm
ages of himself whenever he crawls into
bed and that the pendants Jingle when he
turns over.
The sultan has bicycles made of alum
mum. and he delights in playing bicycle
polo with his friends. He learns all sorts
of games easily. and can do no end of BIZ
cycle tricks He will ride I'D a steep plank
and down again. and in his polo games he
has ruined several fine wheels by crashing
into the walls.
The sultan has number of automobiles,
a London hanson and a coach of state.
There are no roads in this country, and
these things are practically useless. His
gold coach. which cost many thousands of
dollars. now lies outside the palace at the
mercy of the weather.
In Debt on Millions a Year.
friends who have ordered these things for
him are making fat fortunes, and they
are working the young man for all he is
worth Every foreign thing he subscribes to
costs him ten times what it is worth, and
his ministers and foreign friends absorb
the profits. They are already rolling In
luxury. and every one about him steals
both from him and his people.
/ am told that the whole income of Mo-
rocco has gone into extravagant expendi-
lures. The empire pays something like five
hundred thousand dollars in debt
One of the Europeans here tells me he
thinks that the sultan has sailed down a
pretty penny of this for a rainy day. and
say, almost mean in the expenditures which
come out of hts own immediate treasury.
He will bubble about an outlay of one
huS6red dollars, IL the money Is to be paid
DOWN on the nail. and. at the same time
will dash off, without thinking an order for
one Of his custom houses to pay q sum Of
ten thousand or more.
Any one who understands the jealousy and
hatred which these Moors have for Chris
tians can easily see how unpopular such
actions on the part of their sultan must be-
The better classes are no fools, and it is
hard for them to respect even a sultan who
does such foolish and irreligious things.
They are opposed on Mohammedan grounds
to pictures and photographs, and II is al
most impossible to get them to pose before
the camera. With this view the sultan's
golden kodak Is in striking contrast, and
the fact that he Is really a good photog-
rapher does not better the matter They
do not approve of his buying a yacht, and
having It carried inland to Fee to be PLAYED
with on the little river near there, and they
are angry at the crown he ordered at q
cost OF a hundred thousand dollars or M
1t Is against the Mohammedan religion for
the sultan to wear q crown. and his peopIe
especially objected to his coronation coach
The Sultan's Harena.
Moor's home life is not supposed to he
known outside Of his immediate family. ana
no European has ever seen the sultan,s
hArem. doubt whether any Mohammeaau
man except his own eunuchs has ever cross,
cd ifs fhrashholA aua Il ,u.a.,, l. -