Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1908-02-18
SHAH OF PERSIA JEWEL POOR.
With All His Treasure, Can Hardly Pay
Current Debts.

which Shah Mohammed All inhabits
is stored with treasures Of incalculable
value. Yet the shah finds himself now
adays almost without the means OF
paying his current expenses.
Under his predecessors the palace
expenses were the first lien on what
ever revenue the country produced.
But nowadays there is a parliament,
and the appropriation made for the
shah and his household for the cur
rent year is only 100000.
Though money goes a good way in
Persia, this sum Is not one-fifth enough
to maintain the establishment, on its
present scale. All the otfice-holders
stormed and the harem Of Nasr-ed-
Din, grandfather Of the present shah,
went in carriages to the palace Of Ba-
haristan to demonstrate. But the par
Lament stood pat, and when the shah
contemplated dissolving it and with
drawing the new constitution he found
he would have too much trouble on
his hands.
Just how he will deal with the ex-
pense account remains to be seen; he
certainly has done nothing to reduce
1t. The train Of servants and attend
ants, high and low, still numbers
more than 1900 men,. and there are
more than 1000 women in the ande-
roun, or harem, with their number
rather increasing than diminishing.
The shah's palace Is situated In the
oldest quarter Of Teheran, called the
Ark. It consists Of number Of houses
and pavilions built at various times
and located haphazard among beau
tiful gardens.
The buildings used by the shah him
self are called the biroun. There the
staff of court dignitaries are on duty
all day. They number altogether from
900 to 700 men.
Across the guelistan or gardens, In
the most remote part Of the enclosure,
the Kadjt- -Bashi or chief Of the eunuchs
holds sway. with his regiment Of
dusky gardians Of the anderoun. The
gardens are divided into the mems en-
closure and the women's into which
no man but the master may ever en-
ter.
The walls are lined with encaustic
tiles, ripping brooks intersect green
and gorgeous flower beds. Shade trees,
hang over deep pools that cool the
air. Song birds in vast avaries con-
cealed by shrubbery animate the scene
with their carolling, and hidden mIsi-l
clans play In the summer houses all
day and late into the night, fashion
borrowed, it Is said, from India.
The women of the anderoun have
a double hierarchy. There are in the
first place the official authorities.
There Is also the purely social hierar-
chy, at the top of which are the prin-
cesses of the Kadjar line, the. shah's
own family, who have borne sons Of
rank to succeed to the throne. All
women of the Kadjar race have un-
disputed precedence.
Next come the favorites Of noble
family and after them beauties Of
lower rank. Beneath these are the,
hundreds Of attendants and compan-
ions, down to the kitchen maids. The
system is much more aristocratic
than the sultan's seraglio, but any.
woman may secure certain elevation
by winning the notice Of the shah. j
Some Of the great princesses have
pavilions all to themselves, with suites
of attendants and servants. The other
favorites live in groups with their
households in common. The dress OF
the women consists Of jacket or boil
ero, called the yal, which Is sleeveless
and fastened across the breast with
frogs Of gold lace.
Beneath it is the diaphanous under
garment called the pirahem. A skirt
not much longer than ballet dan
GERS. and sometimes fiuffed out in the
same way with stiffened underskirts,
is called zirjoume. 1t only reaches to-
the knee.
There are slippers for the feet, and
a. square fichu called tchargat is worn
on the head and knotted under the
chin. From under it the hair falls in
luxurious curls to the shoulders.
All the women Of the anderoun wear
the same costume, though Of course
there are vast differences In material.
The servants wear coarse linens and
heavy mohairs; the princesses and
favorites draw not only on the marts
Of Asia but those of Europe nowadays
for their choicest fabrics.
Gorgeous ornaments of gold and
precious stones are worn by the favor
ties and their favorites. The rig Is en-
chanting on young women, but the
few Occidental women and a doctor
or two who have had a peep into the
anderoun speak with shuddering or
the appearance Of the old and middle
aged. women-especially as they say
the Persian woman when she grows
old always grows fat.
The shah spends only his nights in
the anderoun. He leaves 1t every morn
ing at early prayer time. He spends
his day in hunting, sleeping and eat
ing, with his ministers or receptions
to foreign representatives.
The rooms of the biroun, the equiv
alent Of the Turkish selamlik, are all
decorated with glass. The floors are
tiled but the tiles are hidden under
priceless carpets. The walls are pan
elled with mirrors or with moulded
and engraved glass. Festoons Of crys-
tails hang from the ceilings.
The present shah is indolent and
Oriental in his habits. Sometimes he
will spend half the day smoking and
doing. Capriciously he will start off
for one of his five hunting lodges near
the capital, where he can find any
sort of game from panthers down to
a quail.
He takes his meals wherever he
happens to be when the desire seizes
him. His kitchens are always on the
alert; there are 500 cooks and scullions
in them.