The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-06-12
Twentieth Century Egypt
XIII. His Hishness, the Khedive.
BY FREDERIC HAskIN.

! Cairo, Egypt.-EIis Highness, Abbas Hill
/ nli ID khediVe Of Egypt. is Al unlike the
| oriental potentate Of fiction and of history
I as night IS unlike day. There is a curious
/ contrast between lsmail Pasha, to whose
/ thFiftessness the English occupation of
| Egypt is directly due, and his grandson.
who today has the title his progenitor
/ pore, without the power he abused. Ismail
was despot and a tyrant. an ignoTamus
/ VINO could hardly write a letter, and a
! 1901 In finance upon such a scale that
| his extrava gances challenge the magma
tlOn, ADbas is as well trained for a throne
I as prince could be, but he is a figure
/ head in international affairs. While ne
might prove himself the equal Of a
Pharaoh in administrative ability. if he
had the chance, he could not do the dam
age to Egypt that Ismail wrought if he
combined IN his own person all the vices
OF Nero and all the fOllies Of lsmaiI
OF the line of khedives beginning with
Menemet Ali, merchant, favorite of the
/ Sultan Of Turkey. brilliant but brutal
soldier, vicerOy. tyrant would-be usurper
I OF his benefaCtOr throne and founder Of
I the semi-autOnOmy of Egypt lsmail was
the most conspicuous failure ADDas, sew
enth OF his dynasty, is by far the best
equipped of the khedives in point of edu-
cation and aii-rOand mental fitness. His
admirers say that he would make an ex-
celient ruler If the reins of goverIsnent
were really in his hands. But this Is
merely an estimate Of the man. 1t does
not mean that If Europeans were out OF
Egypt this young Turk could remain in
MS place as the head Of a nation TO which
his line is alien.
While his father, Tewfik, was khedive
and while the tolls of British domination
were gradually closing about the govern
ment OF Egypt as a result of the after
effects Of lsmails misrule, Abbas was
getting his education in Switzerland ana
! later in Austria He was taught. among
other things, languages, diplomacy. the
art OF war, ana engineering. He trav-
eled during his vacations to every impor-
tant country in Europe. A tour of the
United States. including visits to the
great industrial CenteTs as well as 70
| Washington, was projected. But the
death of his father called Prince Abbas
to the viceregal throne when he was only
Is years old. He still regrets that he was
unable to see America.
That he was a student while at school
and in college is evident from the fact
/ that he speaks and writes fluently Eng
iish, French, German, Turkish and ttaf-
ian. well as Arabic. He is a pianist
of marked attachments, first-rate horse
man, scientific farmer, enough of an
engineer to run a locomotive. and to know
what is wrong when the engine does not
run. and how to remedy the evil A lover
Of good literature and grand opera, ne
is versatile In conversation and an inter
ested as well as interesting talker to
guests ne receives. He attends punctually
to the various duties Of his rulership
hands we're not guided by a superior
power. He arises at o'clock in the morn
ing and, from the saddle, superintends
the farm work upon one of his estates De
fore driving to Abdin palace, If it is win
ter. or Ras-el-Teen if 1t is summer.
In personal appearance the khedive is
prepOssessing. BY many persons he is con-
sidered singularly handsome He will be
s. years old this July, and seems some
what older than his years He is not
democratic in the sense that he would be
Snapped on the back by an acquaintance
and greeted with hello" but he is sur
ficiently sensible not to violate the pop
ular canon against taking ones self too
seriously He dresses quietly in the Euro
pedn style, except that he habituaIiy
wears a red fez indoors as we'll as out.
He is a bird of bright plumage only when
he dOns his uniform as eommander-in-
chief OF the Egyptian army. In uniform
he IS not mere figurehead, but a finely
trained soldier who can direct the maneu-
vers of his regiments like a war-worn vet
cram He is more interested in America
than in any other country. American
farming implements and machinery in
operation on his various farms give evI-
dence of an intelligent attention to the
march Of progress in a more progressive
country than his own. An American stall
lion, as well as blooded Arabian horses,
is included in his breeding stable.
A striking characteristic of the Egyp-
ton peasant IS his abiding love for the
soil He is never so happy as when cul-
tivating, by primitive methods. the rich
fields that border the Nile. When he IS
serving in the army his dream is to re-
turn TO agricultural pursuits, although his
opportunities for earning a competency
are slender and he usually passes his life
in what an American would consider the