The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-07-31

Johore Bharu.-For nearly 100 miles
along the Straits of Malacca on the
west. and the China sea on the east,
runs the coast line of the sultanate of
IGNORE, in the Independent Malay
state. If history does not fail TO repeat
itself, JohOre may one day become one
OF the Federated Malay states, and the
sultan a figurehead, with d much re-
duced income. Whether the annexation
Will take place i'm the near future de-
ponds 10 d great extent upon the per-
sonal conduct Of the present occupant
OF the throne of JohOre, who came into
public notice some time ago when he
scattered the revenues of his country
about European capitals and made a
decided reputation as a good fellow"
AT present Sultan Ibrahim is being
comparatively good and somewhat
lonesome, no doubt, upon his own soil,
and his crown is temporarily safe.
However, invidious comparisons be-
tween the progress of Johore and the
Federated States are being made by
British administrators and writers, and
the way is paved for the taking over
Of the country, for its own good, if the
sultan does not take advantage of his
mdeniably great opportunity to de-
/ VeiOp JOhore and improve the cOndi-
ton of his subjects.
JOhore is the only state in the PENN
sula which boasts a coast line upon
three of its four sides. 1t is separated
( from Singapore by the Straits of Jo-
hOre, about a half mile wide, and con-
nected by ferry that meets the trains
of the Singapore railway at the termi-
nus Of the line. The capital city, Jo-
hoTe Bharu, is d neat little town facing
the strait The chief building is the
GfTlfnT7s- nu1grn which = q v
terror appearance of a commodious but
cheapiy built country house. In the
interior it reflects the love of an east
ern king for splendid decoration, tenn
peTed by the good taste OF a man edu-
Gated i'm Europe and capable of dis
elimination between the impressive
and the tawdry.
Sultan Ibrahim is not fond of living
in his palace, and when he is in JOhOre
he prefers his country seat two miles
from his capital. The palace was hos
pitably open to inspection until ill
bred tourists incurred the displeasure
of his highness by cutting slivers from
his gilded throne with their jack knives
to take home as souvenirs. Nowadays
a polite but Open-eyed attendant ac-
companies a visitor through the ClOis-
tered GOODNESS of the closed palace and
sees TO it that the tourist does not re-
move anything not tightly nailed down.
The throne of his highness and that
of his sultana sit side by side in an
unfurnished room with their backs TO
the wall as if defying the vandaL
Johore Bharu is a wide open town"
i'm all that this expressive American
term implies. Tt is more candidly wide
open than most municipalities. In good,
plain English, and i'm letters several
inches high, the sign Gambling
House" directs the devotees of chance
to the places where he may lose his
money at fan tan, roulette and other
games And money is lost in the Jo-
hOre gambling houses with an ease and
regularity somewhat mystifying to the
newly arrived. All along the streets
there are signs equally as candid as
that at the fan tan and roulette par
lOrs," inviting the lover Of the opium
pipe to tarry a while and dream.
These and other ''cOnveniences'
make tie capital of Johore a faVOTite
resort for persons from the compare
lively godly city of Singapore, where,
upon the Sabbath, the lid is more or
less firmly screwed down by the church
going British. Whether the con-
venienCes of Johore, and its proximity
to Singapore. viii tend to create senti-
ment against it's continued independ
ence is a question upon which loyal
subjects of Great Britain divide ac
cOrding to their tastes and their Opin
ions as refOTmers. There are not few
who say that as a safety valve for the
release Of sinfulness that would other
wise be pent up in Singapore, the Ma
hammedan capital of His Highness
Ibrahim the Tolerant has its uses
Therefore its wickedness may be the
means Of safeguarding its political in
tegrity.
The sultan is an up-to-date prince.
He drives high-pOwer French racing
car and has a love Of sports equal to
that of any of his British acquaint-
ances. He is a monogamist despite the
fact that his religion allows him to con-
tract plural marriages. He wears Eu-
ropean clothes and lives like a wealthy
gentleman Of the Occident He is es-