Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-08-16
Known as Kush Beg.

Inc ACTUAL Hedu Oh the government, OF
prime minister. is called the kush beg;
the minister of finance is the divan beg,
and the minister of the interior is the
oolah beg. The latter has immediate
control Of the local governments through
out the khanate, and is thus able to
come more closely in touch with the
population than any other minister.
These are the only important officials,
ana they are under the supervision of a
Russian resident called an agent who
lives at kagan. the railway station nine
miles from the city of Bokhara, and
keeps In the background as much as
possible.
The palace OF the emir, the residence
OF the prime minister, the offices OF the
various other departments of the govern
ment. the headquarters Of the army and
the prison are located upon an eminence
in the center of the city of Bokhara and
are protected by a high wall pierced
by single gate. This citadel is called
the Ark" the palace is called the
''Khee-Sarai' and the throne of the emir
is called the .'Koktash."
The cities, villages and towns are gov
erned by an ''aksakaP' literally gray
beard), who corresponds to the elder of
the Russian mir or the mayor of our
towns. He is elected by the people for a
term of three years and has autocratic
powers, SO far as the beg will permit
Every fifty householders elect an ellik-
DdSnl LITERALLY nedd OF n1tyD. 1ney
compose q board of aldermen, or a COM
mon council and perform similar func-
lions to those bodies in the United States.
subject always to the approval Of the
beg. Thus there is. at the bottom,
foundation of representative government,
even among the Bokharoits.
Railway Station Nine Miles Away.
The railway station OF Bokhara is
called kagan. and is nine miles from the
ancient city. 1t consists of group of
one-story buildings. fronting wide streets.
which are not SO well paved nor SO we'll
shaded as those of other Russian settle
ments in Turkestan. The residences, as
in other Russian settlements, are pro-
tected by high walls. surrounded by gar
dens and shaded with fine trees. In the
center of the town is large parade
ground. upon which most of the shops
and business houses are situated. There
are several manufactures around the
railway station, which have tall CHM
neys. that shed good deal of smoke.
There are two hotels or nomuras, as
they are known in this part of the world
and we were told that one of them, kept
by a German widow offered the most
comfortable and homelike accOmmoda-
tons to be found I'm all Turkestan, but
that statement was not confirmed. We
telegraphed, as usual, for rooms, and
when the train arrived packed our lug
gage into a droskey and drove to the
place
The rotund and robust landlady stood
in the doorway barring entrance, and
would not tell us whether she could give
us accommodations or not. Her only
answer to our application was an i'm
perious shake OF the head, equivalent to
wait and see And the verdict was
not long delayed. Within three or four
minutes a droskey came dashing up to the
door. bearing a general in the respondent
uniform of the Russian army, and the
landlady greeted him with an appropri-
ate amount of homage. She led him into
the house and left us standing on the
sidewalk, like homeless orphans.
But the droskey driver told US of an
other place where we could find shelter.
1t was a long. low building in the next
DOCK. The sign In Russian over the
door was inscribed Commercial Hotel, "
put the accommodations were limited.
But we had our own bedding and towels,
which every traveller must carry in Tur-
kestan, and found good meals at the
restaurant in the railway station. prob
ably quite as good as the imperious land
lady Of the other hotel would have given
us.
Humoring the Emir.