El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-12-13
Cars

stoves and other appliances Ior the
dwellings of the nobility
The boot and shoe factory, established
in 1906 is devoted chiefly to the manu-
facture of shoes for the army DelHS
capable of turning out 400 pairs OF
boots per day. 1t was built and
equipped by Europeans, as were Ike
wise the ordnance factory and arsenal,
which have a capacity Of 15o rifles two
large guns, and 10000 rounds OF am
munitiOn per week Ihese A ~
manufacturing works employ L5OO ma
tives under 100 NOhammedan aruIlcefs
who were trained in the factories ana
workshops Of India.
GOvernment-Ovned shops
There are also a mint capable OF turn
ing out 10000 coins a day, can0le
factory with capacity OF 1OO,OUV can
dies per diem, and workshops 1or
brasswaEe, tinware, teapots, daSgefs,
belong to the government The kidney
fat of every sheep and goat killed IN
The kingdom is a perquisite Of the
Amir who uses II IN a factory OL MS
own for the manufacture of soap
Thus it will be seen that AfghanlsJan
is getting to be, in some respects az
all events, quite up 10 date me OntS
telephone in the country cohIects
Kabul with Jellalabad, 100 miles away
the latter being the place OF royaI
residence in winter. This Is prlVale
line belonging to the Amir VINO -
said to be now considering the m
between Kabul and Kandahar. Inc
former city has a population OF ABOUT
10000 while Kandahar claims SO,VUV'
Everyone Goes Armed.
Purchases Of foreign goods made oy
the Afghan government are largely Ior
military purposes, the Amir having *. q
standing army of 100000 men, Inc
population Of the country lncluGes
many half-wild tribes, among when
there are fercious hereditary blood
feuds Lawlessness and spirit OF ro1-
berry are rampant, so tnaI nopouyL
thinks Of going anywhere without
arms The tribemen are so anxious 70
Dossess rifles and ammunition tnaI
such articles, when Smuggled or sto-en'
are literally worth their weight IN SlI-
yer. The British government torplos
the sale OF them TO Afghans. Sno &c
the Amir is allowed to import LOT MS
army whatever he cares to pay 1Or-
The Afghan government at haouA
has a department for filling caIaIoes
of foreign manufactures under I n, oaLN
index system. RustOm1 A. DuDasI,
the Amir'S purchasing agent at BOIuDdy
az Church Gate street,, would me NE
to receive American catalogs OF NaIIo
articles. especially such as may NO 70
known to the Amir GOOD lIIuSl
are the best means OF attracting at
tention to such articles lnaSmuCn d
very few Afghans can read EilS IisIl-
The official court language IS FeIslelIl'
and the American typeWrlterS IN -
have Persian letters substituted LOT
English characters -,
The Bombay agent says unar mere
ought to be a good market Tor shlrI-
iDGs lamps. simple kinds of tools ana
hardware. barb wire fencing, garden
implements, cigars, c1garets ana noFel-
ties Barbed wire is used very extern
sively for defensive purposes all over
the country, especially where there IS
danger of attack from the halt wiz
tribesmen. Cheap locks, clocks ana
watches are wanted. American sewing
machines are used in the tailor SHOPS
Sits on Floor. Plays Piano.
The Amir, his government, and the
nobility are rather careless about the
prices they pay, but for the mass OF
the people things must be relatively
cheap. Some American grand pianos
have been carried across the border
with great difficulty and expense IN
one instance a leading Afghan noble
man had all the lower part OF his piano
cut off, a. he found it more convenient
to play while squatting on the floor.
The Amir and officials of the court
smoke the best imported cigars and
cigarets.
Second hand or castoff uniforms Of
other countries are one of the most i'm
pOrtant imports of Afghanistan. It
does not matter whether they have be-
lOnged to soldiers, policemen, postmen,
railroad men or hotel pOrters- All are
available The staff of a frontier regi-
nent not long ago accepted an invita-
ton to the officers mess at the Russian
post Just across the border. In due
course the guests arrived, in all the
full dress grandeur of second hand
railway uniforms The officer COM
handing the detachment exhibited on
the collar of his tunic the mystic words
ticket collector" his subordinate,
subaltern, was content with the less ex-
allied label of guard" The reason was
that the Amir, through his agent in
Bombay had acquired large quantity
of discarded clothing at one Of the an
nual sales of condemned stores.
Town Under Martial Law.
New Chaman. close to the Afghan
boundary is one of the chief trade
centers and an important British mill
tary post There is kept in stock, for
immediate use in case of military emer-
gency, over so miles of track and other
railroad equipment, so that complete
line to kandahar could be laid with
great speed should circumstances re-
QUire. New Chaman is under martial
law at all times, on account of frequent
murders and rObberies of arms and
ammunition, and nobody is allowed to
walk the streets at night without a
lantern and the countersign.
Most of the houses in Afghanistan
are of sun baked, mud dried bricks with
a wooden skeleton. Over the top poles