Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1914-05-17
Is Statement Which Is Be ing Continually Publish
 at Berlin.
NASR PRESENT RULER
tccording to Existing Arrangements Nasr Will Be Crowned Shah
 Some Time in July.
By STEVEN BURNETT.

By STEVEN BURNETT.
 Berlin, May 1G.-Rumors and state- ments bearing some resemblance of authority are continually being pub lished here of a plot for the seizure of the throne of Persia by the eX- Shah Mohammed Ali, who abdcated ill 1909. The present ruler of the Persian domain is the son of Mo hammed Ali, and is known by the name of NaSr.
 The eX-Shah has just left Berlin, where he has been undergoing treat ment in a private nursing home for diabetes. He has gone to his home in Odessa but will return to western Europe for the "cure" at Carlsbad in May. According to existing ar engagements, Nasr will be crowned Shah in July but Mohammed Ali hopes that his own plans will mean time have made such progress that if there is any coronation at all it will mean the restoring the crown to his own head.
 While he was in Berlin the ex- Shah received frequent visits from the Russian Ambassador.
 It would appear that opinion in Persia is divided in the prospects of the ex-Shah succeeding in his scheme but apart from the avowed reaction ary section of the population every one in Persia would be glad to see young Nasr ascending officially the throne of the Kajars. Though young, completing but his eighteenth year in July, he certainly comes to his office much better prepared by his education than any of his prede- cessors.
 While his father was still heir to the throne and governor of Azer- beijan, he, a young boy, began to study Russian, together with his eld CT brother, EteZad des-Sultaneh from one of the Russian officers at Ia brig, and continued his lesson aft erwards at Teheran (when his father ascended the Krone at the beginning of 190D, under Capt. Smirnoff, who has remained his tutor and military instructor to this day
 In September, 1909, on the derosi- tion of Mohammed Ali, all his form CT teachers, with the exception of Capt. Smirnoff, were removed and SpcCidl' oudl SCllOOl WdS oSldDllSllCu on the initiative of the Regent Nasr- el-Mulk, where the Young Shah, to- gether with his elder brother, the heir-apparent, Mohammed Hassan; his uncle. Nasret-es- -Sultaneh, and twelve other boys of the most dis tinguished Persian families, began to undergo a regular course of instruc- ton. The curriculum consisted of Persian and Arabic, as well as Rus sian and French, the latter being taught by M. de Morgny, the legal adviser of the ministry of interior, who also lectured the boys on the clements of law.
 In addition, the Shah and his schoolfellows have been taught re- ligion, painting, calighraphy, history, geography, arithmetic, physics, nat ural history, Persian literature, and gymnastics. In May every year ex- amilations have taken place at which the Shah has been rewa. ded with various prizes. Since last au- tumn, when the regent returned to Persia, the Shah has been in the habit of attending the Thursday l meetings of the council of ministers, thus acquiring a practical knowledgeI of state business. As the future head | of the army his military training is on the lines of that of other young officers in the Russian military col leges.
 At present the studies at school have been rather reduced in scope and the school itself only consists of eight scholars. It is probable that the next examinations in May will | also be the last, as the school will presumably be abolished. But the practical tuition in Russian and French will continue even after the coronation. and there is a scheme .n preparation according to which, be- fore the eXpiry of Capt. Smirnoff's contract, in the summer of 1915, the Shah will make journey abroad with view to studi1g the military organization of foreign countries. AL together Capt. Smirnoff has the greatest share in shaping the mind of the future ruler of Persia. who is verv bright and intelligent youth enjoying the svmpathies of the i population and bringing to his task more complete mental equipment +boo bic oJ,,oct i11;+oroto fafhor