Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1915-11-02
WALL THAT RIVALS CHINA'S

Bats and owls stink beneath the
darkencd arches Of the great walls Of
MekincZ They hide by day in the holes
age has gnnwcd in the crumbling ma
sorry and gather at night with their
fellows to hold carnival among the
dilapdatcd palaces with their saGging
roofs. Time loosens another .tone-a
rush Of powdered rock and a uurry OF
wings as the birds circle away alone
break the silence of this once great
interior city of Morocco.
Some 5000 inhabitants, hooded, bent
hGures with their leather: faces
crinkled and cracked by the sun. live
in the city which once housed "A hun
drcd thousand souls. They, too. like
the bats, stink along the nearly desert
cd bazaars making their purchases.
The hubbub of the modern market
place is not heard Soon they disap-
pear hunched up on "A little donkey to
wind their ways through the ruins to
their novels. This is the city the Lon
don Times recently reported as being
visited by an earthquake.
i'ut once MckineZ had many people
ana great Emperor, the crazy Sultan.
Mulai Ismail. IL contemporary of Louis
XIV. Of France. who had n mania for
masonry. and made his people work
and groan to satisfy his lust TO, struc-
lures OF colossal inutility. Long before
the traveller comes in sight OF MekipcZ
his progress is barred by a huge wall
stiil standing forty feet high, which
stretches away in two directions to
archwayS allow entrance. There are
no guards, no gatemen. no soldiers to
halt the caravan
On across vacant fields. and ~ second
wall as forbidding rs the first is
reached. The eye sees no end to this
second mass OF rocks. \ puff OF wind
fills the air with Il cloud Of " hitc pull
verified dust. The centuries are ham
merinG at walls which rival the great
wall of China and the Roman aque-
duets in the CampaGna
\ third wall, wide and high. b.nin
ming at the city gate, wandcrs away to
the south. huge gate. nickcd and
dchtcd by the years gives entrance to
Inc forsaken city. One passes through
gate after gate. through dccaving pal
aces. long abandoned. hearing only the
crunchinS Of wasted rock beneath his
feet. Mekincz is one of the three cap
itlls OF the Moorish empire The Sui
tan is forced to have a palace here. 1t
stands to-day among vague heaps of
aSc-worn masonry, the abandoned pal
aces of rulers OF the past. Custom
allows none to dwell i'm the house of
dead ruler.
The Crnzy sultan.
Mulai Ismail. the crazy Sultan. IS re-
mcmbcrcd still in Mckinez One Of his
widest projects was the building OF an
elevated boulevard. 900 miles in length
along which he could ride from Mekinez
To Morocco City. safe from the attack
OF robbers. The walls also were for
protection against such bands of rovcrs
This Sultan built three miles Of stables
for his 1000 horses. The endless aislcs
OF arches where his chargers were
lodged still stand He was Il great
horscman. 1t is related that he was
able. in one graceful movement to
swing himself upon his horse. draw n
sword and cut off the head of the slave
who held his stirrup. He held that to
die by the imperial hand gave immedi-
ate entry into paradise. Friday was
tho day chosen on which TO dispense
this favor. During his eighty one years
he sniped off the heads of 10000 OF his