Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1916-02-17
PERSIA'S OLD CAPITAL
TEHERAN A CITY THAT HAS SEEN
MANY vlcIsslTupEs.
Now the Center Of Warning interests
That Threaten lie Very Existence
Mot an Especially Healthy
Place In Summer Months.

Place In Summer Months.
The capital of small buffer state
between three cIashing empires. the
English, Russian and Ottoman empire.
Tehoran in recent years. and more es-
pecially since the outbreak OF the
great war, has had an Importance
thrust upon It OF most embarrassing
kind, begins q war primer OF the Ma
tional Geographic society. Geograph
ically of greater interest TO each OF the
gsoups OF contending powers than any
other neutral capital, Persian Teheran
Is experiencing insuperabIe difficulties
Ia keeping its destiny clear Of those Of
the warning giants around It.
Teheran. according TO the Persian.
is very beautiful, but the praise OF
his country's capital is seldom sup
ported unreseryedly by the western
err: for he finds the Persian city Of
Shiraz far more beautiful and Is
fabian the peer OF the residence The
capital lies 10 miles south OF the
Caspian yea, on plateau of coarse
sand and gravel, which Is fringed by
low. distant hills, and, to the north,
by some higher mountains Mount
Damayand is the key to the city's
setting. towering in the northeast 10
a magnificent crest OF 1s.4OO feet high.
To the southwark stretch level lands.
which lose themselves In waste and
desert.
The East and West meet and mingle
as oil and water In the shah's metropo.
Ifs. Teheran is. OF course, q purely
Oriental city. but, like all eastern cen.
ters OF inheritance. 1t has suffered
such encrort hmants from the West as
street cars, lelegraphs. gas lighting
and severely dyed and tailored
clothes for men. II is backward In its
development and uneven in It's Inn.
proyement Its Boulevard des Ambas.
sadeurs is more or less Of splendid
thoroughfare and Il Is lined with a Eu.
ropean type of shops. two good hotels
and a numher Of fine native palaces II
has one OF the largest military parade
grounds in the world--s50 by $50 yards
roughly paved with strewn cobbie
stones.
The modern city is not 20 very old
az Il came into existence less than
zoe years ago about the time that
ancient Ragha. the crumbling suburb
to the south, began TO sink into oh
livien Ragha. known 10 the time Of
Alexander the Great as Ragae. was
the birthplace OF Harun al-Rashid. and
at one time the golden capital Of
Parthia. In the days OF is supremacy
II was as vain and rich and showy al
storied Hamadan. the pride Of earliest
Persia. the city or seven walls IN seven
oolors. with palaces wrought in gold
and silver and frescoed with precious
stones Modern Teheran is the In.
heritor OF the traditions aud the pride
OF Ragae and Of Ramadan and or the
ancient honors OF Pasargadae and Pr.
sepolis With the rise Of Teheran
Media regained the place that Il iost
70 Persia IN the time OF Cyrus.
Anarchy has ruled within the capi.
tai IN way more or less pronounced
during the last several years. and
the people Of the city have accom-.
plished little toward It's modernIza.
tion and development Of ia impor.
lance as place of commerce. aud
manufacture, There is an important
caravan trade which passes through
Teheran toward the Russian borders.
and certain manufacture 81 cot.
ton, linen, carpets, shoes and iron
products, It's business Is enough fe
give support 10 population Of about
100000 In which are included about
500 Europeans.
The climate OF Tehcran ia not
favorable one and especially are the
summers unhealthy, when all OF the
people who can get away 20 10 the
foothills In the north Writing ri
1886. Persian gives pathetic
summary OF Teheran summer, lie
says that the air was too hot and even
smelly, that the water was heavy and
unwholesome and, in short, everything
so bad that the Angel Of Death ran
away from II. But, then, this author
wrote shortly after a fearful cholera
plague bad passed over the city. The
nearby contrast OF the cool summer
gardens In the foothills, likely, has
conspired 20 give the Teheran summer
a bad standing.