American Fork citizen. [volume] (American Fork, Utah) 1912-1979, 1916-05-13
PERSIA'S OLD CAPITAL
TEHERAN A CITY THAT HAS SEEN
MANY vIcissITUDEs
Now the Center Of Warning interests
That Threaten Its Very Existence
Mot an Especially Healthy
Place In Summer Months.

Place In Summer Months.
The capital of small buffer state
between three cashing empires, lhe
English, Russian and Ottoman empire,
Teheran in recent years, and more es-
pecially since the outbreak Of the
great war, has had an Importance
thrust upon IL OF most embarrassing
kind, begins q war primer Of the Ma
tional Geographic society. Gecgraph'
ically of greater interest to each OF the
groups OF contending powers than any
other neutral capital, Persian Teheran
is experiencing insuperable difficulties
in keeping its destiny clear Of those Of
the warning giants around &C.
Tehcran, according TO Ihe-persan,
is very beautiful. but the praise of
his Country's capital is seldom sup.
ported unreservedly by the western
ef, for he finds the i-ersian city of
Shiraz far more beautiful and Is
fahan the peer OF the residence The
capital lies 10 miles south OF the
Caspian sea, on plateau of coarse
sand and gravel which is fringed by
low, distant hills. and. to the north
by some higher mountains Mount
Damavand is the key &c the city's
setting, towering in the northeast to
magnificent crest of 400 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 shahs metropo.
lis. Teheran is, of course, purely
Oriental city. but. like all eastern cen.
tiers OF Importance, II has suffered
such Entertainments from the West as
street cars, telegraphs. gas lighting
and severely dyed and tailored
clothes for men. II is backward in its
development and uneven I'm its i'm
provement. Its Boulevard des Ambas
sadeurs is more or less OF splendid
thoroughfare and II is lined with Eu
ropean type OF chops, two good hotels
and number of line native palaces. II
has one of the largest military parade
grounds in the world-550 by $50 yards
roughly paved with strewn cobblt
stones.
The modern city is not so very old
as II came into existence less thar
| 700 years ago. about the time that
ancient Ragha, the crumbling suburb
to the south, began to sink into OBJ
livion. Ragha known in the time Of
Alexander the Great as Ragss, was
the birthplace of Harun al.RaS 1,al-u
at pne time thu. -sNJsi1rp SUP Snac,
II was as vain and rich and shawy n,
stored Hamadan. the pride OF earlies
Persia, the city of seven walls in seye,
eolors, with palace, wrought in golt
and silver and fresooed with preciou,
stones. Modern Teheran is the in
heritor OF the traditions and the prid,
or Ragae and OF Hamadan and of IN,
ancient honors Of Pasargadae and Per
sepoiis. With the rise OF Teheran
Media regained the place that II los,
TO Persia In the time Of Cyrus.
Anarchy has ruled within the cant
tai IN way more or less pronounced
during the last several years. and
the people OF the city have accom-.
piished little toward its moderniza
ton and development OF its impor
lance as a place OF commerce and
manufacture. There is an important
caravan trade. which passes through
Ieheran toward the Russian borders
ana a certain manufacture Of cot.
ton. linen. carpets. shoes and iron
products. Its business is enough tc
give support TO population OF about
100000, In which are included ahou,
600 Europeans.
Inc climate OF Teheran is not n
favorable one and especially are the
summers unhealthy. when all OF the
people who can get away 20 TO the
FOOTHILLS In the north. Writing In
1896, Persian gives a patbetic
summary Of a Teheran summer. He
says that the air was too hot and even
smelly that the water was heavy and
uhwholesome and, in short, everything
so Dad that the Angel OF Death ran
away from II. But, then. this author
wrote shortly after a fearful cholera
plague had passed over the citv Trio
nearby contrast of the cool summer
gardens In the foothills. likely has
cohspired to give the Teheran summer
a bad standing