Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1919-07-22
HoUGH he made frantic eff

11oOHt1 llt Ii oiltiN Vi
forts to keep up with the pro-
- cession, Menelek, former
King of Abyssinia, fell by the side
of the road. He was too far away
from modern civilization to keep
abreast of the rulers of other lands
so about three years ago he stepped
down from his throne and sur
rendered the reins of government to
his daughter. And now Menelek,
in old age, sits back in his mud
plastered hut and watches his
daughter reign over the people who
once made obeisance to him.
No one can charge the former
ruler of Abyssinia with not trying
to modernize his country. Though
he was compelled by the nature of
his subjects to rule with the sword
and rifle, still he augmented these
with such modern appliances that
came from the distance to aid him.
Telephones connected him with the
remote places of his empire. He en-
tertained his court with phonograph
music and even issued royal edicts
,, on the little cylinders, which were
transported to the villages of his
empire by messengers, and there
reproduced that the populace might
hear the orders of its king in his
own voice.
A Hard Working Monarch
King Menelek was a hard work
ing monarch. He arose at 3 or 4
o'clock in the morning to receive
couriers from distant parts. And,
though he formed a cabinet model
ed after those of European coun-
tries, he assumed most of the re-
sponsibilities of government himself.
But he worked under a tremendous
handicap. 1t is said he could not
write, and there were no words in
his language to convey a definite
idea of great distance, so he could
have but little conception of the i'm
mense world which existed outside
his own small empire.
Though he failed in his attempt
to bring Abyssinia to the high level
of it's distant European neighbors
he laid a substantial foundation for
the efforts of the daughter. who sue
ceeded him. Now Abyssinia, the
Ethiopia of Bible times, where
Biblical and modern civilization
clasp hands over the centuries, is
rapidly assuming the ways of the
Occident.
Its history and it's former ruler
become of particular interest at this
| time by reason of the recent arrival
in this country of an official mission
from Abyssinia's ruler. Oscar T.
Crosby, until recently assistant
secretary of the treasury of the
United States. who visited King
Menelek in his mud -plastered palace
years ago, has described the mon
arch as he then found him in a
bulletin of the National Geographic
Society Mr.. Crosby saws:
Claims Solomon as an Ancestor
Menelek was emperor of the
Abyssinians by Virture of having
conquered a great many difficulties
most of which yielded only to the
sword or rifle. His father was of
kingly family that processes to trace
| it's ancestry to union between
Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.
Our accepted authorities in respect
to Solomon do not mention this
particular amour, but that may
have been merely overlooked by
time.
Following the well established
custom, l had with me a few gifts
to present to his majesty who had
sent me goats, bread and tel. Two
large volumes, with illustrations of
scenes of our own country, of its
cities, mountains, waterfalls, etc,
offered in the hope of making
known the land of the free. Through
| the excellent Interpretation of a
/ young Abyssinian attached to the
British agency, l endeavored to ex-
plain the geographical relations of
the United States to the rest of the
world, but l am quite sure that !
did not make a brilliant success.
The difference in time between New
York, which L mentioned as being
our biggest city, and Adds Abeba
seemed to- interest his majesty very
much.
Palace Mud Plastcred Hut
"Menelek seemed to have some
appreciation of the magnitude of
the Brooklyn Bridge and of the
Capitol, yet the absence in his own
language of any defined measure of
distance left me doubtful as to
whether, in spite of his unceasing
efforts to understand things Ameri-
can, he was really able to mentally