The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1929-08-16

SlTulSeT as luIdllCdi. DuTiHS Their
Month of MOurning-that in which the
son of Ali was assaSSinated-they put
on deep black, throw their shirts open
at the chest. whether this lunar month
is very hot or very cold, lacerate their
bodies, and go unshaven and with
bare feet through the streets. Using
their swords they beat the tops Of
their heads until the blood streams
over their faces and on to their gar
ments. Large sums are paid by prin-
cipal personages in the celebration
for the blOod-drenched robes.
Crude Theatrical Performances.
During that month the only theat-
rical performances of Persian take
place. They are manifestations of
Persian. patriotism ; in which the
Shiites show their hatred for other
Mohammed sects, particularly for the
Sunnites, and are somewhat like the
early English miracle and morality
plays. They are performed In the
cOurtyards of the houses of the rich,
the stage manager announces to the
audience where the scene is laid, a
suspended lion skin represents the
desert, a silver bowl of water the
Tigris, and the parts of the women are
taken by boys or young men.
The erudity of the performances is
amazing to the average American who
is familiar with the elaborate settings
of the modern moving-pictures. When
the actors are supposed to be off the
stage they merely sit down, and a
corpse" sits quietly on the stage
dressed in a shirt, stuck through with
arrows and smeared with blood, or in
some similar outfit to indicate the
manner of his death.
Many Persians have no home life in
the usual sense of the word. A Per-
sian house is divided into the birooni,
or mems apartments, and the ande-
room, or part cOnsecrated to the wom-
en-. A strong door, set in high blank
wall, gives entrance to narrow pas
sage that leads into square court
yard on which open several rooms.
Here the men live. and here they usu-
ally entertain their men friends, while
their women dwell in rooms set round
an inner courtyard, the entrance to
which is through the birooni.
AS Persian is instructed from
earliest youth that woman's advice
is of no account-in fact the priests
tell him that he had better do the
exact opposite of what woman coun-
sels-it can be understood that as a
rule he has no exalted opinion of his
wife or wives, and seldom turns to
them for cOmpanionship.
When death approaches, if he has
performed his daily prayers, kept the
Fast of RamaZan, visited the mosque
on Friday, and given aims to the poor,
Persian has no doubts as to his re-
ception in the next world and dies in
happy confidence of attaining to the
paradise promised by the Prophet to
all his faithful followers.
Despite Persia's traditional con-
servatism in governmental affairs
Teheran, it's capital, is the city Of
kaleidoscope contrasts. Visitors may
enter through any one of its twelve
beautiful gates, whose glazed tiles
gIisten in the sunlight. and find
spread before them dingy collection
of mud houses rubbing elbows with
palatial residences enclosing flower
filled gardens. A numbering camel,
seemingly just stepped out of price
less old Persian rug, may draw aside
to allow the passage of high-pow-
cred motor car bearing wealthy Per-
sian en- route to his villa on the out
skirts of the city.
Rhages, Old Capital, in Ruins.
Teheran has not always been the
capital of Persian. Rhages or Rel, it's
| predecessor, the ruins of which are
nearby, was a bustling city of one and
a half millions in the Middle ages. AS
the birthplace of Harun al-Rashid,
| Caliph of Bagdad, the fifth and most
renowned of the Abbassides, its name
is forever linked with the Arabian
| Nights" This city, also called
Rhagae, was destroyed by Jenghiz
| Khan and Timur.
Modern Teheran's position, 20 miles
south of the Caspian sea, command
ing the highways of the, extensive up
land plateau and the entrance to the
Elburz Passes, has made it the CEN
ter of a considerable caravan trade,
though it does not rank high as an in
dustrial city. Its population is rough
ly estimated at 100000 in winter, but
in summer this number diminishes
one-third. For, although the district
lies in the approximate latitude of
! Cape Hatteras, and nine months of
the year bring it cool nights and sun
shiny days, the three months of sum-
mer are uncomfortably hot and dry.
! The palace of the shah is located in
the Ark" or former citadel, in the
middle of the city. Here is the
Salaam court. containing the large
Takht-i-Khaneh, or Throne room.