Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-06-01

seceived from the hand of his majesty
surrounded by the dignitaries Of church
and state, the Order of Menelik and &
gift of $4,000 francs. Then, and no
until then, did Maillet make a dis.
covery. He had brought with him &
souvenir of the battle-a bullet from
the enemy had shattered the revolver
on his hip.
The simple ceremony ended, the Kine
crossed the field in his car at snail:
pace, the red parasol held over hin
seeming to float over the heads o.
the crowd. Not a shout or a cheer
came from the tens of thousands
assembled. Only the muffled rustic Of
their "shammas," the patter of theil
bare feet and the occasional rattle Of
their weapons.
Throughout the ceremony the EN-
press Zauditu remained in her palace
dictionary religious element since he1
enforcement. The Ethiopian clergy
had always been her advisors. And, as
their power will be at an end when
their subjects become more enlightened
It was to their advantage to stand
against Taffari's progressive measures
Their standard bearer was the Empress
who spent much of her time in prayer
and fasting.
Steadily since her coronation, Ras
Taffari had shorn her of her power
One by one he replaced the ministers
and councillors of the Empress with
men of his own following. Only few
were left to her imperial majesty, and
the most powerful of these had been
Ras Guksa.
Empress Aids Rebellion.
The fact that zauditu was backing
Ra,vl~e De-, hi 1aoI
60 the King for some time. Arms from
the empress palace armory had been
sent, and money as well So now, on
the evening of April /, the whole of
Adds Ababa was asking itself: What
viii the King do with the Empress? He
has all the cards In his hand; how will
he play them?"
Night came and the crowds faded
into houses and courtyards, for every
indoors by an hour after sunset. And
the next day, April 2, the startling,
unbelievable news leaked out-the
empress was dead!
It looked like suicide or worse. But
again the truth sifted itself out of a
hundred rumors. During the previous
week, as disaster had lowered over her
forlorn hope In Gondar, zauditu had
been Ill and respondent. She took
cold. yet insisted upon praying all night
In her cold, damp chapel. The news
Of Guksa's death and the humiliation
OF the rebel troops came as bombshell.
Heaped upon this her religious adviser
advised her to bring about good omen
by bathing In holy water. This re-
suited In the rapid development Of
pneumonia, from which she died during
the night
Empress zauditu was between so and
90 years old-no one seems to know ex-
actly. She had seen many of the Gus
toms and habits Of the Abyssinia of her
father, Menelik, pass, and with blind
devotion she had held on to those that
were left With her death has disap-
peared the greatest obstacle to progress
In her country. Now Taffari has clear
held to put through his cherished am
khroes Of medievalisn.
Long Live the Emperor"
The Empress is dead. Long live the
Emperor On the following day Taf-
3art proclaimed himself "Negisa Me-
CAST, King Of Kings Of Abyssinia." He
y now supreme, and he is the most
intelligent and progressive leader In the
= country. A modern AbySsinia will most
probably emerge from this cocoon Of
the past If be continues to turn up
- O4Akc.
Seeks Admission to League.
II Abyssinia could become q member
Of the League OF Nations, that august
assembly might be instrumental in
keeping his remaining territory intact.
So he asked for admission but the
League could not consider a candidate
that permitted slavery within its bor-
ders. Well and good. Tahari, while he
could not actually free the slaves, would
V1nnkA %tao ks.xy NJ
human beings Illegal, so that in time
slavery would die out. This was &C
eeptable to the League, and AbysSinia
became q member in good standing.
In 1927 the regent drew his next
card. He sent to Washington his spe-
cial representative. DR.. Waldo Martin,
Sthe Col. House of Tagari," cultured
AbysSinian, who had been educated in
England and who for years was in the
70 re-establish diplomatic relations with
the United States and to prevail upon
our Government to create a definite
American legation at Adds Ababa. AS
q result the President appointed a Min
lister, Addison E. Southland, a career
of1cer Of the foreign service, who was
well acquainted with the regent and
who knew the country and its people
intimately.
NegOtiates for Dam Construction.
Or. Martin followed up this move by
starting negotiations with a construc-
ton company Of NewW York for the
construction Of the Lake Tsana Dam.
The Blue Nile, which has its source
IN this lake and which flows for 500
miles through AbysSinia before it
enters the Anglo Egyptian Sudan,
furnishes the water, laden with the
rich red silt of the northern Ethiopian
highlands, that irrigateas the thousands
OF acres Of cotton land in the Sudan
and Egypt. Without this life-giving
water the Gezira, that island triangle