Evening star., 1936-01-12
BY ROBINSON MACLEAN.

part of his job-every last, apostolic.
curly inch of them-and so the little
brown man who runs Ethiopia's des-
tiny-who is, in fact, all of Ethiopia S
brain, business. and diplomatic ability
can never get out from behind his
whiskers
Neither can he ever wear, in pub
lie, the blue serge suit he covets.
He has five. but he keeps them put
away in moth balls, because the peo-
pie Just don't understand that an
Emperor can still be an Emperor with
out 2 square yards of lion skin and
5 pounds of assorted decorations.
Has Tried 1t.
1t was a year ago when Halle Selas-
sic last tried to wear his blue serge
in public. He fitted himself out in
a snappy double-breasted outfit and
walked out into the courtyard of the
big palace. The first person he passed
was a Dejasmaj, one of his best
friends among Ethiopian notability
The Emperor smiled and moved his
arm at the DejaSmaj.
The Dejasmaj gave distant nod
and walked right on. He didn't recog-
nize him. So the little brown EN-
peror turned right back to the palace,
and, for the rest of the day, passed
back and forth in front of the mir
ror, getting last look at himself in
a blue serge suit. 1t looked fine, but
the people didn't understand. Then
Halle Selassie hung up the blue serge
and stuck to his lion skins.
After that, he knew there wasn't
any use at all in him even contem-
plating removing the whiskers. II
his best friends couldn't spot him in
European clothes, there was little
chance of being able to sell them the
idea of a beardless Emperor. The
whiskers we're part of his job, and,
though his fingers may occasionally
itch for a razor. he just doesn't dare
put his modernity into practice.
Wrestles in Secret.
It's the same with his wrestling.
He likes to do little public wrestling,
but the people don't get the idea, and
any time he tries his mat ability,
it's late at night in a secret room
with one of his trusted servants as
opponent. He's pretty good wrestler,
but he's never been able to show the
world just how good. He'd like to
box, too.
Empress Manen, faithful wife, fol-
lows the biblical injunction about
obeying her husband The Emperor
is one of the few men in the mod
ern world who is boss" in his own
home. The nearest to a pet name
the Empress has for her hard-worked
little husband is "Gatodj," which is
just another way of saying "his ma
jesty."
The most recent family dispute in
the palace was when Prince Makon-
men, the sad-eyed, 12-year-old favorite
of the royal household, wandered into
his fathers study and said, Daddy.
those pictures of Halle Selassie Gugsa
are still hanging up around the pal
ace"
Halle Selassie Gugsa, of course. is
the Emperor's ex-son-in-law, who sold
out to Italy for a theatrical promo
ton and a skinful of Italian wine
That's true enough" said Halle Selas-
sic and ordered that all pictures of
his traitor relative -by-marriage be
torn up or put in a place equivalent
of the attic.
That was very simple until the pal
ace servants, busy degugsaing the
walls. laid their hands on one picture
which was particular favorite of the
Empress. Gugsa was there, it is true,
but there was a perfectly swell por-
trait of the Empress and her daughter,
Gugsas dead wife, as well.
Kings Word Obeyed.
Hold everything" said the Empress,
and marched into the Emperor's study
"Gugsa is certainly traitor, but that
is the best picture I ever had taken. u
The battle was brief. The picture
Gugsa, Empress and all, was torn up
and put in the waste basket. What
Halle Selassie says goes, even in his
own home.
Machinery is the Enperor's hobby
His advisers practically have. to pull
him out of the delightfully."- intricate
whorl of gears and tubes and flywheels
every time he goes to the radio sta
ton at Akaki. He delights in air.
planes and inspects machine guns,
rifles and artillery himself before ac-
cepting any arms shipment. It is true
that the Arabian Nights sort of ad-
ministration at the palace supplies
him with an imperial elephant shooter
and q royal shooter -downer Of air.
planes, but John Hoy. himself, is as
good q shot as either Of his hired
marksmen in chief.
Another hobby in which the Lion Of
Judah indulges is-or are-three dogs.
Two are little, big-eyed, fuzzy mongrels
that look like q cross between a
dachshund and feather muff. There
Is a story about them-but the most
important thing Is that, whenever you
see the Emperor. you see the two yappy
little pups playing about his feet. Pup
No is Bobby" a full-blooded, un-
derslung English bulldog which King
George v presented to Halle Selassie.
Bobby Goes, Too.
Whenever the Emperor leaves the
palace, Bobby" goes along. When the
Emperor made a trip to Harar to in
spect the troops, superintend the LASH
ing of malcontents and put the old
college spirit into the Southern army,
he went by plane and he forgot
Bobby"
For three days the imperial cool