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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 10, 1907)
4 1 r: A ilrormer Minister of C MENTEETBI WOUUJMAICH (Copyright, 1906, by Frank O. Carpenter.) I N THE STEAMSHIP EMIR. OIT the coast of Morocco.) Feb. 7. (Special Correspondence of The Bee.) One of the best posted men on Morocco' and Its future Is Mr, Walter B. Harris, the well known octree- pondent of the London Times. Ha has re- Kaea in the oountry during the greater pai of the past sixteen years and has trav- :ea oy caravan ever the most of It. Bome ' g MTO h rn.da an xpedltlon frra Fe X or Tafllet and he has written F r,10 on,y ood book about that part of '""W Morocco. Mr. Harris has ftlsa traveled widely tit other Mohammedan countries; be has gone .on camel back over Arabia and be speaks the Arabia fluently. During his stay In Fes he was a close friend of the sultan, and he has now an intimate ao .ualntance with seme of the most powerful oi his ministers. He la also closely asso ciated with, Bl el-Mehdl el-Uenebbt. who was for ft long time minister of war, and who as such, through his influence with his majesty, Abdi-el-Asls, practically con trolled Morocco. Menehbi luet cast when ha failed, to quell the rebellion-of Bu Ha mar a. He was then forced to leave the sul tan's cabinet, and la new living as British subject in Tangier. He Is one of the most nnurrentva nf th Moora' and will nroh- fttiy be heard of In , the regeneration of jaorocco. x snail give you aa interview bich I bad with him furthar. on In this letter. 0 Ktdaad by RaJaall. ; To return to Mr. Harris, he was the first of the foreigners to be kidnaped by Ral- sull. He was living In his beautiful home on the seashore. Just three miles Crm Tan- tier, when 2.600 brigaada, with Ralsull at th.ii . r-rA him Aff. Thav half! him lS-r in captivity for mora than three weeks. but released him without ransom. During this time Mr. Harris had a close view of RalsulL, He describes him as ft man of strong character and a bluffer. Ha says that the sultan has but little power, that he Is afraid of .the two great rebels, Ralsull and Bu Ilamara. and that ha has bribed, them to keep the peaoe. Bu Hamara has now about one-fifth of Morocco under bun. and Ralsull, with comparatively few sol diers, U growing rich oft the country east of this city. He is, I understand, laying up money since he got the big ransom for Perdlcarls, and Is buying business proper ties here In Tangier, i Dare Not Ltva at Haaaa. Mr. Harris thinks It rather bard Unas that he dare not live at home, although the British have ft treaty with the sultan which provides for the protection of foreigners. His villa is within fifteen miles of the fortU II cations at Gibraltar, and within an hour's walk of the walls of the sultan's chief port. Nevertheless, Its owner has to live at on of the hotels Ur the city for fear of kid napers. The governor ef Tangier keeps fifty soldiers guarding the villa and Its con tents, but sUll It Is unsafe. At the same time Morocco Insists on all the rights that It has under Us treaty with foreign nations, and the foreigner Is allowed no favors. The other day Mr. Har ris attempted to send two white peacocks to a friend who was living at ths hotel at Algeclras, across the strait He brought them to the custom house, but was told that they could not be sent oat of the coun try, as there was nothing tn the treaty with Great Britain about the exportation ef peacocks. " - ' Wealth, ef Moroeee. Mr. Harris talis me that Merooce Is ft poor country. The people bave but little money and the riches of the few have been magnified ft thousand fold. He thinks aot more than 15. 000,000 a year, and that la good times. Just sow they are leas, as the government Is out of favor and the people will not pay taxes. He tells me that Morocco Is badly farmed. The lands are fertile, but the soil ta only scratched, and there Is no Immunity from the exactions of the tax gatherers. There are vast plains la the south which yield vast quantities of wheat, but transportation Is so high that It Is Impossible to take It where it ta meet needed. There are also laws againsr the exportation of grain, and as ft result most of the wheat is consumed in and ftbtyit where It Is raised. Some ef It Is carried te the hills near by, for the mountain trfbea have to rely upon the plains for their flour. B.U-4V7a7D.-akey-. I ssked some questions aaout railroad. Mr. Harris say. that the Moors object te them on the ground that they would be forlgW innovation, and ahM because they would put the donkeya.- mule, and camaU out of bualn As it is now. the whole trade of Morocco goes by caravan, or b, . from port to port. The freight rate, per animal In the Interior are compere- Uvely low. and the charges for board and feed at the Moorish hotels are almost noth. In, in vm u enmtm .bout 4 eanta a da te faed a carnal and leas than I cents a day for a horse or ft mule. The ordinary satire tan be aakea care of tor a little Dure. The V 7 w A BPLENDID "OTHEIXOX expenses on ' the road are ' also cheap, but the loads carried are so small that an anl- mal will soon, eat up the value of Its freight. ' As to the transportation of foreigners the cost Is enormous. The distance from Tan- gler to Fes is about 170 rollea, and In the United States a railroad Journey of that distance, at S cents a mile, would cost. In- eluding baggage. Just JB.10, and the tlmA reoulred would be less than five hours. The ordlnarr foreigner cnnot mke Fes In le than a week, and the cost of. tie Journey Eerimentih witKh&Zbra:as a Burden Bearer VIE development of the African colonies belonging to the great powers of the world 'has been retarded on account of the dim- cultles of transportation. In Rnuth AfrlnA trait nvn urmt und. hut Vast numbers of these are killed W the dreaded -tsetse fly. - ' "T - North . of - the Zambesi horses, mules, , onHeys and draft animals of every kind! WeYO found" absolutely Impoeslble owing W the same -scourge. And, although many scientific commissions were sent out, nota bly to the west coast and round about the great lake,. -It was found Impossible to make the animals altogether Immune from the attacks of these Insects. The absence' of efficient . transport has been specially ' felt In (he Congo Free Btate, and although its owner, King Leo pold of Belgium, is said to draw tlt.000.CO0 a year from its rubber. Ivory, timber, gold and other -minerals. It Is believed that this sunt would be doubled If only .there were better railroad development In the terri tory or at any rate an efficient service of draft animals. A year ago It occurred, to Captain F. Nys of the Belgian Grenadiers and if only the sebras which roam In Innumerable herds throughout the ' Katanga - country could be trapped and tamed they would solve the problem forthwith,-for the sebra Is said to be Immune from the deadly ef fect of the tsetse fly. , He made known his Idea and King Leo pold set aside, the sum of KX,000 for the ex periments proposed by Captain Nys. Ac- eotnpanled by Lieut ea ant Putts. Nys set out for Stanley Pool, traveled 1.000 nolle up the Congo and landed at one of . the usual Hver villages. Here he proceeded to get ft caravan to gether. Although be had great experience, having already served three years In the he found Irnmi,. aimcu vzjvr. the native, tojoto Wma. ier constructor, of . the sorrel, cooks and por- trm- " , . r ork The Ceng, tribe. aehl 'J " -cef-ring U W-v. this of Ufa to their wives Moreover, thoy have been ao persecuted and -PW4 that they ab-olutaly "'""l "' whatever except on extortionate terms and the caeh ta advance prtnclple. , Eventually Captain Nys got together twenty-live men and established headquar- tars camp near the village of Swampe. Here he was la the middle, of the sabre, oountry. Bome ef the tarda sew Bumher ed P1 mm 11 i .- jmmr TIIE OMAHA War to Sultan Talks Aboul " 1 ' " 1 ' I' I.IIHII.IIIIII. .! .1. II I !1 I II. . . ; i ! vr.--r'r;'--"'-,"'S::1Wv .. "-'-- ' " ' - , N- - V, . , . '"" "' " "" '" "".. 4" ' " ! C "-" "t"; there from Tangier will be from TOO to (30 ft day. I thought of making the trifc. ex pecting to spend a month on the way there and back. One of Cook' dragomen said that I should have to pay $35 per day for all the time of my absence, making my one month's Journey, including a stay of two week a In Pes, cost me 11,050. For this trip I should have to employ a soldier or so, and would havs required about three mules to carry my baggage, as well as mules for myself and guide and cook. I should have had to camp out every night, and would nave been lucky had I. reached Fes In one week. In connection with the American legation at Tangier I found a dragoman who offered to give me the same accommo dations for 1600, At the same time there 'Was great danger of being captured' by brigands on the way and held for ransom? and. on the whole, 1 did not think the trip worth the risk. . 4 . , Railroad la Heraees, Our American minister, -who ' made the Journey from Tangier to Fes a month or so ago. spent twelve days on the way. .He had a. large company of soldiers, furnished by the sultan, and the sultan paid all his expenses, amounting to many thousands of dollara I understand that the minister took the women of his family with him, but Irtaarnuch a their expense also m out of the Moroccan government Uncle Sam - 3,000 and in their wake trailed troops - of Hons and leopards. c ' ' At first tho men were told to go forth with their big nets of vegetable fiber and capture' the sebras by these means. They 9 Air . n rJTs'Ujr jw ftMjsi Iks ,tS& SUNDAY BEE: FEBRUARY BTJLTXN'B BOLprERS RDCEIVINO PAT. will probably bave no objections. ' When one or other of the great powers ef Europe takes possession of Morocco, and I doubt hot this will soon oome to pass, one of the first things will be the building of a railroad from Tangier to Fes. If the French should be awarded the protection of the oountry they probably will extend their railroad which now goes from Tiem cen to the capital of Morocco. Neither route offers any, great physical difficulties, and both probably would pay. A short line front Fes to one of the ports of the Atlantic and from Marrakech to the same coast eventu ally would be profitable. The Moors and Berbers will object to such roads at first, but they soon will learn their alue. Last year there was a famine in and about Fes and a large part of the flour consumed had to be Imported. ,' That which cost flO a sack at the seaports sold for more than Jl ft sack In Fes, the extra 9 going to trans portation.' Had there been a railroad that flour - would hot have cost more than X cents per sack for' freight, and it could have been sold for (10.60 In Fes, making a clear saving to the people of .60 on that amount of their bread bills. Tauc Wlta. II BI.Mehll Bl-Meaehbl. It was through Mr. Harris that I was given an audienoe with St. i.Mhii ra. Menehbi. who" minltr nf war nn. h. sultan, and a,hli favorite adviser for a . ,. were also clever at lassoolng the hand- some animais. '. nut both methods were found altogether too slow. The sebras were extremely senstUve and timid and dim- cult to approach. ' f ' man i ir ti hi - mummammmm 10, 1907. long time, practically controlled Morocco. He was In high favor until the rebellion of the so-called Bon of the She Aas, who claimed to be the elder brother of the sul tan, but after that became unpopular and was forced to resign. His excuse for leav ing Fe was that be wanted to make a pil grimage to Mecca. He went there via the Mediterranean, and after coming back set tled In Tangier, becoming a British subject and thereby protecting himself against any possible persecution from his enemies who had taken his place In the favor of the sultan. I understand that Menehbi'aved a lot of money while he was one of the sultan's chief officials, and that. Instead of burying It In the walls of his house at Fes or under Its floors, as sometimes Is done by the Moors, he deposited it In the Bank of Brig land to his own draft. This prevented his enemies getting possession of his fortune. After his settlement In Tangier he with drew the money, and he now has Invested a great part of It In a large apartment house end other buildings there. His own home Is one of the finest in the city, and I doubt not It will compare favorably with any pri vate home In the country. It was there that I visited him. Ride to the Palaee. Traveling upon my mule through a street so narrow that I could almost touch both walls with my hands I rode by the kaabah As the weeks slipped by, with only ft round dozen or so of these . striped asses to show for all the expense and trouble In. volved. Captain Nys decided to abandon bis plans and adopt with the sebras the "'11 f ' " sT Future of -v. ,.., . s ... J-- v i hi '.:' f f l- -S t ' aP -' ' " 1 . ' ' . ;.-L . . .... ..." - ? ' " , - ' -'V ; ' ' . x ' ' .' ' -' . . ONH OB TTTF3 or the governor's palace, past the soldiers ana officials sitting at the gate of the city, and on out Into the country. About a half mile from the city gates we came te ft walled lnclosure with ft plain, unpreten tious door. We knocked upon this and It was opened by negro slaves, who took charge of our mules. We passed In through ft sort of porter's lodge, where a half dosen other slaves were sitting, and found our- selves In a great court or park surrounded by Moorish buildings, the rooms of which looked out unon It. This park was largely Indian method of corralling wild elephants. The idea was to build an Immense staked enclosure with a funnel1 shaped mouth into which hundreds or even thousands of se bras might be 'driven at once by beaters strategically disposed and Instructed. Once Inside the great enclosure the ani mals would' find their favorite grasses and. plants, with fresh -water and all their natural surroundings. In the various cor ners stables would be built, and here the animals might be approached aad grad ually tamed. The . scheme was ft promising one, but again there arose the question- of labor. Many weeks passed in palaver with the head men of neighboring villages. Grad ually they were won aver to supply so many men each. At length a small army fit some TOO cannibals were engaged and instructed In tholr duties In regard to thejtattue. Capt. Nys himself had to travel many hundreds of miles Interviewing the chiefs, and in many cases literally hewing his way through primeval forest. He was always on foot, for horse or mule was impossible In the tsetse fly country. , To construct a stockade was a work of several months. ' It covered perhaps 200 acres and was enclosed, with a fence of young Cottonwood trunks perhaps twenty feet high. The army of beaters were officered by specially Intelligent men; one memorable morning they spread themselves out fan wise for fifty or sixty r f CQhMCf or TKC JSia fCRlftZ ' miles and gradually , drove In something like 1,700 sebras. It was a beautiful sight to see this lm-. mense herd, of which very, few boke through the cordon. The anxious captain thought his troubles at an end when lis saw the vast herd fast nearlng the funnel of his corral, but disappointment awaltod him. Toward dusk there came sudden stam pede among the hard, clearly due te the presence of a large troop fit liona The terror of the sebras was astonishing. Not fiery torches nor spears could beat them back, as. screaming, rearing ea their haunehes, biting and leaping, they over whelmed the army of beaters and doubled back into the wilderness. Barely twenty five out of nearly 4,040 animals were taken. , There was nothing for It but to begin the battue ail ever again another day. To jOntiltnuod, Tun W until . ' Morocco BTTLTATTS SOtiDIERSl P ' sard o in filled with beautiful flowers and semi-tropical plants and tree, One section of It contained ft tennis court, with ft cement floor as smooth as marble, where the ex-minister delights to play ten nis with his European friends. There la ft central path through the gardens, and down this we walked uptll we came Into two great reception rooms, where the war min ister receives bis men friends. We passed through the first set ef parlors, which are floored with mosalo and luxuriously fur nlshea, and then came Into ft large room walled with glass looking out upon the Atlantlo ocean. The house Is built on ft high bluff hanging right over-the sea, and the mountains of Spain were In plain sight across the way. We could hear the surf roar as It dashed against the rooks below. At the entrance te this room stood two tall clocks of the kind that sell In the United States for S500 spleen, and they played the chimes at the striking of the hours. The tiled floor was covered wltla oriental rugs, the great divans were uphol stered In rich red Morocco, leather, and about the walla were cases containing rare ohlna and swords, rifles and other weapons, inlaid with gold and sliver. The surround- , Ings were those of ft roan of taste, and this was my Impression of Menehbi wheh he appeared, A Typical Moor. Let me tell you how he looks. He Is ft typical Moor of the better olass,and of ft kind one does noe expect to find in what is generally known as one of the black spots of this black continent. Bl EU Mehdl el-Mervhbl would make one of the handsomest Othellos who ever trod the stage. He is tall, straight and fine looking, and his Moorish costume makes him look taller. He has a light complexion and, like all Moorish men, wears a full beard, hi. whiskers being brown and curly and as fine as silk. A broad forehead with large haset eyes was to be seen below his white tur ban. His nose Is straight and his cheek bones high. His costume oonslsted of ft long white woolen gown, or burnouse, with ft hood at the back, and the sleeves of this were so wide that they showed his fore arm te the elbow. The skin was as white as yours or mine. As we chatted be now and then smiled, showing a good set ot strong teeth, and he twice perceptibly; yawned, ' , - Mereeee ef the Pa rare. "Do you think that changes will sooa take plaoe In Morocco P "That depends much upon the govern ment -and how the people are handled. If they could understand that Morocco could hold Its independence and still havs mod- ' ern reforms I think many new things could be introduced. A strong government Is needed, however, to make the expert' ment. When I went to London as the sultaa's ambassador I entered Into certain arrangements as to railroads and other modern innovations, but the situation In the oountry and the antagonism to foreign ways were such that I was not able to carry them out. I believe, however, that Morocco has a future, which win be fas different fro nr' Its past. We have ft ooun try here whloh is wonderfully fertile. We can raise grain of many kinds, and fruit that is surpassed by that of no other land. Cattle, horses and sheep will thrive almost everywhere, and our people make good stork men and farmers. Morocco is also rich In minerals. There la coal right here near the Strait of Gibraltar, and ths Atlas mountains have deposits of gold, silver, copper and Iron. The oountry has never been prospected, but Its possibilities are undoubtedly great." Meeeasre for the Aaaesieea Peewle. In closing our conversation. I asked UK Menehbi to send, through me, a few words of greeting to the American people, saying, "Your excellency Is about ths most progres sive man In Morocco, and L should like to take from you a word of greeting to what we consider the most progressive nation of the western world. The sultan's war minister smiled at this. Ills faoe, however, soon grew serious, and he said: 1 have ft great admiration foe yotj Americana, and I hope I shall soon be able to cross the Atlantlo to visit you. The only message I have for you ta that you should study this oountry, and ealttvate closer trade relations ith It Ws have here about tea million Inhabitants, and we are now large consumers of cotton, and other things which Americans make. Our homes are chiefly lighted by American pe troleum, and our people wear clothes made of stuff grown by you. Tour raw cotton, however, goes to England; and the English do the weaving and sell as the goods. I understand that you have cotton mills of your own. Why not make the goods your selves and get all the profit T We Moroc cans are friendly to you, and we would be glad to trade with you; but as It is our chief supplies come from ths various coun tries of Europe, and mostly from England. Bpaio, Germany and Franca.' r&ANK Q. CAItPJCyTESV