4
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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
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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
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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
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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
