NEW-YORK DAILY TRIBUNE, SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, 1906.

CUSTOMS OF PERSIA.

THE MOUHARREM, IN WHICH PERSIAN MAHOMETANS BCOURGE THEMSELVES WITH CATS-O'-NINE-TAIL!

The Promised National AssemblyMay Change Many of Them.

PICKLES Ec

THE PERSIA* KURteThe women keep their bar: Gr£

By H. K. Samuellua.

the death of their heroes. Some sob mechani-cally,but the majority are really carried away

by their hysterical weeping: A dozen men bear-ing great torches break from the shadows, fol-lowed by as many more dressed from head to

foot in robes of funereal black. These giveutter-ance to pitiful cries, waving their heads andchanting Persian dirges in which one discernsthe words "Hassan! Hussein! Hassan! Hussein!"repeated over and over again. Then comegroups of ulomas or dervishes addressing thethrong and rehearsing the whole sad story of themartyre. The cortege moves on.

With slow and measured tread a man appearsbearing an enormous staff, wrapped about with

rich shawls. Behind him flutters the standardof the Prophet, with banners black, white, green

and purple, each with richly embroidered Persianinscriptions. Following the banners are troops

of richly caparisoned horses, with shields andcrossed scimitars resting on the empty saddles.These represent the war horses of the youngheroes* seventy friends. On another horse is a'port of float; a palanquin hidden undf-r blue andblack hangings. This represents the tent inwhich thf tragedy took pla.~e. and through theparted curtains one may discern the effigies ofa young widow and her babes. Last of this partof the procession is a beautiful white horse of

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One nf the most horrible modes of punishmentis death by "gatching." After being suspendedfor nearly half a century, this barbarous pun-ishment was revived a few years ago by theGovernor of Shiraz, Ruhkn-ed-Dewlah, who

The people of Persia are rejoicing because theyare to have a part in the government by meansof a national assembly, as announced last week.They are to have an opportunity to advise theShah on important state and publicaffairs andWill have the right to propose reforms conduciveto the welfare of the people. Justice is to havea new meaning. This latter fact will be ofgreat Interest to the criminal, for in times pastIn Persia ho who had money enough could buyhis freedom, while he who has not may not,hereafter, lie maimed fur life by his punishment.

Persia is not a paradise for the criminal. Evenfor the most ordinary crimes there is bodily mu-tilation, so that the attention of foreigners inPersia is at once attracted by the astoundingnumber of maimed and half blind persons whomthey nei t. If a prisoner refuses to confess hiscrime ths bastinado is the first resource. Thebare feet of the prisoner are tied to a pole at-tached to two uprights, an<l thus reversed he isbeaten en the bare soles with long, heavy sticks.A few applications are usually quite enough toforce confession and the guards are well equip-ped with rods, in pickle and out. until even thetoughest suit's and most resolute spirits finallygive way.

BULLFIGHT THE OKI 4No ws.t.s.*. *.trI

MUZZAFFAR-ED-DIN.Present Shah of Persia,

INDOOR DRESS OP PERSIAN WOMEN.

On the anniversary of their death, the 10th•f Mouharrem, whatever month of the Englishtwelve Itmay be (for owing to the vagaries ofTurkish chronology the first lunar month of theMahometan year comes each year eleven daysearlier than in the preceding), the Persians, hav-ingduly made ready by twenty-four hours' fast-Ing, prayer and lamentations, both loud anddeep, expiate the crimes of their ancestors byself-inflicted punishments and tortures. Whileevery visitor tn Persia or Constantinople shud-ders over the description of this revel of bloodas given by eyewitnesses, there is a dreadfulfascination that impels every one to see it forhimself. The ceremony takes place at night,the lino of march being illumined by great bon-fires and braziers containing pinewood saturatedwith kerosene, that blazes fitfullyIn the wind.Heralded by the strident wail and clash of clar-inets rind cymbals, the cortege representing thefunerals of Hassan and Hussein approaches.Suddenly bursjts of grief rend the waiting throngof spectators, it is the Persians mourning for

The first victims selected by the Governor forthis drastic object lesson were five men—not

notorious criminals, but simply men who hadfailed to pay their taxes. Chained neck to neckthey were led to the Kovan gate, where the nec-essary wells, hollowed pillars over holes two

feet deep, were erected. Into these wells theprisoners were thrust, some head down, otherswith heads sticking out at the top. Plaster ofparis was then emptied In, and after eachbasketful water was poured on. Slowly butsurely the "gatch" swelled and became solid,

until the circulation of the blood in the man'sbody was checked and the poor wretch was tight-lyencased ina solid tomb. A Pe.rsian meets theordinary forms of death bravely and stoically,

but death by "gatch" is more than any mortalbeing can endure. An eyewitness describestheir shrieks and yells as blood curdling, whilethe agony stamped on their features was suchas never could be described or forgotten.

The national sentiment rekindled by the Shah'?travels In Europe and the introduction of a fewWestern innovations accounts for the frequent

fanatical uprisings of the Mahometans against

the Christians. It was this fanaticism that foundits exponent in the person of Mollah Reza, whoassassinated the former Shah of Persia. Nasr-ed-Din, in May, ISOO. In tho hope of stemming

the rising tide of disaffection and to serve as awarning to other malcontents, his punishmentwas made as severs as possible.

After horriMe and unusual tortures, extendingover three months from the commission of thecrime, he was executed on the Mackh Bfeldan,the great square In Teheran where the annualmilitary manoeuvres take place. Here a gal-lows was encted. the object of the authoritiesbeing to hang the victim high enough in the airto be clearly seen by the throngs of spectatorswho turned out en masse to witness this spec-tacle. For hours he hung there, an awful moralto point the tale of official justice.

While such a penalty might seem overrlgorousIn a more civilized country, it is quite in keep-ing with Persian methods and has not been suf-ficient to deter other attempts upon the life ofthe present sovereign.

Beside the punishments lavishly prescribed bytho authorities for misdeeds, the Persians holdthe monopoly for a most grewsome and spectac-ular form of seJf-punishment. This is the cele-brated sanguinary memorial rite known as thoMouharrem, held in annual commemoration ofthe deaths of AH and his two sons, Hassan andHussein, true successors to the Prophet. Misledand deceived by the devil, according to Persianbelief, these men slew themselves some 1.300years ago.

feared an increase of crime after the Shah's as-sassination.

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