RULER OF ABYSSINIA.

Evening Post, Volume LXXIX, Issue 76, 1 April 1910, Page 7

RULER OF ABYSSINIA.

* REPORTED DEATH OF MENELIK. EMPRESS *7n CHAINS. Bj Telegraph. — Press Association.— Copjright. LONDON, 31st March. The Empress Tai-Tu of Abyssinia has been placed in chains. The Empress is a prisoner in tJ;c hands of the party that fa\ours the succession of the fourteen-year-old Liji Jeassu, who is grandson of the late Emperor Menehk. and who has hitherto been regarded as 'the heirapparent, having been recognised as such by Menelik. Retstessema. tutor of Liji Jeassu, and a man with enlightened views, is recognised as the head of the Government. Although only 14, the pursuit of the elephant lias been the favourite sport of the Crown Prince of Abyssinia since his tenth year, and he owns, according to the Paris Figaro, no lees than two hundred pairs of tusks, all taken from animals felled by his own weapon. Tai-Tu, the Empress, was believed to entertain a prejudice against the heir to the throne, and she excluded him from the bedside of his grandfather on the plea that ho made so much noise. It is certainly agreed by Italians and English who have seen him that the Crown Prince of Abyssinia inherits the tremendous lung power which, whether derived from Solomon or the Queen of Sheba, made the yell of Menelik audible on good authority at the distance of a mile. That, however, was many a year ago. Liji Jeassu shouts loud and long when hurling a spear at an elephant. He leaps several feet into the air, and he can remain under the water when he dives for nearly two minutes. These, however, are records in which he has been surpassed by his grandfather. On the other hand, Menelik never learned to express himself fluently in any idiom but that of his people, whereas Liji Jeussu speaks French, German, and English quite well. I The Prince was greatly admired by j the Europeans who saw him on the occasion of his formal proclamation to the people in the capacity of heir to the throne. Attired in a long black cloak, with an immense tword in his right hand and long red boots that reached quite to his hips, Liji Jeassu impressed a correspondent of tho Figaro a& "spectacularly ingenuous ' and "very beautiful in a black, African way." All the important "rases," native chiefs and tribesmen had been su/hmoned to Addis Abeba for the ceremonial. There was a vast concourse of the natives from all over the empire in the largo open space outside the capita] where Menelik himself was once so pleased to harangue bis subjects. Menelik, at that moment, was lying upon what has since proved bis death bed. He did not appear nor did the Queen, but their Majesties sent, •we learn from the Figaro, the box despatched in biblical times by the Queen of Sheba to Solomon. The wise ruler of Jerusalem was to divine the contents of this box without opening it, and the angel Gabriel revealed that two pearls were inside. They were still there when Liji Jeassu was proclaimed heir to the sovereignty, as iras apparent when the precious stones were exhibited to the awed chiefs and rases. Mr. W. Tompsett, manager of Te Aro House, and Mrs. Tompsett returned from Greymouth yesterday. In the bankrupt estate of H. Andrews, Messrs Kennedy Macdonald, Ltd., auctioneer*, submitted for sale yesterday a house and section, with an adjoining vacant section, at Orientalterrace. Both* properties were passed in at tho amount of the- mortgages on them. An effort is being made by the Anglican authorities in the Wellington district to obtain funds to provide for an extra missioner for the diocese of Wellington only, in order that he may travel during the whole, or greater part, of the months of September, October, and November, ana visit those places which will otherwise be left untouched by the genera' mission. The materials with which the local City Council is filling in the excavation caused by the removal of peaty subsoil on Madras-street, St. Albans, Christchurch, cays the Star, consists mostly of matter which the city destructor has been unable to burn, and includes a remarkable collection of iron articles. There are old bathe and buckets, several iron bedsteads, a numbei of bicycle frames and wheels, several hundredweight of hoop-iron, and a miscellaneous assortment of nuts, cog-wheels, portions of stoves, and other pieces of scrapiron. The use of bicycles as road material is probably unique in the history pi road formation. A fine addition to the architecture of the city is the six storied building at the corner of Hunter and Foatherstonstreets, which is just neat ing completion by Messrs. Trevor and Sous, to the order of Mr. Arnold Baker, of London, from plans prepared by Messis. Penty and Blake. The building is strong and substantial, and lias an inii;->-ing appearance. Two lifts are installed, oue being for passengers and the other for goods. The first floor is composed of petuhte, which is fire-resisting. A little over 420,000 bricks were used in the construction of the building, all of which came from the Messrs. Trevor's yard in Adelaideroad. The various subcontractors were : Lifts, Mr. Moult ; ironwork. Messrs. D. Bobert&on and Son; painting and decorating, Messrs. G. Jackson and ComSiny ; electric light fittings, Messre. ederholm and Tolley ; plastering, Messrs. Kent and Daniels. The building has been erected under the supervision pf Mr. T. W. Twist, as clerk of works.