Modern Descendant Of King Solomon

Manawatu Times, Volume LV, Issue 7412, 20 December 1930, Page 22

Modern Descendant Of King Solomon

THINGS DUKE OF GLOUCESTER SAW ON VISIT TO ABYSSINIA

his father, King George V, at the Coronation of Ras Tafari, King of Abyssinia, the Duke of Gloucester recently visited this ancient African kingdom. Some of the interesting things he saw are cryptically described by William J. Makin, who accompanied the Prince of Wales on his African tour some time ago.

forward. It crashed through the gateway o£ the palace and the guards fled.

ft ft ft rpEN airplanes, now constituting the Abyssinia Air Force. Seven French machines, one German, one British Moth, and one Italian Fiat.

A ONE-TIME Harlem negro, Hubert Fauntleroy Julian, now Colonel in the Abyssinian Army. Standing 6£t 2in, has been astonishing America by walking about in undress uniform. He wears a pith helmet, a monocle, a pink polo shirt, white breeches with

# •X- 'XA BLACK Napoleon, Ras Tafarl Makonnen, who at the age of 36 Is being crowned King of Kings, Emperor of Ethiopia. He claims to be a descendant of the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon.

* * * A N Emperor who is under medium height and who invariably stands on the steps of his throne to receive visitors. His hands and feet are exquisitely small, almost like a woman’s. Yet there is dignity in the man. Not without reason is be called Ras Tafarl —“The Chief Without Fear.”

/ANE of the cleverest of black brains. An ambition to see the resources of Abyssinia—gold, minerals, and produce — exploited only for the benefit of his nation. He is building, with the help of white engineers, an enormous dam to tap the waters of the Blue Nile. Also modern roads along which motor-trucks will carry the riches of the country' to the outside world.

-x- -x- -x----npHE Emperor’s wife Waziru Menin, who follows the tradition of the great Queen of Sheba in seeing that women play no small part in the destinies of the nation.

green stripes, and spurred riding-boots, size 12J-, specially made for him in Paris, of deerskin. He has been buying an American airplane and munitions for the Emperor.

* * * , A WOMAN who, like her husband, has realised the necessity of bringing Abyssinia, Africa’s last empire, into line with European progress. Her daughter has been educated at Lausanne, and was, for a time, attending a school in Cheshire.

A NUMBER of white adventurers, rican, who have helped Ras Tafari in many ways. Although the League of Nations, of which Abyssinia is a member, has issued an edict against gunrunning, the wild tribesmen of the Abyssinian mountains have lately appeared with rifles in place of spears and a startling quantity of ammunition.

•Jf vr vr AN army of 150,000 warriors being changed from bandits armed only with spears and shields into a force complete even to modern rifles and machine-guns.

* -x- * A WAR-TANK presented to Ras Tafari by the Duke of the Abruzzi when he visited Abyssinia. Once, when Ras Tafari was made a prisoner in the palace of the old Empress, the wife of Ras Tafari made a desperate and successful effort to rescue her husband. She ordered the tank

* * * npHE Rasses, or chiefs, of the Abyssinian tribes by virtue of whom Ras Tafar has been accepted as Emperor. These fierce bandit chiefs have created a powerful feudal system throughout the land. The most powerful is Ras Hailu, the chief from the north, with a hundred thousand war-

riors at his command. His wild, forbidding aspect is emphasised by the black burnous which he invariably wears.

rFHE capital, Addis Ababa, where the coronation takes place, a city amid a forest of bluegums. Chiefly clay huts, except for the stores of the Indian and Arab traders, who believe in corrugated iron. A population of 70,000, which will swell to about a quarter of a million for the coronation.

# # * A POPULATION, too, of dogs who make the night hideous with their howling. Let any prowling hyena raise his snout to the moon and the thousands of wandering dogs in Addis Ababa yelp their reply. An African city that can be noisier than London.

npHE famous Menelik Palace, where the Duke and his suite were accommodated during their stay. Floored in black marble, walled with gold and inlaid mother-of-pearl, this is perhaps the most luxurious palace in Africa.

A T the dinner-table a service of solid gold. The gold was mined in the Abyssinian mountains. Carved ivory cutlery, hundreds of years old, accompanies the gold plate.

npHE latest melodramatic film from Hollywood; shown on the private kinema projector owned by Ras Tafari. This again is a present from America, and the Emperor keeps a good stock of new films.

TVORY, apes, and peacocks presented to Africa’s newest Emperor from chiefs who rule twixt Nile and Zambesi. To these the Duke himself added rich and luxurious gifts from Britain.