THE LATE SHAH'S CULTURE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13455, 6 April 1907, Page 4 (Supplement)

THE LATE SHAH'S CULTURE.

'Si:vKit vi. papers, referring to the late Shah I '(if Persia, have desev-iln.-cl that Oriental i 'potentate as a polished gentleman."; j'l'hat lie was a gentleman according to his own lights nobody v. ho was brought into | j contact with hint would deny; but his j .manners, especially at table, were such as j to cause considerable astonishment at the' j various European Courts which he visited i .in th« course of his - travels. | At Vienna, for instance, where etiquette is: more rigid than elsewhere, at a State banquet the Shah would watch until the lat lent ion of lie Kmpeior was otherwise j ! occupied, and then throw bread pellets j across tin table at the Archduchesses. j | When remonstrated with by one of the !latter, he amiably patted the horrified lady lon the back. I It is related —" si lmni e veio e ben trovato" —that on a similar occasion, at BuckSingham Palace, His Persian Majesty was iin ciiliieulties with a plait of asparagus. i When he had eaten the softer portions of j the stalk he simply threw the hard ends lover his shoulder. i Queen Alexandra, who was seated at the Shah's light hand, took in the situation jilt a glance, and calmly proceeded to do It lie same —a stretch of good manners which I was probably more highly appreciated by those around her than by the Persian monarch, who apparently thought she was following In i' usual custom.