ETHIOPIAN CAPITAL

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22260, 7 November 1935, Page 19

ETHIOPIAN CAPITAL

"LIKE SCOTTISH MOORS" CONTRASTS IN CONDITIONS LIFE IN LEGATION QUARTER "Although near the equator, it is so cold and wet in Addis Ababa that we wear thick tweeds and shooting boots, imagining ourselves on the Scottish moors," writes Mnjor E. W. Poison Newman in the Sphere. "While there is heavy, tropical heat at Djibouti, the nearest port in French Somaliland, here one might well be in the Highlands of Scotland. With bright and sunny mornings, the thunderstorms Hash and crash every afternoon, and it rains in torrents." According to Major Poison Newman, there were rifles in Addis Ababa of every European make, from relics of the battles of Koniggratz and Sedan to the latest products of the armament factories. A man's ammunition seldom fitted his rifle, and many had a variety of cartridges, most of which were useless to them. But a charge by these men, led by a savage-looking notable with a flashing scimitar, was a terrifying sight. Some Modem Features Although a primitive capital, Addis Ababa possessed a modern hotel and i a luxurious cinema. In the cinema, where the page boys were dressed as smartly as any in London, war films figured largely in the programme. ; Taxis were luxurious saloon cars and ! the distances covered wore enormous. The Abyssinian capital was a spread- | out place extending for miles on all I sides, the Legation quarter being about | five miles from the centre of the town. While a few streets were'asphalted at | the time of the coronation of the Emperor in 1930, the remainder were | nothing more than rocky causeways of i an angle-straining variety, i The Legation quarter was much different from the main part of the town, i There the diplomatic of the | various European nations lived in their self-contained compounds of considerable beauty. The British Legation, j where the Minister had his mounted I escort of Bengal Lancers, was like an ! English country house situated in a : nicelv-wooded park. The Diplomatic 'Corps lived a life which was entirely European, with polo, racing and other sports. But outside these compounds the life was that of the Middle Ages. A feudal system prevailed, and slavery was universal. Yet Abyssinia was a Christian country in a barbaric sense and its religious customs had no£ changed since the earliest times.

Impressions ol Emperor Writing of the Emperor Haili Selassie, Major Poison Newman describes him as a man of great sincerity. He had a mentality not usually associated with an Eastern country whoso traditions were those of violence, disruption and lack of government. He was clever and calculating and had a fair knowledge of European thought. There was no longer any doubt as to his power over the local rases, or chiefs. Men who were formerly kings in their own country were now under the Emperor's thumb in Addis Ababa. While the extension of telegraph and telephone should do much to increase the powers of the central Government, this was more than counterbalanced by •the absence of roads. News from the outlying districts travelled slowly, and usually reached London long before it was known in Addis Ababa.