ETHIOPIAN CAPITAL

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22741, 29 November 1935, Page 10

ETHIOPIAN CAPITAL

"LIKE SCOTTISH MOORS" CONTRASTS IN CONDITIONS "Although near the equator, it ig so cold and wet in Addis Ababa that we wear thick tweeds and shooting boote, imagining ourselves on the Scottish moors," writes Major E. W. Poison New- ■■> man in the Sphere. "While"there-is heavy, tropical heat. at Djibouti, the nearest port in Franch Somaliland, here one might well be in the Highlands of Scotland. With bright and sunny mornings, the thunderstorms flash and crash every afternoon, and it rains in torrents." According to Major Poison Newman, there were rifles in Addis Aababa 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 user less to them. But a charge by these - men, led by a savage-looking notable with a flashing scimitar, was a terrifying sight. SOME MODERN FEATURES. Although a primitive capital, Addis Ababa possessed a modern hotel and a luxurious kinema. In the kinema, 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 were enormous. The Abyssinian capital was a spreadout place extending for miles on all 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 an ankle-straining variety. The Legation quarter was much different from the main part of the town. There the diplomatic missions of the various European nations lived in their self-contained compounds of consider- ■ able beauty. The British Legation, where the Minister had his mounted escort of Bengal Lancers, was like an English country house, situated in a nicely-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 not changed since the earliest times. IMPRESSIONS OF EMPEROR.

Writing of the Emperor Haile Sellassie, Major Poison Newman describes him as a man of great sincerity. He had a mentality not usually associated with an eastern country whose 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 counter-balanced by the absence of roads. News from the outlying districts travelled slowly, and usually reached London long before it was known in Addis Ababa.