DOWAGER EMPRESS TAITU.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 12718, 13 August 1919, Page 4

DOWAGER EMPRESS TAITU.

THE WORST WOMAN IN THE WORLD. CLIMBED FROMTHE CUTTER TO A THRONE. This is the amazing story of Taitu, Dowager Empress of Abyssinia, as told in the San Francisco “Chronicle”:— Projected sharply across the barbaric glitter and pomp of the crowning of Prince Ladj Yas.su, the grandson of Menelik, as the Emperor of Abyssinia, is the sinister shadow of the Dowager Empress Taitu, widowed for the eleventh time, who disappeared after a palace revolution and is now said to bo safely sequestered in a “ retreat.” Her rise from, a slave girl to one of the most powerful barbaric queens in the history of the world is a chronicle rod with the blood of murdered husbands and thousands of fighting, men who have fallen because of her insatiable greed for power and wealth. Having occupied the throne with Menelik, descendant of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, she takes her place beside Somiramis, the greatest nueen of the ancient East; with Theodora, who ruled with the wise Justinian at Byzantium; with Catherine of Russia, ana her nearest modern counterpart., the Dowager Empress of China. HER SPECTACULAR CAREER. She has gone to the throne and to banishment over the bodies of dead men, and it is likely that the grim story will have another chapter written by Death, the servant of this forceful, iron-nerved woman whose will no reverse, no calamity can shatter. Trouble is expected from the chiefs, Has Oly, or Olie of Yejjn, and from Dejatch Selum, Governor of Tembien. It is feared also that Dejatch Areya, a nephew of Johannes, may make' a bid for the crown; but i.t is safe to say that in all these? ambitions the master” brain of the Empress will ho a directing influence

Abyssinia has a population of 8,000,000, and is very fertile. Hedged m by fierce Mohammedan lighting men, the country remained unknown to Europe for nearly a thousand vears. And to-day it is still shut off from the sea by the Italian possession, Eritrea, and by British and French Somaliland, a hermit kingdom, a land of mystery, a region of all places in the world today where such a record as that of bloody Taitu could be possible. (( She was a beautiful girl, like Omar’s cypress—slender minister of wine,” lithe and swift of foot as an antelope and naturally graceful. She has scarcely any negro blood in her veins apd her youthful complexion, in her riotous exuberance of life, was as of gold underlaid with rose- Her forehead was broad and well formed, her dips full and sensual, her eves brilliant and imperious, but capable “of the most extreme tenderness.

Her rigorous _ early life mado her ,i stranger to fatigue, and she was -possessed of a soundness of body and acuteness of mind which soon began to shape her pathway to power. She had both_ the beauty and the menace of a fascinating serpent. Taitu, to whom the years have brought, with the weight of care, the emphasised burden of flesh, still owes her personal charm to her expressive eyes, her gleaming, firm teeth and her voice, which she knows how to use with nn , ar \ " ' 'ch transcends that of the trained ion of tho west : for this dusky livi.iiiti's gift is natural, wholly unschooled and shaped to its unchanging perfection by the incentive that has made her, according to the grisly record of her commendators, the wickedest woman in the world. In justice to Taitu allowance should be made for the legends that attach to a person of her eminence around whom is cast the mantle of secrecy, and whoso acts have been acts of stealth and fnrtivity: but this record of her amazing alliances, carefully compiled from existing data, closely embraces her entire tragic life. MARRIAGE, MACHINATION AND MURDER. 1— RAS ABARA, whose bride she became at the age of sixteen. She led him into a conspiracy against Emperor Theodore. The plotters were fed to tho lions, and, as a humiliation of the “cypress-slender” girl, she was given in marriage to—--2 A COMMON SOLDIER, who brutally treated her, making hep perform the most menial work. She carried burdens during ihe march, and was a camp drudge. It is said that she stabbed him in the back during a battle. She then became the wife of—■

3 THE CONQUERING GENERAL, a man even more brutal than the common soldier. Ho repeatedly flogged her, and she finally stabbed him through the heart. She fled, and later on appeared as a beggar girl, before the palace of—--4 RAS MOGOLO, a powerful chief, who immediately succumbed to hei charms. It was not long before she was plotting with a neighbouring chief to overthrow her spouse and seize his lauds. She arranged that the, invaders should enter the house at night. With her assistance thev killed her husband wliil© he slept. She then became the wife of

5 RAS MONTAKA, a fierce mountain chief. But intrigue was then, as now. the very life blood of Taitu, and when the forces of the King of Tigre moved against her husband and besieged him in his mountain stronghold, she offered to assist the enemy on the promise <yf freedom and wealth. Ethiopian tradition has it that she beheaded Ras Montana while he knelt in prayer for victory to his arms. She then became the wife of—- -- GENERAL TACKED GHEORGFIfS, the head of the besieging army. Then she plotted to seize the kingdom of Tigre, but the nlofc was discovered. General GheorgJiis was executed, and Taitu fled to the province of Egious. She made her entrance, to the capital riding a beautifully caparisoned, milkwhite mule. It was an entrancing picture that fascinated—

7—THE GOVERNOR OF EGIOTT. This dignitary she led into a conspiracy against Emperor John. The official headsman again made her a widow. The possessor of great wealth, gold and jewels, and with a retinue of servants and guards, she suddenly decided to enter the convent of Debra Mcni. There she remained only for a brief period; then, seeing increased power in increased wealth, she entered wedlock With—

r rvouT/wiF '\ [ °- VEY LENDER OP CONDOR. ft is said that this good man died showing symptoms of poisoning. Taitu, having the wealth to , indulge, the most costly desires, built herself a beautiful palace in the province of Shoa, then ruled by Menelik, and married one of Ins generals named—

9—ABEBA. A conspiracy against Menelik resulted in the prompt decapitation of Generfd Abeba, and his widow soon found solace in becoming the helpmeet of—

10—ZECOARAGAGIAN, an immensely wealthy Ethiopian. Tliev bitterly disagreed. She left lum on the pretence of visiting her mother, taking the greater part of his wealth with her? He died not long afterwards. . 11—MENELIK, who again met her m 1883, when he was struggling for the establishment of. the kingdom she coveted. His home life was unhappy; he did not care for his wife, and spent most of his time with a favourite named Bejana, whom ho contemplated marrying. Taitu, hearing of this brought herself to the attention of Menelik by taming a wild horse in hia presence. He sent the less spectacular and strenuous Bejana to a convent and installed Taitu in her place. A year later Taitu was crowned Emorera of Abyssinia.

REPORTED DEAD MANY TIMES. Menelik had been reported dead about a dozen times, and as all along it has been highly import-ant to Italy to bo informed of such an important ej'ejß as the death of the Negus, in IJI2 a special agent was sent by the Government to the Abyssinian capital, Addis Abada, to learn whether Menehk was, still alive.

This investigator found that the dusky monarch hud died on December 18, 1911. hut that the fact had been carefully concealed. A journalist who accompanied him vividly described the ‘•scene of bloodshed” in the palace, m winch the princes and chiefs had a part on the occasion of the king’s death. Prior to December. 1911 dispatches from Abyssinia spoke of Taitu as “ the widowed queen.” I' l while it was reported that Menelik was nob dead—Taitu most insistent on this point—there were strange happenings which supported the suspicion that Menelik was no more. At the Abyssinian New Year celebration Menelik was supposed to have presided receiving the diplomatic corps and the great dignitaries of court and the army, hut all thev saw was a swathed figure, whose features were not visible, and who replied to speeches by signs and gestures. Dr bteinkuhler, a specialist, of Cairo, uno treated Menelik four years declares the Empress did all in lier power to keep him alive, but at the same time to render him weak and ill. tor m that way only could she hold the reins of power. She showed great capacity for ruling during tins period. When she was d<£ posed Menelik named his grandson as his successor.

The Empress’s maxims of might and murder axe quoted to show the terrible ♦tore of which she is made. If they are barren of one gracious human touch it is because this woman, professing the cross, is a reversion to the monstrously cruel days of human progress when might was the only gospel and the universal message of love had not been spoken to the world.

MAXIMS ATTRIBUTED TO TAITU. . H you would gain a throne and hold it. tear not to make of human skulls thy Stepping stones. ~ ‘V s a , W >ma n dealing with men, let dissimulation be thy watchword. LetUp man know thy secret thoughts and ambitions.

If another woman stand in thv wav take her to thy bosom ; if a man, beguile and marrv him.

Harden thy heart to all pity all remorse ; then shall thy mind and’heart be free, without scruple, to tr itin high aims.

A heart that is "without tenderness of mercy alone can inhabit a bodv able to endure and to suffer all. TV hen thou hast gained thy throne yearn not weakly for the love of thy subjects lest they perceive they weakness and one day overthrow thee • as by blood thou gainest thy crown, through blood only shalt thou retain