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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



Photograph by John B. Jackson 

 THF; CURTAIN BEFORE THE THRONE IN THE PAEACE COURT-YARD AT TEHERAN 

 The alabaster throne of the Shah (see opposite page) is under open skies. 



jority of cases are lighted only by the 

 entrance or an additional small latticed 

 window. The single street entrance is a 

 tunnel-like passageway into the court- 

 yard. A family may occupy one whole 

 side, but more commonly just a single 

 mud-floored, mud-walled room, which 

 rents for perhaps one dollar a month ; 

 and only this trifle makes a large hole in 

 the monthly income of an unskilled 

 laborer who receives but thirty cents a 

 day. 



Even in these lowly dwellings, how- 

 ever, the Persian's artistic sense and love 

 of natural beauty assert themselves, for 

 almost always there are potted plants and 

 a tiny, carefully tended flower bed in the 

 sunny area of the court. 



(X THE AIRY PALACES OE THE RICH 



What a contrast are the rich, airy 

 palaces of the grandees, their white 

 columns and porticos gleaming invitingly 

 through the luxuriant green foliage of 

 stately gardens. At a distance they con- 

 voy the general impression of magnifi- 

 cence and wealth but close at hand most 

 of them recall the imposing but crumb- 

 ling St. Louis or San Francisco Exposi- 



tion edifices as they were at the end of 

 their term of service. There is much 

 that is tawdry about them, and a great 

 part of the really skillful and artistic 

 workmanship in their architectural adorn- 

 ment is wrought in fragile plaster, which 

 soon deteriorates. 



The impressive structure which occu- 

 pies the dominant position in the great 

 garden is the berun, the abode of the 

 male members of the family. In the rear 

 of the premises, where the average 

 American usually has his garage, is lo- 

 cated the unpretentious andcrun, or 

 harem, the humble retreat which shelters 

 and segregates the numerous feminine 

 adjuncts of the household. 



There are several national institutions, 

 as yet unmentioned, which are exceed- 

 ingly essential to Persian life — the bak- 

 ery, the public bath, the tea-house, and 

 perhaps the ice factory. 



Till-: BAKER WHO OVERCHARGES IS BAKED 

 IN PERSIA 



Wheat bread is the most important, al- 

 most the only, food of the Persian masses 

 on the plateau. Rice is the staff of life 

 in the Caspian Sea region and a favorite 



