New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1851-11-11
LETTERS OF AN EXILE. No. XVI.
Turkish Dress and Cleanliness.
,,w..~~c,dsnce Of The N. Y. Tribune

no did not OcFOtt SOuiC Fdcco Va MS si"''AS ~
sursing the dust, the dirt, the stenches and
the yermin OF the Asiatic world Too can
did 10 contradict the truth OF such reports,
must still vindcate, II not the positive cieanli-
ness OF the Turks, at least their love oil cleaniI-
sess. Nothing would surprise them more than
the reproach Of bepg Sovenly, which they be-
stow even more lavishly upon their European
neighbors, not TO say anything Of the disgust
thew eynce toward the Arabs, the Africans and
generally toward all but themselves, the
only people, as they strictly believe, that
perfectly observe the rules OF cleanliness
Public opinion never being completely wrong
and Turkish public opinion being that clean
lness is the exclusive property Of the Fast
ern people. and that OF the rest OF the world
Lepg quite at the antipodes Of this, there must
be truth on both sides, and the difference must
be in the different point of view from which the
question is examined. In my character OF I'M
partial observer, / will faithfully relate upon
what grounds each Of these opinions rs based,
leaving to you to decide between them
First, the Turk says We wash our faces,
our hands and our feet five times, at least three
times day. (some Of them wash even more ire-
suently, and IT, during the interval between their
additions and the commencing of their prayers,
ANYTHING touches them,Or accidentally falls upon
thcm, which they consider involves uncleanneSs,
they 90 back to their washing AGAIN. Our heads
being closely shaved, they do not become, as
il the case with poor Christian people, the
loajhsome receptacles of all SORTS of filth. Eat
!. 10 ~ mi he
the spoons and forks that have successfully
passed through many other lips, practice which
looks to us exceedingly disgusting. We care
fully wash our hands before dipping our fingers
in the dishes, and wash them no less carefully
after we have done IT. We blow our noses with
Gus fingers, that is to say we pinch them artist
Caliy between two fingers OF our right hand.
blowinG at the same time most vigorously, 30
thai nothing but mother earth receives the inl-
,unty-that good and suffering mother earth,
which scorns not to swallow the very dust OF
eur bones. There is not IN our houses such
disgusting piece of furniture as bed, and IN the
poorest abodes no eye is grleved 10y the sight OF
soiled sheets or pillow cases We bathe once
week or oitener, and this Is considered by us as
religious duty, from which none, poor or rich,
can dispense himself We have, then, a right 10
CIV shame upon the uncleanlness of Christian
nations, and to call ourselves the true worship
efs Of purity and cleanliness
Now for the Christians answer You wash
i've times day. 1t is true, If dipping your hands,
feet and face in water, where II would require
some hours soapine and scrubbing TO make you
,laap ha calla1 Hut the
motive of your washing not being to make your
selves clean, hut only TO perform religious rite.
YOU achieve your additions without taking any
care Of their material and direct effect In one
wsrd, you are as dirty after washing - before.
True II is, that rich and well-brcd people have
clean hands and clean feet, and they sometimes
display a sort OF innocent coquetry IN the tao.
True it is that such precaution diminishes the
disgust which would otherwise be felt at your
way Of eating dipping pell nell your fingers IN
ene single dish but If there are some white
and perfumed hands In the East, there are many
others that are black, rough, hard and decidedly
dirty and these have no less right TO plunge
IN your gravy than the whi,est and most care
fully kept. As for the blowing of your noses. we
shall say nothing about il, speaking, as we know
We do, 10 believers IN the pocAet-handkerchei
though you affect 10 CONSIDER those pocket
handkerchiefs OF ours most hateful appendage,
only TO be worn by pork-eaters and other impure
creatures. You do no, sleep IN beds, and so you
have no dirty beds IN your possession, which is
good thing enough; but your sofas are nothing
TO boast Of You never undress at night, and
you think IL great advantage not to be obliged
70 dress IN the morning hut as necessity does
not compel you, and laIlness seduoes YOU, YOU 60
Tor weeks and months without undoing your CIR
dies, removing your,urbans, OF changing your nn-
der garments You boast OF your baths but the
poor, who live in scattered hamlets, have no
baths, and the inhabitants of the cities neves
bsthe for the sake Of cleanliness
when we hear the word bath, we are used to
represent 10 ourselves certain quantity OF wa
ter into which one plunges, remaining IN II from
quarter to whole hour. But 1t is quite d,l-
ferent thing in the East There a bath Is SIM
ply large room, or small closet, paved with
stone, with dark and dirty walls, and such 4 SUI
foe eating atmosphere that perspiranon does no,
delay appearing proiusely, and in this persplra-
sion alone is The adventurer ba,hed One or tyo
women. or one Oh two men, as ne prefers, appear
on the threshold OF the lKils cell, nearly asked
as he is wearing nothing but sort OF napkin
round their loiRs, also covered with persplration
and red and half bursting, like the hather himself,
they sit down by hun and begin TO rub hun with
. piece OF soap, which, thanks TO the aforesaid
perspiration, adheres to the skin. When he is
clad in . coating Of soap his attendants seize
a horss-hair glove, Just like tina. used by the