Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1875-08-20

Imagine a saloon a dozen teet square,
arched and whitewashed, encircled by a
wainscot about six feet high, and a species
of divan covered with straw mating. liz
the middle-and this is the most elegant
point of detail-a fountain of white marble
throws up a stream of water which falls
again in various streams and clouds of spray.
In corner burns a furnace, over which the
coffee is made, cup By cup, as required, in
little brass coffee-pcts capable of holding
but a single cup each. To the walls are at
tached shelves laden with razors, near which
hang several elegant little pearl-mounted
mirrors in which the customers can see
whether their boards are arranged to their
taste, for in Turkey every cafe is also a bar
ber's shop, and, while | smoke my chibou
que and sip my coffee, in comes fat Turk
with PARROTS nose ana lean Persian
with an eagles beak to have their boards
dressed while young Greek in front of me
is pJmading his moustache and painting his
eyebrows, which he had equalized by means
of a small pair of pineers. The idea is prev
alent that according to the rule Of the
Koran the Turks absolutely prescribe all
Images" " and regard the products of the
plastic art As works oil idolatry but al
though this is true in principle it is not
vigorously sustained, and the cdfcS are deco
rated with all sorts Of prints ofthe oldest
choice and taste without appearing at all to
scandalize the orthodox Mussulman. Turk
ish taste takes French prints, and forms
grotesque combinations. Sirens swim at the
side Of steamboats,, and the heroes of Schah
Nameh brandish their battle-axes above the
old soldiers OF the Empire 1t Is delightful
to take, in these cafes, after a latiguing
walk through the streets, tiny cup Of their
dark and turbid coffee, brought to You by
blacA-eyed yOungster on the tips OF his fin
gers, in a salyar Of silver filgree and it
proves more truly refreshing than anv iced
drink which you could obtain. To the cup
OF coffee Is usually added Il glass OF pure wa
ter, which the Turks drink before and the
Franks after and there is characteristic
anecdote current on this very subject \ |
European who spoke the Eastern language
perfectly, wore the Mussulman costume ike /
a native, and had acquired the bronze COM
plex.On OF the climate, was nevertheless |
recognized as Frank in little Obscure |
Syrian cafe by a ragged Bedouin. incapable /
certainly Of discovering a fault in the pare |
Arabic dialect OF the detected foreigner. |
By what have You discovered me to be a .
Frank said the European, as much an
noyed as Theophrastus, when called "strang-
err bya green grocer in the market at
Athens, because he had misplaced an accent
''You drank your water after your coffee -
replied the Bedouin. Every one carries hi,
own tobacco box. tho cqfs supplying only
the chibouqle. the amber mouthpiece Of
which Is incapable ofretaining any impurity
from use, and the nargile, "a complicated
which it would be rather difficult
to lag about with You. The price Of the
cup Of coffee Is twenty paras, or one penny
iarthing and if You give 4 piaStre, or two
pence halfpenny, you are quite n magnificent
person. The money is dropped into a box
pierced with a hole "a regular child,'s
money box, which is placed near the door.
in Turkey the first besgar in rags
who come in seats himself on the divan be-
side the most ,umptuously dressed Turk
without eic.ing any sirn Of aversion or dis
pleasure from the latter, certain cla-se~
have, nevertheless, their habitual places of
resort, and the Cafe Of the Marble Foun-
tain, situated between Serai-BJurn0u and
the Mosque of Yeni-Djami, i one OF the
most fre4aeuctl ia all the t1wn.-TLmpiH
GQufier