The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1882-04-21
Street seenes a Cairo.

Street Scenes IN Cairo.
The ireliest imagination cannot form
any notion Of the infinite novelty ana
strangeness of q street scene IN Cairo.
The Moosker is the broadway Of the city.
1t is about thirty feet vide, and leads
from the Ezbekeeyah-the park and the
French quarter Of the city, where are
the hotels, cafes, etc. 10 the Mokattam
hills. It is lined with small shops,
nearly all of which have no windows but
the whole front stands open to the street.
There are, perhaps. q dozen French
jewelry stores that have show windows.
and that is all. In the busy hours the
street is crowded, but yet not 80 much
as a cross street, near the farther end,
which we call Bazaar Street, as the bazars
are entered from it, and it is exceedingly
difficult here to get the right name Tor
anything among these Arabs. On GER
tain days this street is perfect jam. 1t
is lined with little shops; there hundreds
of women with yelled faces will squat
on the ground about three feet IN front
of the shop and display small stocks Of
greasy cakes. pieces Of sugar-cane, q
few pairs of slippers and other goods.
OF the crowd slowly moving in opposite
directions, there are many men and
women carrying trays, water-jars or
other articles on their heads, and all the
women who carry their children place
them astride their left shoulder, and the
little ones soon learn to chang ON" to
the shawl or wrap covering their moth
er's heads. Then q man bearing q goat
skin full of water occasionally squeezes
through the throng. and a woman COM
pletely enveloped in black silk, riding
astride on donkey, with feet drawn up
beneath as high as possible, goes along.
Next comes carriage, with q sails, or
runner, in picturesque costume, who
goes ahead, carrying gold-tipped rod,
with which he urgently taps people who
fail to get out of the way at his stento-
rian shout of "Shemalak !" left,
"Amenak !" right. The crowd makes
way for the carriage just about as water
makes way for boat. closing in behind it.
Then comes two or three camels, bur-
dened with huge loads of green clover,
their long necks and superciliOus noses
extending over the crowd. As all the
people are costumed in bright colors and
strange styles, the jam seems to US more
like grand masquerade, especially as
everybody is SO good natured. and jost-
ling is a matter of course.
The bazars are the most interesting
places in Cairo. There are sections for
almost every variety of business-gold
and silver work, slippers, rugs and car
pets, saddles, perfumery, spices, books,
crockery and dry goods-all have sep
arate quarter. You step out of the
crowded street, through an old arch gate
way, and find yourself in the silver ba-
Ear. where the workmen are busy ham,
mering out all sorts of silver jewelry,
such as bracelets, necklaces, etc. The
gold and silver bazaar consists of dozen
short, narrow passages about six feet
wide, running around corners this way
and that. and loosely rooted over with
Stats or mating. The space between
the buildings is occupied for about
eighteen inches on each side with
q platform about as high as an Or
binary chair, which is called the masta-
bah, and is an extension of the floor of
the shop. This is for the customers to
sit on, the natives dropping their slippers
and sitting on their feet, according to
the Turkish fashion. The space between
the mastabahs is only about three feet,
for the passage of the public, and in
places it is impossible for two persons to
walk abreast. The ground is unpaved
and uneven, and, being wet down twice
. day, is often slippery. The dusty, din
gy buildings and the dilapidated appear
ance of the partial covering gives to
these little lanes very nasty look, but
The impression is removed when you
look at the goods displayed by the shop
keepers. Their shops are about five or
six feet square and entirely open in the |
front. A part of this space is occupied |
BY workman. who with little furnace,
! hammer, small anvil, pair of plyers
md few other tools, is working silver
md gold into attractive shapes. His as
'istant will open an old safe and
show you very beautiful gold and
silver ornaments, which they have
in the same STYLES
Is were popular and fashionable
wo or three thousand years ago, as
proved by old jewelry or pictures found
n the ancient tombs. The merchant
will often order coffee to be brought and
Tou take cup. shaped like half an egg
hell and holding about three table
poonsful. by way of politeness. The
ewelry lacks the fine finish we are &C
ustomed to see on such goods, but the
tyles are most attractive and show what
an be done by patient hand-labor and
4lmost without TOOLS The goods are sold
-ery cheap,-that is, when you have
zone through the regular custom of beat
ng the asking price down to about one
'alf. 1t sometimes requires two or three
lays to make the purchase of some COW
ted article at the lowest price; but as it
'rolOngs our visits to the bazars, and the
njoyment of seeing the people at their
york and the panorama that's constantly
noving by, we do not consider it a mis-
ortune, while the shop-keepers seem
lso to enjoy the time spent in making
bargain.
The simmer hazar "a ahor,t oo v,o,-~nv,, |