The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1882-07-27
CAIRO AND IT'S PEOPLE.
The City to Which Arab Pasha
and His Followers are
Marching.

1t appears to be the intention of Arabi
PaSha to lead his army in to Cairo, the
capital of Egypt. Cairo is the second
city of importance In the Turkish Em-
pire, COnstantinOple being the first. 1t
is situated about l2O miles southeast of
the now ruined city of. alexandria, almile
from the right bank of the Nile and ten
miles above the delta OF that river. 1t
has a population of about four hundred
Thousand people, MOhammedans, COpts,
Jews, Greeks, Armenians and Europeans.
The city lies mostly on the plain of the
Nile Valley, but the southeast part, in
cluding the citadel, is built upon the
spur of the MOkkOtam mountains. Cairo
occupies a site of about seven miles in
circumference. Strangers who visit it
are enchanted by its appearance from
without, but their golden dreams are
dispelled as soon as they set foot inside.
The houses as a rule are wretched little
huts one story high, and the streets are
lily kept, unpaved and in a filthy cOndi-
tiOn. Clouds of dust are met at every
hand, and heavy rainfall is considered
a calamity, for the garbage in the streets
undeTgOes rapid decomposition. The
EsbekiZah, the principal public place, Is
planted with shrubs and trees and
crossed by walks. Cairo is famous for
its mosques, some of them elegant speci-
mems of Arabian architecture. The most
celebrated of the four hundred of these
structures is that of Sultan Hassan, near
the citadel.s The mosque El-AZhOr is cele
bTated for the beauty of its architecture
and for acOllege to which hundreds of
students resort from all parts of the Mo
hammedan world. The mosque of Tu-
lun, founded A. ID. $40, contains speci-
mems of the pointed arch which was
afterwards introduced into Europe, and
was one of the characteristics of the
o. -, Il, .E h fAna l. -
of the city, Just outside the walls, are
number of beautiful mosques built over
the tOmbs of Circassian and BOrgite
monks. In the southeast is the citadel,
on a hill 250 feet above the rest of the
city, containing the palace of the Khe-
dive, the mint, manufactOTy of arms,
various government offices, barracks,
and other buildings, and a splendid
mosque, begun by Mehemet Ali. With
in the citadel deep we'll is cut 2S0 feet
deep, intended to supply the garrison in
case of seige. The diffeTentTaces which
inhabit Cairo live in distinct qaarters,
of which there are many, as the Jew
quarter, the Frank quarter, the COptic |
quarter, etc. The streets leading to |
each quarter are closed at night by gates. |
The Khediye maintains a theater for |
French comedy and an opera house and |
a good ballet. In the Frank quarter is |
LLlG lADlil VI IlAC 41t5J pl4ulA LAooOOAubAOIs
Three are also many Protestant and |
Catholic charitable institutions in Cairo, |
where persons of all cTeeds are treated |
alike. The Americans, among others,
have a religious mission in the city.
Cairo has two suburbs, BOOlak and |
Musr-el-Abek, both of which are on the |
banks of the Nile and serve as ports to |
the city.
Cairo was founded about A. D. go, by
JOhar, General of FL MOeZ, the chief |
Imam Of the northwest coast of Africa.
He named it FL KahiTeh Ghe victOTiOus) |
in cOmmemOratiOn of his conquest in |
Egypt. In ll71 the Crusaders laid siege |
to the city but withdrew on the approach |
of the Syrian army. Saladin greatly i'm
proved the city. In 1856 the Turks de- |
feated the lIameluke Beys in a battle be- !
fore Cairo and took possession of the !
place, but lost ii again in 1880. A few |
years later General BOnaparte entered |
Cairo with his victorious army. The |
city was, furthermore, the scene of most |
of the triumphs of Mehemet Ali. At the
head of the Albanians he conquered it
soon after the departure of the French.
He then openly declared war on the Ma
meluke Beys. considerable body of
BeyS who were camped before Cairo, in
the summer of 1906, were enticed into
making an attempt to seize the city. |
They forced an entrance by gate pur- |
pOsely left undefended, and marched |
triumphantly through the streets until |
they were suddenly surrounded by the |
troops of Mehemet Ali, who slaughtered |
them ali without mercy. For the next |
few years Mehemet Ali kept on cOmpara- |
lively good terms with the Beys. On |
March 1st, 1871, however, he enticed all |
the Mamelukes in Cairo into the citadel |
on pretense of witnessing the ceremony |
of Investing his son Tusun with the |
command of an army to be sent against |
the Wahalkees in Arabia. The gates of |
the fortress were then closed upon them |
and they were killed to the number of |
47O. By this event Mehemet Ali's au-
basis