The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1882-07-05
An Egyptian Prison.
We were i'm sort of sill-paved,
ill-looking. illssmelling square on

We were in d sort of iltpaved
Unlocking, illlsmelling square on
each side of the square large door,
now thrown open, displaying an in
ner door of croRs-barred, wooden
grating and behind row upon row OF
miserable, hopeles faces. Already
the old folks and children who had
followed us had began to pilfer from
the bread panniers, and as soon as
the prisoners caught sight ofthe food.
the horrid clanking of chains grated
on my ears, loud cries and howls
came from the gratings and the faces
at the apertures multiplied threefold.
I could see the poor wretches strug-
Cling with one another for place in
front. the weakest, of course, going
to the wall, the greediest and strong
est crushing forward. And such fa-
ces Most of them were revolving
enough in themselves and could well
have spared the loathsome environ
ment that made them worse. On
some, indeed, scourge Of the East,
leprosy. had left its mark some were
merely in and hungry-looking; the
better favored seemed to stay with
their chains behind, for shame per-
haps. All the foremost cried out for
the bread they saw, and scrambled
and fought like wild beasts for such
oftheround cakes as escaped through
the bars without being torn piece
meal in their passage. One or two
of the officials volunteered to help
us to distribute our doles; and, of
course, inviolable Eastern custom
demanded that little of the sorry
stuff should disappear by the way
into their own capacious pockets.
| tried to get one of these fellows
Uusef as ! had heard some of the
prisnners call bim-to deal out the
bread in something like order. but
order seemed impossible; official
authority stopped short outside the
bars of the prison house while inside
/ could see some sturdy rutfians
dealing blows to their fellows with
rude whips and even with their
chains, driving them from the raised
step that led to the door, curs!ng
loudly. And while this din was in
our ears and we were feeding the
wretches inside the bars the unfort- ).
unates outside, who had followed US
closely to this very holy of holies,
were pilfering as fast as hands, big |
or little could help them. Yes, big |
or little. One tiny child, about five
years cid, stole three cakes before
my eyes. was cuffed, husteled away |
and returned in n minute to steal a |
fourth from my left hand while her
mother was snatching from my right.
The cigarettes produced almost
equal excitement and were hugged
by the happy possessors almost as
eagerly as the bread.
And now that my stock of provis-
ions was exhausted thought | had |
seen enough Tor once. and proceeded |
to make my way out OF the vile den.
As | was moving off one of the Off !
GERS bIandlv asked for bachshish, in |
reply to which used all the few Ara
bic indignant expletives | knew, and |
failing in that. French, and when
that also came too slowly for my
indignation, | found relief in native
English.
i heard subsequently that ''the
Khedive,"-i. e. l suppose the
government-sends supplies to the
prisoners to the extent ofthree OF
those small round cakes for each
person in confinement, but .hey only
get one. and some who had tasted
the sweet Of this same prison house
assured me that they often get none.
Where do the rest go? What mtn
who knows Egypt knows not this,
too?