Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1883-06-06
A BAND OF BEDOUINS,
Their Appearance, Costumes and the Unparsl'
eled Fests of Horsemanskip and Acrobatics
for Which They are Remarkable

for Which They are Remarkable.
The steamer Celtic arrived in New Y0)k yee
ter@ay from Liverpool, having among its pas
SEN els Il band of genuine Bedouins-thr arab;
ot tire d e ert that are Cften written and reaC
abou, but seldom encountered by tue eau.
c1slan Tbey we're In charge Of Mr.. Eenesl
Cooke, gentleman who found them III the
southern part Of Russia, whittier they had
Journeyed from the Holy Land. Mr. Cooke
has travelled extensively in the East, and is
particularly conversant with the manners and
customs of the Arabs, whose language he
speaks fuently, and who seem to regard him as
| q very special friend. This band, in which
there are three women, retain tn, ir native
dress, which is picturesque and attractive to
tie eye. and altogether have a romantic, old
world appearance that arouses curiosity and
eXcltes interest. AS they came off the pier
hundreds of men and women gathered to have
look at them, and it was with difficulty they
made their way to the Westminster Hotel,
where they are now quartered. A description
OF one of these magnificent swarthy SONS of
the desert may be interesting to the readers of
the GLOBE-DE NOCRAT. Take the Chief Kefr
Shima, for instance. He is a man of probably
5O years. tall like the poplar, and straight as O
reed: his brown limbs that are exposed 10 view
are firmly knit, and sinewy as those of
an athlete and despite the patriarchal
appearance given him by his long white beard
and the snowy locks that fall from under his
tarboosh, he seems still to have the strength
and agility of youth and suggests the idea
that the sight of a rich caravan and the hot
breath of bis native sands would cause his eye
TO glitter and his blood t. leap as it was went
to do when in the oden days he dreamt only
OF booty and carried a ready lance and primed
MATCHBOX for the merchants, upon
whom he and his Bedouin brethren
occasionally preyed. Like the rest
Of the band, lis raiment is simple, but very
pleasing IN It's combinations. The ,arboosh or
cap Is red, and he wears a loose, red jacket,
baggy, blue trousers, gathered at the waist
and held there by a variegated sash, red
shoes with pointed turn-up toes, and besides a
few ornamental bits of cloth, a long. light
mantle that trails upon the ground. The
chiefs wife accompanies him. She is charm
ing little lady, handsome in features and
graceful IN carriage, and wears a plain blue
gown of rusty cotton cloth, and has rusty
looking tarbOOsh, similar to Ler Sheik like
husband, on her head. A piece Of white mus
lin is drawn across her face to conceal it from
the eyes of men. All the women wear tits
veil, called in the Orient, the Yakmasb, which
completely hides the features from view.
HES are cut in the veil through which the
eyes look out. For the first time IL Their lives
New Workers saw this yakmash, and many hum
dred ladies, who had heard of it, called at the
hotel to learn exactly what it was like. The
first thing you know metropolitan bellies will
be wearing yakmashes; some Of the
ugliest of the society darliogs would
take to hem most willingly, no
doubt. The Bedouins are twelve IN number.
AS has been said before, they were in Southern
Russia when M. Cooke found them. They
were giving exhibitions of their skill IN horse
manship and as acrobats and athletes. The
men would form pyramids and juggIe knives
in this position until they seemed to be sur
rounded by a shwer of cutlery. They tumbled
over bayonets and revolved in the air with open
knives in their hands, and performed other
seeming " impossible and certainly dangerous
feats. The women, who are born snake
charm5rs, handled boa-c1nstrictUrs and ana
condas as if they were harmless pets, and men
and women juggled and dealt in magic as
cleverly as the fakrs of Iudia or the tricky
dervishes around Lahore. They made no
secret that they came fresh from conquests ON
the desert, but advertised their extraordinary
skill and were creating the widest furore in
Russia when Mr.. Cooke dropped IN on them.
Mr.. Cooke is friend of W. w. Cole, the pro-
prefer Of the New Colossal Shows, and seeing
the possibility of making great success with
the Bedouins in America, cabled Mr.. Cole
about them. Mr.. Cole cabled back at ones to
Constantinople, with instructions 10 Cooke
to engage the Bedouins and bring them on i'm
mediately. After some delay in making ar
rangements with the consuls the barga was
struck at last and the Arabs are now bere.-
Special dispatch to the st. LOUIS Globe Demo
cTdt.