The Warner weekly sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1885, 1883-11-17
THE EGYPTIAN ARMY.
The Unwariike Character OF the Eel
laheen-Scenes at the Cnnscrip.

Al correspondent Of the London Times
in Egypt writes: "There exists q consid-
cradle diversity of ooinion about the
character of the fellaheen, but on one
point all authorities have been hitherto
agreed-that the fellah is one of the
most unwarlike types of mankind and
heartily detests military service. Any
body who travels in Egypt during the
time of the CONSUMPTION must be pain
fully impressed with the fact. In the
villages he may be often reused at night
by a violent alteration outside, which
| begins with gruff, bass male voices and
culminatesi in shrill, hysterical, falsetto
tones. The first time he is 80 disturbed
he probably assumes that it is a case of
burglary or manslaughter, and rushes
out with the intention of supporting. Wig
orously the party of law and order, but
he finds to his disappointment that it is
nothing more seriously than the captur-
ing ofa recruit for the khedivial army and
though it may be quite true as the women
declare, that the village sheikh In making
the choice of his victim, has been in
huenced by considerations of baksheesh
the arguments produced pro and con in
volve contradictory statements OF fact
and such complicated considerations of
Law and morals that as a stranger he can
hardly feel justified in interfering with
the action of the authorities. In the
principal towns, where the results are
collected, similar scenes take place on a
larger scale. The conscripts are brought
into the public square under an escort
of kayasses, armed with STICKS and
switches, to be examined by the medical
officer and the military authorities.
Among them are a good many repre-
sentatives of the halt, the manned, and
the blind, and these, after being separa-
ted from the others are allowed to re-
turn to their homes. OF the remainder
a few conduct themselves with the
apathetic, digniied air of the true Mus
sulman, but the majority endeavor to
prove by wordy arguments, solemn as
servations, expressive gestures, or re-
voting contortions that they are totally
unified for military service; and, when
arguments fail, importunate ~intreaties,
heartrending appeals, or indignant pro-
tests are employed. In vain the
kavasses, with the aid Of their sticks
and switches, endeavor to keep order
hUQ lUuUO660 StNCuCG buC OUGbtudtClJ ILL.,
fortunate persistently break from the
ranks and have to be put back into their
places by force, till at last a rough as
sortment has been made. Those who
have ne glaring corporal defect and who
have not succeeded in privately concil-
iating the authorities are then marched
of to prison, to be kept there until the
arrival of the train or steamer which is
to transport them to Cairo. When the
moment of departure arrives the most
extraordinary he~artrending scenes are
to be witnessed. Here il is net the con-
scripts, who appear resigned to their
fate, but the women, young and old,
that play the CHEZ part. Each conscript
has an iron collar, they are bound to-
gether in groups of ten or a dozen.
Around them stand their female rela-
tiyes, weeping and Wailing. As the mo-
ment of separation approaches the ex-
element of the increases their
means become lou Ter and their shrieks
more shrill, until, as the train or steam
er moves of, there is a terrible moment
of climax. The wives, mothers, and Sis
ters sit down on the ground, throw dust
upon their heads, calculate, shrek, and
I gesticulate like maniacs, while the more
excitable, if not restrained, literally rend
bu6lI kdIUlChb6 dh0 61OW al
the symptoms of the widest
despair. A spectator ignorant of the
cause of all this excitement and grief
would naturally suppose that the men
in chains had been condemned to death
and were being taken to Cairo to be ex-
ecuted.
This repugnance to serve in the army
is not a thing Of yesterday. When Me-
hamet Ali, in order to get rid of his tur-
bulant Abanjans by whom he had de-
stroyed the Mamedukes first endeav-
ored to create q native army he encoun-
tered in the resistance of the Fellaheen
the chief obstacle 70 the realization oil
his plans. With the assistance of Col.
Seves, better known as Solyman Pasba,
and a considerable number of Turks and
Circassians, he succeeded in forming
and drilling several regiments. but as
soon as they were required for active
service the men begun to mutiny and
desert. One regiment when ordered to
Arabia to act against the Wahabees
openly revolted, killed its officers, and
had to be decimated and ~disbanded, the
survivors being incorporated in othe,
regiments. When the expedition had
reached the Hedjaz and vas in face of
the enemy a second regiment mutinied,
massacred the officers, and after being
brought TO reason by Turkish troops,
was sent back to Cairo. Mean
while many Of the conscripts sought to
escape the CONSUMPTION by cutting of
their forefinger or putting out their
right, until they found that the pasha,
with q view TO cfIeckmating such expe-
dents, formed companies of one-eyed
recruits, and made those who had mu-
tilated their right hand pull the trigger
with the fingers that remained. Grad
ually, however, the fellahs submitted to
their fate, and showed in the Hedjaz,
the Morea, the Soudan, Syria, and Asia
Minor, that they could, when properly
handlad foht we'll and avon goin Viz