Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1886-02-25
IN A PERSIAN STREET.

s. g. w. Benjamin, recently United
States Minister at the court of Teheran,
the capital of Persia, describes his inn
pressions of that country in the JAN
uary Century. From an illustrated pa
per in the number ON Teheran we take
the following: ssIn such a climate as
that of Teheran life is naturally passed
chiefly in the open air. The chill of
winter, rarely severe, seems to make
little difference in the habits of the
people. The shops are all open to the
streets; the customers stand outside.
and even the shopkeeper attends to
most of his business from the exterior
of the shop. If he is baker, grocer or
costermonger, in all probability he and
the customer both stand in the street,
retrcating into the shop only when
string of camels or dashing cortege
forces them to move out of the way. A
carpenter may frequently be seen ar
ranging piece of joinery on the pave
ment in front of his shop. The schools
often in no-wise differ from the shops;
in the midst of crowded thoroughfare
one may see twenty or thirty lads seated
on their heels repeating the lesson to-
gether in monotonous tone.
Another common sight in the streets
of Teheran is the itinerant barber. The
Koran enjoins the masculine Moham-
nees shave the entire head, excepting a
long lock in the center, whereby, it is
said, the archangel may pluck them out
of the grave. But the Sheahs. or Per-
sian Mussulmans, shave from the fore
head to the nape of the neck, leaving a
highly-prized lock on each side. 1t is,
therefore, common to see man of the
lower classes seated on the pavement
going through the operation of having
his head shaved. The remaining hair
and the beard are dyed, and it is rare
that one sees grey hairs in Teheran.
The first tint applied is henna, an
orange-yellow vegetable dye. Many
consider this so handsome as to prefer
it without the further application of in
| digo which most select The last tint,
combined with the henna, imparts a
durable and rather agreeable dark
brown color to the hair. The women
also have their hair dyed and join the
eyebrows with the pencil. All classes
make use of the bath at least once a
week, the wealthy having steam-baths
attached to their dwellings. No Chris
| tian is ever permitted admittance to the
baths of the Persians. The public baths
answer the purpose of clubs and sewing
circles; the women go in the morning,
take their sewing with them, and, after
being thoroughly steamed and scrubbed,
| devote several hours to smoking the
kalian, embroidering, and discussing
the scandal of the neighborhood, which
they assiduously circulate ON their re.
turn home
Another street sight of Teheran is
| the tea-house, equivalent to the coffee
house of Constantinople or the beer gar
| den of Munich. These establishments
are generally thronged toward the close
| of the day.
"Botn wine-drinking and card-play.
| ing are forbidden to true believers; and
| therefore, neither is seen in these place:
| of public resort But both are freely
INDUCED in at home. The card-player.
of Persia use a set of twenty cards il
| five suits of four each
1T is an interesting fact that Amer
lea must relinquish the claim of having
invented the gamblers favorite game o
poker, for it was known in Persia cen
turtles ago. The game played by tn,
Persians is in principle poker or bras
pure and simple, and betting often runs
high with them.
another characteristic scene in tn,
streets of Teheran is the bread. Persian
bread is made in sheets the thickness o
sole leather; the best quality is some
what thinner. 1t is formed in the shap
and size of side of leather The bake
with bare arms dexterously raises
sheet of this dough from the counte
where it is rolled out, losses and rolls
over his left arm until reduced to TIL
proper tenuity. With a rapid fling o
both arms he then spreads 1t over tn
hot floor of the oven. In few moment
it is baked and spread out to cool.
there is convenient ledge in the stree
near the shop, one may see it covere'
with layers of bread. This bread j.
cheap, one cent sheet, and what i.
more. it is sweet and nourishing, and
with curds, cheese and fruit, forms 9
staple article of diet with large part O
the population. Consequently, one con
stantly meets with people carrying
sheets of bread home with them, the
women holding them in front like
leather aprons"