Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1888-07-14
a SCHOOL IN ALolEh



On the other side Of the central pun
square Ii school, small Babel of siS\ |
boys or more. The intellectual traininAl
Of children Is very limited. and causeF
hut little anxiety to parents, who teach
them In early childhood TO repeat. II tcs-
tify that Mohnmmed Is Gods apostle.
and to hate Christians. The remainder
Of their education consists in the acquire
ment Of few r,idimentary rules Of arith-
metic and the practice of committing to
memory rs much Of the Koran rs posi-
bic. Let IL he understood that we are re-
ferring to the purely Arab schools. and
not TO others where French influence Is
gaining ground: one Of the largest build
ings in Algiers Is the Lyccun. where about
800 Christians. jews and Mohammedans
are educated together. The old professor
of the school on the public square has as
sistants Of different ages for the younger
boys. so that there is n continual running
stream Of big and little voices. each try
ing TO o,,tcry the other; higher and more
shrill they yell rs they take in fresh
breath and repeat whit they know ~
such rate that it seems impossible that
any one should distinguish one syllable
from another.
In fact, during my stay often asked
my young factotum Of the day what was
being rccited: his only answer was sis
niiicant slrug OF the shoulders sils
pas. mossou- commas pas ca. moi. Az
!ah-lllah Allah Acllal, MolIanin-i-
wally golly jolly holly. repeated ut thnA
top Of your voice. and ut lightning sicf
a thousand times minute IL yolis>Rn
will give you. my reader. faint yy3ca Of
what one Of the youngsters l/soyine:
then multiply by the NUMBER irnccl in
this noisy method of COMM M the Ko-
ran to ngmory. and yoy nav get sill
nearer the fiTect, chiK 4 are made to
rccite in q loud " Ias possible, in
ofuer 70 'nps Acir lungs-a re-
l"iretc". necessary for u
m1ezzin H. ~" ~ prayer from thu
Up -, These who are To-
.;.,, M, are sometimes taught
rary little useful arithmetic.
Il ponotony Of these rccita-
81, the lad is occasionally
hc knees Of the old teacher.
.or fashion. holds the offender
mikes. and administers blows
sod on the solcs Of his feet
form Of bastinado.
4he pupils stationery and hooks at
the Arab school do not cost his parents n
great amount. \ slate. so called. but
made Of hard wuo,l. is the medium of
knowledge. The surface becomes rs
smooth as glass by repeated application
Of fine pipe clay, which is inoistcncd with
water and rubbed an with the fingers
When the lad has filled his slate on both
sides with diciations from the Kornn,
written in ink with n reed pen. and has
committed its contents to memory. he
washes il and rcncws the coating Of clay.
\ mistake is easily corrected with the
wet finger. The Arab boy has all the
mischief Of any other school boy. and as
he must break. chew. crack, nick and
mend something. his slate ends by being
kind Of one horse shay put together
again with glue. nails and bits of tin
and brass, cross beams and corners; the
marvellous clay fills up all the chinks.
On the wall hangs large blackboard:
on the floor mating lie burnooscs aud
shoes, hut no primers. grammars. gcog-
r'tIillts or htllcr llk stained accessories
which strcw the benches and desks 80
our schools.
Groups Of dear little black eyed lnys
from > 10 8 years old. other groups II
different CLASSES. youths of Il. Is, all
wearing their red tarbouchcs with big blue
taSscls. jackets and burnooscs of all
shades and colorS. cnlivcnel by sircaks
and spots II srnliSh, siftcd through tho
intricate designs Of the windows and
stained glass. make n charming kalcido-
scope. All around is the plain white
washed wainsco,ing. considerably soi,si
and stained by the backs. hands and
heads that lean against it; and above arc
exquisite arabcsqucs in stucco-for the
interior. though somewhat dilapidatcd, is
untouched 10y the rcstorcr's hand, and re-
mains one 81 the very finest examples Of
Moorish art. The bnlding was small
mosque. the ornamcntcd and painted
wooden ceiling of which. almost in ruins.
is supported by arches and onyx columns.
F. y. Bridgman in llarper's Monthly.