Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1888-06-09
PLAQUES OF EGYPT. e
THE PHYSICAL EFFECTS OF A DRY,
DUSTY ATMOSPHERE.


SAINT Demand for Backshish-A Bed
Among the T1cas.
Iam writing this nt Cooks Luxor bo.
tel, as good house as one could wish
large, rambling building in q fine gar.
den running down TO the river. II is EN-.
powered In noble palms and towering
trees and shrubs. and would be charm
ing retreat anywhere. but here surround
cd by the hot mud novels which make up
an Egyptian village, with the burning
sands and sterile mountains close by. IL Is
simply delightful. We are the only occu.
pants; have the whole house, do what we
please, and shall leave 1t with regret. In
vahds In search Of health could spend
month or two here not only delightfully."-,
but In this wondrously dry atmosphere
most advantageously In many classes of
complaints. Ineed state only three facts
70 show the rapidity Of evaporation In
Upper Egypt. Water too warm to drink
Is put into porous jar and placed in the
wind, though in the sun; In a half hour II
is as cool as good spring water. At night,
exposed to breeze. oven when tho breeze
Is rather warm, before morning 1t becomes
almost Ice cold. The night OF my arrival
here took pouring bath on a balcony.
The wind was balmy, but fresh. The
rapid evaporation 30 chilled me that /
could not stay out long enough for my
bath. At tho foot of the cataract we
took swim in tho Nile. We wore our
underclothes for bathing suits. We hung
them up before our staterooms TO dry. In
ten minutes they were dry enough 10 be
worn. We have all heard Of the univer.
sal habit of all Africans to anoint them.
selves with oil. and travellers speak Of It
N "A n na OF " hn1.t d.
sary In very hot and very dry climates tc
prevent tho cracking OF tho skin. An
English officer told mo that during the
hot winds on tho Upper Nile his hands
and face chapped worse than they ever
did in n cold climate--chappcd oven to
bleeding badly.
THE WIND AND THE FLIES.
have found fresh white butter quite rs
pleasant on my hands as on my toast. The
boys have felt no Inconvenience from the
winds. My hands are very sensitive to
the effect OF dry, dusty atmosphere. At
Assouan we were In the sun during two
days. We did not use our umbrellas, our
pith hats being quite comfortable, and
yet We were just on the edge Of the
tropics. 1t has been rather too chilly to
lilo down on the top Of our little steamer
for any considerable time at night. We
have had no musquito curtains on our
boat, and have needed none. tho breeze on
the water making them unnecessary. 1t
takes hard blow, however, to keep flies
away. The portlnacity Of an Egyptian fly
Is beyond chat Of any other living crea.
ture. The natives never brush them
away. They deem 1t bad luck to do So
Flies are never driven from baby's face,
and 1t does not seem annoyed by them.
It's face Is rarely washed, and Is 30 dirty
that II affords admirable forage ground
for hundreds Of tho little brutes.
watched n child of about 2 1-2 years
enjoying q crust Of bread. There was
about 1t n swarm Of flies, and ! do not
exaggerate when / say two or three
dozens were on its face Mt one timo In
patches ns big as n half dollar about the
eyes and mouth. 1t would screw up its
eyes when they threatened to go in. /
thought some must have gone into It's
mouth with tho bread. II did not seem
Mt oil annoyed. j saw q sleeping child on
the street whose facc was almost black
with tho insects. 1t smiled as II angels
were whispering In its ears. l have seen
men talking pleasantly together while
n dozen flies would DO promenading about
their faces, apparently unnoticed by the
owners of the faces. / asked a man how
ho could stand It. "Mashallahl They
don't bother mo-" was his reply. This
has made the fly bold and he seems ut
terly unable to understand what for
cigner means when he tries to drive him
off. lle has, too, remarkably prehensilo
claws, and keeps them keen and sharp
when taking constitutional walks over
European countenauces. 1t was probably
the knowledge Of this quality which made
these people pronounce II bad luck to
drive them away. They found It best to
educate tho masses to bear tho infiction
and SO get used to It.
THE DEMAND FOR BAcKsIIIsII.
BY tho way, travellers aro shocked by
the incessant demand for backshish
gifts throughout the mighty east. The
thing Is not TO be wondered at, for all the
bcggars tho world over knew there are
none equal to the gods Of the east. Their
hands arc everywhere represented ex-
tended for bacllshish. Their favor was
won by ofTerings-their anger averted by
sacrifices. Like tho proboscis of Il cello
brated elephant, their hands could pick
up pin or carry off a cart load Of pota-
toes. They could mako n lunch from
few grains of rice, the widows mite, or
they could devoura hecatomb of bullocks,
the gifts Of prince The gods took gifts
and demanded them. Thegreat and pow
ertul, profting by their example. took
gifts and enforced the giving. The poor
took gifts and begged for them. The
well to do in the whole region of the early
sun reach out the hand for commission
Tho poor clamor like hungry ours for
crumbs and bones, and are not ashamed
Of their clamor.
/ fear what l have said about Upper
Egypt looks too much as II was seeing
It through rose glasses. Thirty six years
ago, when Bayard Taylor and ! travelled
in the east together, suffered terribly
from tleas. The only pun l remember
him to havo made was anent the little
tormentor. He said Homer wrote tho
'lliad." Virgil the "Eneid;" that II ever
wrote an epic it would be the "Flead." l
had hoped we We're about to escape this
Egyptian plague, but yesterday, after
lunching in ono of the old tombs Of the
kings, we lay down for nap on the sands;
but my donkey boy, desiring to please tho
old man, whom he fatters by calling his
"father," spread the blanket and saddle for
me to have nice siesta. Ali moment Of
mad forgetfulness. slept an hour. but tho
Nemesis came. This particular tomb Is
now called the "lunch tomb" Hundreds
have lunched in 1t this season, though 1t
Is where no living thing Is seen, and ap.
parently nothing can live, yet the sanded
floor was full of my mortal enemies,
brought to 1t by the many donkey boys,
who in its shade rest while their employ
ers are wandering among tho mighty caves
Of the dead. have passed good part of
my time since then rs hen with one chick
does in an empty chicken yard-scratch-
ing. ! am like certain officials not far
from the old court house In Chicago-only
more so. They have itching palms. am
oil palm. ! itch all over and am raw in
patches, ,-EX- Mayor Carter II. Harrison 5
Thebes Letter In Chicago Times.
Not Beaeonsfeld's Favorite.
1t Is said that tho primrose was not
Lord Beaconsfeld's favorite flower at all.
and that the story that 1t was arose from