Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1888-07-11
THE PHYSICAL EFFECTS OF A DRY,
DUSTY ATMOSPHERE.

vahds In search OF health could spend q
month or two here not only delightfully."-.
but In this wondrously dry atmosphere
most advnntageously In many classes Of
complaints lneed state only three facts
10 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 half hour II
In as cool IN good spring water. At night,
exposed TO Q breeze, even when the breeze
u rather warm. before morning It becomes
almost Ice cold The night Of my arrival
here took q pouring bath on o balcony.
The wind was balmy. but fresh. The
rapid evaporation 30 chilled ms that
could not stay out long enough for my
bath At the foot of the cataract we
took . swim In the Nile We wore our
anderclothes for bathing suits. We hung
them up before our staterooms to dry. In
ten minutes they were dry enough to b.
worn We have al heard Of the univer.
sal habit Of all Africans to anoint them.
selves with oil, and travellers speak Of II
as nasty habit. It Is. however. neces.
sary In very hot and very dry climates ia
prevent the cracking of the skin An
English officer told me that during the
hot winds on the Upper Nile his hands
and face chapped worse than they ever
did In a cold climate-chapped even to
bleeding badly
THE WIND AND THE FLIES.
have found fresh white butter quite O.
pleasant on my hands as on my toast. The
boys have felt no inconvenience from the
winds Ny hands are very sensitive to
the effect Of q 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 Il has been rather too chilly ia
lie 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. the breeze on
the water making them unnecessary. II
takes hard blow. however. to keep files
away. The pertinacity Of an Egyptian fly
10 beyond that Of any other living crea.
ture The natives never brush them
away. They deem It bad luck to do SO.
Flies are never driven from baby's face,
and 1t does not seem annoyed by them.
It's face Ii rarely washed, and Ia so dirty
that 1t affords admirable forage ground
for hundreds Of the little brutes.
I watched child of about Ia years
enjoying o crust Of bread. There was
about It q swarm of flies. and I do not
exaggerate when ] say two or three
dozens were on its face at one time in
patches as big as half dollar about the
eyes and mouth It would screw up lite
eyes when they threatened to 60 In. ]
thought some must have gone into it's
mouth with the bread It did not seem
at all annoyed Isaw sleeping child on
the street whose face was almost black
with the insects. Il smiled as IL angels
were whispering in its ears / have seen
men talking pleasantly together while
q dozen flies would be promenading about
their faces, apparently unnoticed by the
owners Of the faces. / asked man how
he could stand It. "Mashallahl They
don't bother me-" was his reply. This
has made the fly bold and he seems ut
terly unable to understand what for
eigner means when he tries to drive him
off He has, too, remarkably prehensile
claws, and keeps them keen and sharp
when taking constitutional Wallis over
European countenances. It was probably
the knowledge Of this quality which made
these people pronounce; 10 bad luck 20
drive them away They found It best TO
educate the masses to bear the infection
and % get used to 1t. ..s..
THE DEMAND FOR BAcKsHIsH
By the way, travellers are shocked by
the incessant demand for backshish
(ghts) throughout the mighty east. The
thing II not to be wondered at, for an the
beggsrs the world over knew there are
none equal to the gods of the east. Their
hands arc everywhere represented ex-
tended for backahish Their favor was
: IN by .offerings-tkeir anger averted by
sacrifices Like the proboscis Of cele.
brated elephant. their hands could pick
mp Q pin or carry On d cart load Of pota-
toes. They could make q lunch from O
fswsgratns OF rice. the widows mite, or
they could devoura hecatomb Of bullocks,
the gifts Of q prince. The gods took gifts
and demanded them. Thegreat and pow
erful. 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.
The poor clamor Ike hungry ours for
crumbs and bones, and are not ashamed
Of their clamor.
j. fear what / have said about Upper
Egypt looks Zoo much as II was seeing
II through rose glasses fhirty-six wears
ago, when Bayard Taylor and / Travelled
IN the east together, suffered terribly
from IDEAS. The only pun ! remember
him to have made was aneut the little
tormentor. Bio said Homer wrote the
"niad Virgil the !" Eneid;" that IL I ever
wrote an epic 1t would be the s'F7ead."
had hoped we were about to escape this
Egyptian plague, but yesterday, after
lunching In one OF the old tombs Of the
kings. We lay down for nap on the sands;
butmy donkey boy. desiring to please the
old IMAM, whom he fatters by calling his
father. spread the blanket and saddle for
me to have nice siesta. ALL moment Of
mad forgetfulness. Islept an hour, but the
Nemesis came. This particular tomb Ia
now called the '1unch tomb" Hundreds
have lunched in It this season. though Il
Ia where no living thing II seem, and ap-
parently nothing can live. yet the ssnded
floor was full OF my mortal enemies,
brought to II by the many donkey boys,
who In its shade rest while their employ
ers are wandering among the mighty caves
Of the dead. Ihaye passed q good part Of
my time since then as q hen with one chick
does In an empty chicken yard-scratch-
ing / am Ike certain officials not far
from the old court house in Chicago-only
more So. They hare itching palms. am
su palm. itch all over and am raw In
Elk Mayor Carter a. Harrison's
Thebes Letter in Chicago Times.
Tho foremost belle and beauty Of o
arge tobacco factory on the east side has
Iuit the rolling of cigarettes, removed the
tain Of tobacco from her fingers, and is
n exhibition In q Bowery dime museum.
1 she were heiress TO million her lowell
less would be lauded beyond that of any
,irl in Swelldon. She Is blonde, perfect
n shapeliness and beautiful in face.
What is she doing IN the museum? She
; chewing gum. One Of the manufac-
urers and heavy. advertisers of gum has
ontracted with the manager of the show
or her appearance. She sits on raised
latform along with an assortment of
reaks. She wears O rich evening dress
T white satin. Her hair is dressed In the
attest style, and altogether she has an air
4 delicate high breeding. For full suslve
ours day she Is on duty. Her jaws
eem tire1ess, and with few internis-
ions for rest she chews away at cud of
um. paying no particular heed to the jo-
ose Spectators, making no answers to
heir remarks, and deriving apparent sat-
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