Wichita eagle., 1888-05-08
EGYPTS SLAVE GIRLS
THEIR LIFE COMPARED WITH THAT
OF THE ENGLISH DRUDGE.

| The Scant Wages Of Civilization-Work
Of q soudani Servant in the Land of the
NiIe-.The Fair Circassian's Usual Fate.
| No Sense of Degradation.
| The English drudge rises early and goes to
! bed late working eight or twelve hours a
| day, either in her miserable garnet or in a
| hugo manufacturing hive Punched with
| hunger and cold, worn out with labor, ex-
posed to temptation and degradation, her
| ioyless life stretches behind her and before
| her. with no pleasures to look back upon, no
hope to look forward TO. The wages she earns,
| those wages which proudly separates her
| from the slave, are barely sufficient to keep
| body and soul together, till at last the body
gives way or the soul reyolts- Then comes
| the inevitable end, and verdict OF Death
| from starvation" or "Foupd drowned" closes
| the scene.
The Soudani girl is taken from her parental
| hut of sticks and mud and sold to respect
| able family or perhaps very rich one. In
| the first case, she will probably be alone; In
the second, she will find others like herself.
! She represents so much capital invested, and
is looked after with equivalent care She is
a servant whose wages have been paid twenty
years in advance. 1t is true they have not
been paid to her, but that is all the better for
| the girl She is we'll housed and well fed, and
wants for nothing She is Immediately pro-
vided with decent clothes and set to house
work. She has charge of the family wash
ing and cleaning, and Of the kitchen, and
generally fulfills these duties much better
than native paid servant would do. She is
under no special restraint, accompanies her
mistress shopping or does the marketing her
self, and gossips her fill with the neighbors as
she hangs out the linen on the house top, or
sweeps the front door step.
Her work is by no means hard, and after
the fashion of Egypt, where every man is a
brother and every woman a sister, she is
looked upon by the family quite as one OF
themselves. Speaking from personal observa-
ton, we may affirm that the black women
are almost invariably treated with the utmost
kindness and indulgence and are often spoiled
Like children by the too great good nature of
their masters or mistresses They constitute
a very merry, happy portion Of the popula-
ton. and it Is seldom one can find black girl
without an infectious broad grin on her pol
ished face. If she chooses to marry, as she
ceives dover. and goes forth Stree" woman
In the letter, though often, as she finds to her
cost, greater bond slave in the spirit than
in the days of her servitude.
Now let US go step higher in the social
scale, and place the middle class English girl,
compelled to work for her living, side by side
with the Circassian, and we shall find again
that all material advantages, Of which alone
" a no aoft baf
Circassian is little fair haired lass from a
far village in Turkestan pace DR.. Tanner).
Her father is a robber or a herdsman, and
she will perhaps be a princess. The Prince
Charming, whom the governess is always
looking for, but who never comes, Is q very
strong potentiahty in the future of the white
slave girl
One day bearded and venerable old Turk
arrives from Stamboul, and picks out our
little girl. She is not carried away by force,
but gold is counted out, and she is percbed
on mule, and bids good-by forever to bar
barism. The purchaser takes every imagin-
able pains with her education and appear
ance. She is taught to read and write, to
dance and sing, to embroider in silk and play
the guitar, and further initiated into all tho
mysteries of the toilet. When she has
Sio"A AADo DuuIilIiS WOInduUOOO Un6 dealer
lets his best customers know that he possesses
treasure almost priceless and all her vir-
tues and beauties are detailed with the usual
Oriental exaggeration. Finally, some royal
princess or rich pasha's wife expresses wish
to see her, and extra care having been taken
with her bath and dress, she is presented for
inspection. She gives samples of her accom-
plishments, musical, gymnastio and ether
Aara Sal era = -.
a rich silk dress, and receives present Of a
necklace or bracelet as an earnest of favor !
before she joins her fellow slaves. Beyond
assisting her mistress in the toilet, ac-
companying her in her drives, and
handing her coffee and cigarettes, she has
little to do. She is an ornamental append
age rather than a servant household
such as one of these Circassians would enter,
would contain crowd Of men servants and
black women to do the work, and perhaps
ten to twenty other girls like herself, and q
very gay time they have together The
great ladies are very fond of exchanging
visits and giving musical entertainments. at
all Of which some of the slave girls attend
When she goes out with her mistress in the
natty little brougham, almost the only differ
ence between the lady and the maid lies IN
the former taking the right hand seat. The
girl is dressed in a way to do credit to the
house she belongs to, and often sparkles with
jewels, chatting freely with everybody at
the places she visits, and enjoying herself as
fully as any Of the emancipated.
When the time comes for her TO be mar |
ried, her owner chooses suitable husband |
and gives q rich dover, and many OF the |
marriages of slave girls eclipse in magnii- |
cence those of even the Weather classes. |
The erstwhile barefooted ragged little Circas-
sian from Turcoman's Land is now a prin- !
cess or pasha's wife, with slaves Of her own;
but shs would laugh if you suggested TO hor |
that there was anything degrading in their |
position or had been in her own.-London |
Saturday Review.
Such Fool Question.