Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1889-08-20
OLD EGYPT MODERNIzED.
TELEPHONE TO THE SPHINX AND
HOTEL At TIE PYRAMIDS.

The Ancient City sf Cairo Nov . winter
Rs.sr Zoe Esreps.ss-rhs Ia,sssisas
sf Modern science Istrcd.sed-carssd
by Oppressive rss.tisa-
Modern civilization Il making rapid
strides In the land Of Egypt. Ths young
giant OF the west. whose itching palm IL
reaching out toward Japan. China. Corea
and tho lands OF south Asia. has already
q strong grip on this birthplace Of his
tory. and the Egypt OF the past has days
that are numbered Alexandria has long
since arisen from the ashes Of tho bonn.
bardment % seven years ago. and IL IL
now the siEs % Cleveland or Washing.
ton. lts buildings are European rather
than Arabic. and its streets have French
names Cairo. the city Of Arabian
nights. IL fast bscoming city 81 Parisian
nights. and the Mohammcdan call 10
prayer Is mingled with the baoehanalian
songs of the cafe chAntantS Modern
science Is pulling the mumnies from tho
pyramids A telephone line runs almost
10 the very ear Of the SPHINX. aud the
old lady is being pulled from the sand
by moiern iron cars made In Europa
There l. hotel ai the base % the Pyra-
mid of Cheops In which English men and
women drink brandy and soda. and the
spirit Of the Nineteenth century. with
some OF its virtues and all of IT, vices. IL
breathing new life into the land Of the
Pharaohs.
Cairo IL becoming a winter residence
city, and II has hundreds of mansions
which would DO credit 20 New York or
Paris Real estate has rapidly ri.en In
value. and the land upon which the baby
Moses lay In the bulrushes u now worth
q big price Per square foot. When l Wis
tied Cairo about eight years ago the don
key was ,.ie chief hackney cab % the
foreigner. and men. women and children
went sight seeing on long cared beasts.
with donkey boys in blue gowns follow.
lng behind and punching up the animals
by poking sharp sticks into patches Of
bare nesh as big as a dollar. each of
which had bcen denuded Of skin Tor the
purpose.
The hotels had Egyptian servants In
turbans and gowns. and you called your
boy 10 your room by olapping your handA
Now the llhmaelitish hack driver has
taken the town. and though he wears a
feE cap his dress u European AMI bis
cheek Is a. hard as that of an American
oabby. The donkey boys. though they
aTe as bright as ever. have Lost their mo-
nopoly. and their customers are confined
10 foreign men and 10 the natives. In
side the walls % Shepheards hotsl.
wherr ! am stopping. you are as far
FROM old Egypt as you would b. la the
Grand hotel at Paris. The servants are
frvnch. speaking Swiss. In black swal-
low tail coatA Tho chambers have cleo
tric balls. and the a. q day which you
pay for your board does not Include either
candles o cap.
The whole of the soil Of Egypt has been
brought down from the mountains of
Abyssinia by the Nile. IL IL nowhere
moro tlan lfty feet deep and its average
depth Is about thirty.nve feet. Under
this soil u found the sand. Tho Nile
water. IL a. well As fertili1e- II. for there
L. no rain 20 speak of In Egypt Tho
country Is Hat Here a. Cairo you can
SO for miles In every direction. and
standing on the great Pyramid the val
Icy Of the Nile Is spread out below you
In a grat patchwork of different shades
Of grcca. There ars no fences and few
trccs Here and there grove of tAIl
palm rl.iss their fan like heads high up
In the clear blue atmosphere. and near
them you ses village % mud huis made
of the same sun dried stic Ks that Pharaoh
ground out of the children OF Israel This
grca, plain 1. cut up by canals. roads run
here and there through II, and along
these move caravans Of camels. Of Egyp-
tians In gowns upon donkeys and Of
droyes Of donkeys laden with grass or
grain. There are cattle and sheep by the
thousand upon the held. and their fat
sides glisten under the tropical sun as
they MUNICH the sweetest and plciest OF
clover. The air just now Is a. pure A.
that Of Denver AL nature seems u
smile. and the only poor thing upon the
scene Is man.
Out Of the sik and half million people
Of Egypt. fully siK million are peasantS
| They are known as "fellAhs." They are
the tillers Of the soil and they are the
pcople who do the work. and make tho
money which pays the immense yearly
dett Of Egypt These "fellahs' are the
ancient Egyptians They have been op-
pressed throughout tho ages until they
have no spirit left In them, and they are
happy II they can get enough To keep
themselves alive. You see their mud
villages everywhere, and they slave from
morning until night In thu fields. Their
houses are rarely more than ten feet
high and often not more than eight feet
square. In an Egyptian village the
houses are built close together. There
are no payements, gas lamps, nor mod
ern improvements Of airy kind. The
furniture Of each house CONSISTS Of few
mat. a sbsepskin. copper kettle and
some earthenware pots. The bed OF the
family Is a ledge Of mud built In the
side of the room. There are no win
dows. and tho cooking Is usually done
out Of doors in q little sarthen pot-liks
stove.
The fuel Is OF dried COW. camel OF buf-
falo manure. antthe food Of the family
"a a mixture u sorghum iced. millet and
beans ground up into f!)ur and baked
into a sort of big, round. fai cakc. A
large part Of the food % the fellaheen
consists of greens, and ! watched one
eating a turnip He bssan At the tip OF
| the root and ate the raw. indigestible
vegetable 10 the very end Of the green.
leaving not a yisage Of H. i have sssn
them eating clover. and am told that
| they seldom have any meat. Out OF the
| milk of the buffalo and COW they make
q sort % a curd Ike cheese. which Is ex-
tensiyely used They use no knives,
forks OF spoons. and at supper they lave,
In addition to their vegetables, q sauce
| q onions and butter. into which they dip
| piecss Of brad and eat it-frank Car
psntsr's Cairo Letter In The New York
World