News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1889-05-09
Children in Algiers.

The city of Algiers, the capital of the
great French province of Algeria, in
Northern Africa, has so mild climate
that snow is almost unknown. The
average temperature in January is fifty
four degrees; palm trees grow freely in
the gardens and suburbs, and the coun-
try has a trophical aspect. No little ex-
cltement was produced, therefore, when
one day last winter there fell snow
enough to cover the ground. The last
such snowfall had taken place in 1861,
so that none of the younger people of
the country had ever seen anything of
the kind. The sensation was SO great,
indeed, that all the schools were closed.
and the pupils, rushing out, were heard
to make such remarks as these:
'Look! 1t is raining cotton!"
Lets get some, and take it home and
save it!''
The boys gathered masses of the
feeey snow to keep for q curiosity.
They were astonished to see it turn into
water in their hands.
The boys of Algeria are q strange
race. Most of them are Arabs, whose
speech was brought hundreds of years
ago from Arabia. They are Mussulmans
in religion; if they go to their own
Arab schools, called zawyas, they are
taught little except to recite verses from
the Koran. They are for the most part
bright and merry, much like other boys
among themselves, but inclined to be
grave and suspicious in the presence of
foreigners.
Girls are seldom admitted to the Arab
schools, and they do not go, except
rarely, to the French schools. They are
usually married at an age when Ameri-
can girls are still playing with dolls. A
good proportion of the Arab boys attend
the French schools, and in some of the
town. all the Arab children speak and
write French.
There is, however, a race of people in
Arabia who are much more eager to learn
than the Arabs. They are the Kabyles,
who, although Mussulmans in religion,
some scientists believe to belong to the
same race as the inhabitants of South
ern Europe. They are mostly farmers
and mo- mtaineers, and are very indus
trious; they are eager to learn, and send
all their girls and boys to school wher-
ever schools are founded. Among them
are some strange colonies descended
1rOm Ine ancient hOndHS, anu Stlu GILL
ing themselves Romans, or "Rumi."
The Algerian Jews, too, who are de-
scended from the Jews whom the Span
iards banished from their country, pay
much attention to the instruction of
their children.
Under the influence of education
great changes are taking place in the
character of the population of Algeria,
which, at the beginning of the present
century, was almost entirely Mussul-
man, and practically uncivilized Now,
although there are not qnite half a mil
lion Europeans in the country, more
than million people speak the French
language.
Algeria. moreover, is but part of the
French domain III Africa. There are
French colonies here and there around
the whole northern half of the CONT
nent, and nearly all Northwestern Afri-
ca. including Tunis, Algeria, Senegal
and a great part af the Western 5oudan,
promises t., become French eventually.
rEl,o Ir,p-,oh flag has been carried as
far into the interior of Africa as Tim
buctoo, which, not many years ago, was
synonym for all that was strange, far
away and inaccessible.