Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1889-05-23
CHILDREN IN ALoIERS
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Isst~r the Iada~ac~ sf EaacatIsa-

The city OF AIgiers. the capital o
the great French prOvinc~ OF Algeria,
in Northern Africa. has 80 mild a eli
mate that snow Is almost unknown
The average temperature in January
Is ifty-four degrees; palm-tr~es grow
freely in the gardens and suburbs. and
the country has tropical aspect Ne
fore. when one day last winter there
fell snow enough TO cover the ground
The last such snowfall had taken
place in 1861. 50 that none Of the
younger people Of the country had
ever seen any thing OF the kind.
The sensation xas so great indeed.
tks. all the schools were closed. and
the pupils, rushing out. were heard tc
make such remarks as these:
Look II Is raining cotton
Let's get some. and take it home
and save it,''
The boys gathered masses OF the
feecy snow tn keep for curiosity.
and were astonished to see Il turn into
water in their hands
The boys Of Algeria are n strange
race Most OF them are Arabs. whose
speech was brought hundreds OF years
ago from Arabia They are Mussul-
mans in religion; il they go to their
own Arab schools. called xawyas. 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 in
ciined 10 be grave aud suspicious in
the presence OF foreigners.
Girls are seldom admitted TO the
Arab schools. and they do not 20. ex-
eept rarely. u the French schools.
They are usually married at an age
when American girls are still playing
with dolls. A good proportion OF the
Arab boys attend the French schools.
and in some OF the towns all the Arab
children speak and write French
There Is. however. a race OF people
| in Algeria Who are much more eager
To learn than the Arabs. They are the
kabyles. who. although MussuIman=
/ in religion. some scientists believe 10
belong 10 the same race ~ the iuhab-
itants Of southern Europe. They are
are very industrious; they are eager
Ia learn. and send all their girls and
boys 10 school wherever schools are
founded Among them are some
strange colonies descended from the
ancient Romans. and still calling them
selves Romans. or ''RumL"
The Algerian Jews. too. who are
/ descended from the Jews whom the
I Spaniar,is banisheti from their country.
7 paw 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 practIcall y uncivilized- Now.
although there are not quite half a
million Europeans in the country. more
than a million people speak the French
/ language.
/ Algeria. moreover. Is but a part ol
/ the French domain in Africa There
I are French colonies mere and there
around the whole northern half OF the
continent. and nearly all Northwestern
Africa. including Tunis. Algeria. sene.
gal and a great part o, the Western
soudan. promises 10 become French
eventually
The French flag has been carried a.
far into the interior Of Africa as Tim
ouctoo. which, not many years ago,
was a synonym for all that was strange,
TAR away and inaccessible Youth $
| Companion.