The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1890-06-14

Such IL the Coffee OF the Orient served IN
the Cafes Of the city of Tangters.

CONSULTING our NtEhto va aho ahtttot
balcony clinging 10 the side OF our lofty
hotel. and admiring the spacious bay
and weird. silent city below us. A.
we sat there wondering what we should
do with ourselves. Spanish gentleman
OF our acquaintance came out To US aud
said. briskly:
well. gentlemen. how would you
like To make "A call at the great Moorish
cafe of 'Murad al Hassan' this EVENING"
| can assure YOU that il Is well worth
visit"
Delighted to CO. we all cried at
once. and forthwith started.
After winding through dirty. mar
row. and dangerous streets for some
fifteen minutes we reached huge pile
of masonry, one story in height. from
whose low, open doorway bright light
was streaming oft into the darkness.
We entered. aud at once found our
selves i'm large. square room with
low ceiling. On one side was raised
platform. with chairs scattered around
on il. BY far the larger portion OF the
room. though, WAS covered with mats
and rugs. on which perhaps fifty ma.
iivcs were stretched out smoking some
narcotic that produced semi-intoxica-
ton.
The rear OF the room had huge open
chimney built into the wall. with
broad fireplace extending out from IL.
much resembling blacksmiths forge.
! On this charcoal-iire was shoulder
ing.
! The proprietor. rs he saw us. came
/ hastily forward and with many salaams
al ~. Il lat
/ Then opening a dingy cupboard he
/ took out table of inlaid mother-of-
1 pearl, eXquisitely beautiful. which he
\ set before us He then took a small
iron mortar and putting into it two
! pods, carefully puiverized them. The
| dust he deposited in delicate little
cup of shell-like china. poured boiling
water upon il until IL dissolved and be.
/ came "A sort Of liquid paste. and then
approaching us. offered il 10 me with
l all the politeness of the oriental.
| took IT, of course. but with many
inward malcdictions. for il was by no
means an acceptable Offering Its
color was dingy. dirty brown. an un-
i pleasant yellow scum iloatcd around
on the top of il. and altogether il was
as rcpulsive i'm appearance n one could
well imagine. But take il | must
there was no escape. To refuse would
have been TO give "A mortal oifense, and
SO with "A sigh | resigned myself to the
inevitable
With small spoon carefully brush
ed away th. frothy scum. lifted lit
tie OF the detestablc mixture TO my
lips, groaned, closed my eyes, opened
my mouth and in desperation swallow
cd II.
But behold the mracle AS that
questionable looking compound gently
stole dowu my alimentary canal, 10 my
amazemcnt did | find myself swallow
ING nectar worthy of Olympus, and
the dusky Moor for moment seemed
Co be Il Ganymedc himself A deli
cious aromatic stimulating something.
of whose existence | had never even
dreamed, introduced itself 10 me then
and there and | opened my eyes and
formed the acquaintance OF friend
upon whom | never afterward turned
my back.
II was new revelation. this coffee
of the orient. and never again did
hesitate. whether in Arab camp or
Moslem city. 10 receive il with thank
fulncss. he it ever so dingy. / learned
then what nutrition and sustenance
could be put into IL. and ceased TO won
der how the nomad could live for weeks
ON handful of dates and few dozen
coffee pods.
The scene before us rs we sat there
was weird beyond all imagination and
made picture worthy OF the brush OF
Gerome himself. Its frame. the low
walls of the cafe, drapcd here and there
with scarlet hangings; its background,
the broad chimucy-piccc, from which "A
glowing fire sent its rays across the
ROOM It's center. the bright rug-cov-
cred lloor, with its motley collection OF
dark-skinned MOors. all ROBBED in white
and It's foreground, the richly CARRIED
proprietor, bowling before Us aud pre-
senting on a silver tray his quaint little
cups of transparent china. Never did
that great artist paint more truly orr
cntal picture. Indeed. IL was hard tc
believe that we were not looking upon
his canvas. SO similar 10 his creations
was the reality before us.
They were a strange sight those
swarthy MOOrs swathed 20 the very
ewes In coarse white cloths and stretch
ed al full length upon the rich rugs
each gravely aud silently pulling away
at long amber-tipped pipe. aud each
lost under the influence of the subtle
narcotic he was smoking. They were
there with Us in the body, but through
the power of the mysterious drug hid
den in their quaint pipes their spirits
were far away. rcvcling in the Musscl
mans paradise with the fair hours o
his faith Surrounded on all sides b,
dirt aud degradation. their lives but ar