Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1890-06-12
cUEIosITIEs OF CAIRO.
Street Cries and Queer Costumes
odd Way of Carrying Infants.

NAo W ~ ONN LIB A~AAe~hoSs
The street cries that itinerant venders
of eatables indulge in at Cairo are most
curious, very long and often musical.
Their sound is, however, sometimes less
musical than the meaning of the words,
which are curiously poetical, considering
the subjects with which they have 10
deal. Thus the lemon seller cries out,
in Arabic of course, words which mean
"God will make them light, oh, lemons,
meaning God will make light his basket.
The beans of the lupin plant are favor
ite form of food The best are grown Mt
place called Embabeh, and they are
called sometimes ''children OF the river,
because they have to be soaked in Nile
water for some time to soften them be-
fore boiling them. All this information
is necessary to enable one to understand
the cry of the bean seller, which being
interpreted means, "Help, oh, Embabeh,
help! The lupins of Embabeh are better
than almonds. Oh, how sweet is the
little son of the riverl" The man who
sells roses cries, "The rose was thorn;
it blossomed from the sweat of the pro-
phetl"
One of the most striking of the won
derful costumes to be seen here is the
dress of the runner or sails. This is
very striking piece OF ostentation which
all wealthy people here indulge in,
whether Easterns or Europeans. In
front of every fine carriage, perhaps
twenty yards, run two men, in a gor
geous but very light uniform, carrying
long, light rods in their hands, and
shouting loudly at intervals to clear
way for the carriage coming behind
them. The uniform consists of red
fez with long black tassel, much longer
and fuller than the ordinary tassel which
only comes Just down to the bottom of
the fez. A light, small turban, often
striped with color is wound around the
fez The waistcoat or vest, over which
they wear nothing, is thickly covered
with gold embroidery on rich colored
red or purple ground. They have i'm
mensely full sleeves of the finest possible
lawn. These, however, only come to the
elbows, and are tied back to the small
of the back to prevent their being in the
way. Their legs are enclosed in very
full knickerbockcrs of similar very fine
linen down to the knees, below which
they are bare. The pace they continue
to run before quick trotting horses and
the amount of breath they can afford for
stentorian shouts is most astonishing.
When, however, the drive is extended
beyond the city the runners are left be-
hind at the outskirts to await their mas
ter's return. Really these runners, which
at first sight are rather an Objectionable
institution to Western eyes, are not so
purely ornamental as might appear. Where
STREETS are crowded as they are here, if
these men did not clear a way for the
carriage, the driver would have to be
continually shouting and cracking his
whip, as the drivers of hack carriages
always do. Even SO the pace would
have to be slow, and the danger for the
blind men, of whom there are an appalling
number to be seen about the streets of
Cairo, would be very great
The number of blind and half-blind
people is very sad fact of life here, as
indeed is the terrible proportion Of the
population which is deformed or Grip
pied in some way. believe II per cent
of the population have eye disease; nor
can it be wondered at when one sees the
frightful state of dirt in which the chill
dren's eyes are left. The Arab women
think it very unlucky thing for any
child to be admired, survival of the
old idea of jealousy of gods, l suppose;
and they take good care that their chill
dren shall look so unattractive that no
passer-by shall be likely to admire them.
Their faces are always filthy, especially
about the eyes, clustered round which,
in the case of young babies too small to
protect themselves, there may be seen
dozens of dirty flies. The women carry
the children in way which have not
seen in other parts of the world, that is,
sitting on one shoulder, with one small
leg hanging down behind and the other
in front, which the woman holds to keep
the child in its place. The poor things
look as if they got dreadfully tired Of
the position, and go to sleep sprawling
over their mothers heads in most pa
thetic way.-[San Francisco Chronicle.