The morning news., 1892-03-07
IN ALGERIA.
FRENCH JUsTICR-JEALoUSY OF
MO5LEM wOMBN.

An ODD Tribunal and strange Ac'
quittsl-Curious Things Gathered in
Far of Countries.
! Copyright. 1so2. By ths United PressJ
From Algeria. land Of strange happen
ings, comes the story of military court
sitting In Judgment on a case, which, in any
other country Of civilized occupation. would
be tried by procedure Of civil-criminal
Jurisprudence.
The prisoner at the bar, instead OF being
q swart Turco or iron-framed soldier Of the
world-recruited regiments des estrdngeres,
was a young and beautiful Arab woman.
| The charge which she was there summoned
20 confront was murder; the motives there
for. revenge. and the qualification Of jeal-
Gus anger. The guilt of the accused woman
was fact apparently as plain to moral
sense as was 10 physical vision the presence
of the great orb Of day, which overhead
burned its westward course through the
| African armament.
As for the crime itself, Il was, in dull
mediocrity Of conception and sodden brutal-
ity Of execution, a thing simply repulsive
and wearisome to contemplate. Yet. not
withstanding all this, the criminal was per-
mitted to depart into freedom not only alb
solutely unpnnished, but followed by the
congratulatory murmurs and admiring
glanoes of the always-susceptible soldiers OF
France-a number of whom were there
her judges.
In part of the great French possession
of Algeria, where neither an interpreter OF
the civil law as laid down in the Code Ma
poleon, nor an expounder of the law Of God
as set forth in the Koran. was obtainable, q
| council made up of the officers of a French
| garrison was recently convened, presumably
to hear evidence. sift testimony. and, as
wisely and justly as might be, decide the
| question of life or death for an Arab woman
who had murdered her rival Aicha, the
first wife of a husband possessed by two
| women in common.
COQUETTISH MURDERESS.
The murderess was a woman of quality,
young, beautiful and a thorough paced
coquette, who had neglected nothing per-
missible by Moslem usage or procurable
through the fatuous indulgence OF a com-
placent husband or owner. in the adorn-
ment Of her person. She, of course, wore
the prescribed and omnipresent veil, but it
was Of material so light and transparent
| that IL but served to soften the rich olive Of
| the wearer'b complexion, pleasantly modify
| the inky blackness of her hair, and add the
suggestion of depths unfathomable to the
dark eyes which snapped and flashed behind
| its gauzy defense.
Not fold of her drapery, as she stood in
| the presence of her martial judges, that
had not deity been so disposed as to dis
play to the best possible advantage the
| somewhat unpicturesQue attire of the Arab
woman-and, incidentally, bring out in
perfect prose the charming lines of the fe-
male human form divine.
Her hands and arms, the fingers and
wrists of which were covered with spark
ling diamonds, were small, well formed and
delicately plump. So beautiful. indeed,
were they. that they quite distracted the
| honorable court from anything approxi-
mating a calmly deliberative consideration
of the awful crime which their owner had
| perpetrated.
IL may be here said that it was with a
bludgeon tightly gripped in the sweet little
hands, and viciously welded by the plump
arms, that the murderess, after slyly creep
| ing up behind her unsuspecting rival, had
battered ont the unfortunate creatures
| brains. and beaten her down to earth, a
bloody, mangled corpse.
AN ARAB HUSBANDS APPEAL.
There was no defense offered bv the MUIR
deress. Why should there be before such a
| tribunalg But her husband the semi-wid-
over, an Arab sheik of some influence,
stalked into the presence Of the officers and
made novel, If not thrilling appeal in be-
half or the prisoner, his remaining wife.
After promising that he considered the re-
moval of the unhappy Aicha by the accused
| as palliated by the fact that the latter found
| it absolutely necessary for her own peace
| of mind, to rid herself of the inteferences.
| jealousies and presence "of a first wife
whose existence had become embarrassing, n
the noble Arab condescended to add that he
regretted the loss of the murdered woman's
services. be must, nevertheless, plead with
| the court to spare him his second wife, the
lovely wild cat, then and there in the pres
ence of their assembled wisdom. She had
the man of the desert affirmed, cost him
both in focks and herds, and, in brief, she
| was unto him as the apple Of his eye.
The argument was not an exceptionally
strong or convincing one, it will be OBJ
served, but it served its turn; for presently
the doors of the council chamber were
thrown open. and sheik and murderess walked
forth, free as the air about them. and noxi-
ously bright as are the sun-bathed sands Of
| old Sahara.
Still, from time to time, rough and Ill
hammered attacks are made on the rigor ol
French military rule in Algeria.
JEALOUSY OF MUssULMAN WOMEN.
That your downright, jealous Algerian
Mussulman woman cares but little fol
either French military authority, or the
admonitions of the prophet, when tht
green fever forces its tortuous cours.
through her veins. is further illustrated il
what follows:
A lieutenant Of spahis native cavalry
who, with the exception OF his quarter
master. is the only Frenchman in his region
has for long time been stationed with his
command at an oasis on the Algerian
frontier of Tunis. The lieutenant is in 6
manner, governor of the district; has. by
circumstances, been compelled 20 discharg,
the various and widely different duties Of
soldier. judge and physician. He has
quite naturally, by virtue Of his peculiar
location and diversified occupations, enjoyed
exceptional opportunities and advantages
with respect to acquiring a knowledge o
the social costumes and domestic relation
Of the Arab.
1t is refreshing to know that he affirms
as result OF familiar and close observa
ton, that where families OF that ilk are di
vlded IN the proportion of four, three, o.
even two wives to one husband, white
winged peace does not always brood. Quit
the reverse is, he says. the feet. Violen
quarrels, frequently convuse the domesti
economy, and it is far from being unsatis
factory to learn that the man in the cas-
does not always come unscathed through
the storm.
BURIED ALIVE IN PANIER.
On one occason, says our useful officer O
pdrmee de la rept,bliQ1te, a date-laden car
avan of the tribe of Ouled-Dia, en- route 70
distant market. halteo for the night at
the oases. There was nothing unusual il