The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-08-29
WORLDS FAIR INCIDENTS.
Camel Rides and Weddings in The
Western Cairo.

/ How the Pretty Women Yell-Their
Desert from the ship of the Des-
ert" Hurried, but Not Graoeful-An
Egyptian Wedding Ceremony and
! Preliminaries.
From the Philadelphia Press.
Worlds Fair Grounds, Chicago, Aug
! 25.-"Ou-g-hl O-h-h ~ Such is the excla-
nation of feminine surprise and fright
heard from many a woman in the ''Streets
of Cairo, as the camel on which she has
been riding drops on its knees in settling
| down to let it's fair burden descend. There
is a rolling surging, heaving, pitching
motion to a camel in rising or lying down
that closely resembles the rolling of a
! boat in the trough of rough sea and the
sensations in the abdomen of a passenger
on the ''ship of the desert" are about the
same as experienced on rough water"
! A crowd of people are constantly around
! the starting place who persist in taking
| real mean enjoyment in the predic dment
which stout ladies in particular find them
| selves in at the moment of starting and
| dlsmOunting Occasionally the camel gets
a little too previous, and then there is a
| shapely and sometimes not so shapely, a
frantic clutching at the saddle girths and
safety straps, a series of wild shriel1s and
| a flOundering around that might end in a
| headlong dive into the street with per
| hapS disastrous consequences but for the
camel drivers, who are ever alert for such
accidents, and catch the perturbed riders
in their arms. Then the crowd sets up
merry ha! ha! This does not reassure
the tourists" and they slip out of sight
as soon as possible This sort of thing
goes on all day with variations, and a
string of ships OF the desert" are shut
fling over the brick pavements every few
| moments.
They are queer, ungainly looking
| beasts, those camels, about as graceful as
| an organ-grnder's monkey in new
jacket, and they go Looping through the
| street with Il sort Of ver-tire-SiX-weeks'
gait that is very reasSuring- encouraging,
in fact. Their feet are like animated
! Sponges.
Don't YOU ever shoe them ere camils2"
a country woman asked of an Arab who
| could talk some pigeon English
''ShOe 'em!" and the son of lshmael
| burst out into a series of outlaws that
| knocked a wad Of tobacco out Of his cav
eIuous mouth. This frightened the
woman and she ran away, remarking
she "allers did think them ere heethen
| Turks was dangerous things"
That street in Cairo is and isn't what it
purpOrts to be- 1t is untruthful to nature
in that the myriads of horrible smells,
the filthy road way, the garbage-devOur-
ing dogs, the sore-eyed children and dirt
incrustations are absent-thanks to the
sanitary inspector The Arabs them
selves are dirty enough to seem beauti-
fully natural, but they are lonesome away
| from the feas, the irrepressible flies, and
| the vile sights and scenes 50 dear to the
| Arabian stomach, and so hOrrifying to
| the barbarian Frank who refuses to ac-
cept Mahomet and his anti-wash gospel.
A curious feature in Cairo is the riding
of monkeys on the backs of dOnkeys pre-
ceded by an Arabian military band.
TIE EGYPTIAN WEDDING.
Marriage la mode according to Ho-
| garth is not circumstance compared TO
the marriage ceremony now in progress in
the street of Cairo between Ahmed ell
Khoran, donkey pusher, and Miss Nabi-
tia Pilfila, a flower girl of the same
''antique and horrible outfit. According
to the cheerful customs of Egypt it takes
a week to get married, and is about the
only time in the course of long and
wretched existence that the oppressed,
poYertystrhken fellaheen see anything
like the pleasant side of life.
Wives are bought in Oriental countries
! with freedom that might possibly shock
| a latter day saint, and in this instance,
! Ahmed figuring Nabitia as worth a $50
donkey, offered the old man this princely
| commodity in exchange. Pa after the
| customary linen mastication, concluded
| this was all he could get, and, as bird in
hand was worth two in bush, "toOk
him up" The hymenenai racket then
| opened in good earest, and the groom,
| inviting a wonderfully increased circle oil
alleged friends to his room over a stable,
| all hands proceeded to acquire a large and
| healthy jag. This was varied with NOR
or less impromptu dances about the
! drunken and happy bridegroom,
The noble company then with
drew, leaving Ahmed to doff his
| scarct fever robes and retire. When the
partly finished groom was supposed to be
i'll deep, sweet sleep many yelled
maidens'l SO the legend says led the
| partly finished but sober bride below
| Ahmed's window. There this revised
edition of Juliet" disturbed the slumber
| of the camels and dOnkeys with alleged
| sweet songs Of love" The song was in
| G sharp. The theme was piece of crazy
quilt work, and the development was on
| par With the theme. The smell from
the stables below and the beer above this
| Egyptian Juliet and her companions paid
no attention to; the former they had in
had from birth; the latter they
| had become accustomed TO, since coming
to this land of the free and the home of
the brave. After the concert the girls
trooped home and went to bed sober.
Next day, when the partly manufac-
.tured groom had recovered, he was carried
in a sedan by wild assortment of an
tiques and horribles from the Arabian
| desert to the house of the high priest,
! Chey Ally Goshallhemlock, who, as cadi,
had Ahmed sign the donkey-wife con-
tract. The prospective bride was not in
it; that amiable piece of matrimonial
furniture was shut up in her own room
there to mediate. 1t is customary at
! home for the brides pa and ma, sisters,
cousins, uncles and aunts to take a hand
in this part of the ceremony in particu-
lar, but Nabitia has lost track of these
| always ornamental but not always use
ful adjuncts, so a gang of supes with
| lusty expectations of free beer repre-
! sented the girls kindred.
In our barbarous Christian country the
minister says: John, will you take
! Hannah to be your lawful welded wifel'
! In blessed Midway-Egypt, however, the
cadi asked Ahmed What are you Civ
ing for this woman9" And he replied:
donkey" Then Ahmed signed the
ships manifest as supercargo, kissed
his friends-male, not female and was
escorted to his alleged chamber with an
| other xer of heer Once more the partlv