The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1893-06-17
MR.. DRoMEDARY ARIsEa

older men and women, and no end OF
children, mount the backs of the camels
end are sent weaving and lurching up the
oriental thoroughfare. 1t is great sport
for all concerned, and 1t brings many a
good American dollar into the till of the
willy Arabs who run the show.
Here Is another crowd. 1t stands in q
circle about group Of three or four
Arabs. They make the strangest music
you ever heard on the quaintest musical
instruments you ever saw. When the
noise ccuscs monkey with rnuzZfe over
his nose jumps down from the back Of the
donkey where he has been riding and
seizes a stick with which he carries on a
mimic but spirited warfare with one of
tho Arabs. This is all done to attract the
people and to gain their attention, and the
scheme succeeds. The crowd around Is as
thick as 1t can pack itself. Then khalil
Hada, tho great Egyptian conjuror, steps
forward. He has In one Of his eyes a mon
ocle which looks much like an egg. In q
moment he causes this to disappear down
bis throat and then picks it off the top of
tho monkeys head. Or he thrusts it into
one of his ears and picks it out the other
When the crowd murmurs in appreciation
AAih&AA At0bS SJsStAtssNo, NiSi a OAOdd grin
on his intelligent face, "gallah, gallah."
lie performs some more clever tricks, and
Just as the throng is getting interested the
will be continued in his tent q
little way up the street. Then
tho orchestra strikes up, and the
march toward the conjuror's tent is be-
gun. OF course large number Of people
follow this strange cavalcade, and give up
their silver quarters for the privilege OF
seeing the great Khalil Hada perform his
tricks. This is a sample of the manner in
which these smart Arabs get out in the
street and hustle for trade. They can give
the Yankees points In this business.
Those who enter the tent of the conjuror
do not regret 1t. He is very skillful
prest:digateur Without any elaborate
accessories hc sits down upon a dias only
four or fivo feet from the heads of his
nearest spectators and performs feats
which are really marvellous. They are
common enough feats in the orient, and
most Of our professional performers are
able to do them, but the Egyptian has
style and charm all his own. He, too, APP
preciates the value G good humor. He Is
always smiling and joking, never fails to
Mntu tDc CIONu
applauds, charscterizes his own work as
"very clever, ~ makes no pretensions to be
anything but q trickster, and Is evidently
happies6 when be most successfully fools
those who assist him in his work by hold
ing the rings and the coins and the hand
kerchiefs.
The Arabs hnve hero about a Thousand
devices for charming money out Of the
pockets of the crowd. Most Of these are
worthy devices, but few are not. The So
called "Cairo by Moonlight" to which an
admission fee Of quarter Is charged, is n
mere revolving stereopticon fake, most OF
the pictures being Of Jerusalem rather
than Cairo, and uninteresting. Another
fake Is the so-called Temple Of Luksor,"
$500 years old. The advertisements, and
the glib-tongued young man who stands in
front of the temple shouting to the passers-
by, say one may see within the mummies
of Pharoah, Of Rameses III, oppressor of
Israclites, Of Seth /, whose daughter
found Moses, of IIirhor i, father-in-law of
King Solomon and of Nessi-ta-neb-asser,
Solomon's ssister-in-law. But these mum
mics arc merereproductions THERE'S not
agcnuine mummy in the building. The
so called sacred dance Of theanciont Egyp-
tians Is fiippant bit Of mummery gone
through with a good deal of laughter and
awkwardness by a party Of young Arabs
who arc evidently new at the business.
The Cairo thcater Is rather sensational.
There is some talk Of having the autbor-
ties stop the dancing which goes on in IL.
Five or six dancing girls from Egypt 90
through such strange contortions h,re,
always before largo audiences, with such
reckless abandon and indecent exposure,
that Americans deem the performance dis
gusting. Women, and good and proper
women at thas, do go to see this show, but
they 40 unconscious Of its character; and
you may be sure they do not 20 second
time, or permit their daughters TO zee it
after them. The street In Cairo Is a
charming addition to the international
feature OF the fair, but It's dancing girls
should be rluelchcd and one or two OF its
fasses DO closed up by the authorities.
Hnuunx ~ m