The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1893-09-14
man who enters it. He may have busi-

| man VINO enters IL. ne may nave DuSt-
Eess with other men, and find it neces-
sary to receive them. For that purpose,
a special wing, completely isolated, very
small, corresponding in aspect to d
porter's lodge among us, is placed along
side of the entrance door. This wing
constitutes the ''selamlik" or apartment
of reception. 1t is generally single
room, of which the limited dimensions
and shabby appearance testify how
small place it's uses occupy in the
| daily lifeof the owner. In the street, be-
| fore the entrance, squat some chatter
ing servants; but the principal edifce,
| SO far as can be seen, is deserted. AL
| these habitationS, some of which are
+ magnifcently built, do not seem to be
made for the living; accompanied by
! cypress trees and entire silence, they
have the appearance of huge mauso-
leums.
In proportion as the means of the
householder diminish, the space oc-
cupied by the dwelling becomes less.
| Men are in closer contact, without
gaining anything in socia bility or the
houses losing their appearance of being
| prisons. In those streets of Cairo in
which the houses are contiguous, the
outside walls are pierced with few and
small openings. When the low doors
are open, you see nothing but a wall
| short distance back, at the side of
which is narrow, dark, and tortuous
passage, giving access to the interior
! In such houses there is no room accessi-
/ 10 ~.
excursion in the suburbs, | met dis
| tinguished professor belonging to one
of the great educa tional esta blshments
of Cairo, and we exchanged some
words of politeness. On our return to
the city, he very courteously invited
/ me to take coffee with him. / accepted
! his invitation and followed him Here
we are, he said, suddenly stopping in
the narrow lane in which we were
walking; ''be good enough to wait
few minutes" He entered his house,
from which he soon emerged, bringing
with him some chairs, for which he
searched for level place in the street.
| Then, inviting us to sit, he called
out his neighbor, the coffee-house
keeper, to bring some coffee. This is
what he styled receiving US at his
house, Certainly it was far removed
from an English home or even from the
hospitality which you will find at
French peasants; it is one of the re-
suits of the position of women. Among
people quite poor it is impossible to
have sufficient space to allow their
women to go about without being seen.
Such are no longer protected by their
wells, and often, when engaged in hard
work, they seem to be Indifferent as to
keeping their faces covered.
1t must not be supposed that the GUS
toms which led men to hide women
from all eyes were the result of mascu-
| line jealousy alone; such customs were
necessary. The social state in which
they originated, and which lasted long
enough to cause them to become deeply
rooted in the manners of the people,
was altogether different from that
peaceable and we'll regulated state
which we too readily imagine to be the
normal state of all society. In Egypt,
on the contrary, the normal condition
was one in which all the property of
private persons as well as the state al
most inevitably became the prey of
the strong and the cunning, the weak
having no means of preserving their
wealth, save by hiding it carefully
and assuming an exterior of poverty
and even of sordid misery. Such So
cial state was the traditional centuries
old condition of Egypt. To-day, it is
true, such a state of things exists no
more, but this is due to European in
| f1uence, represented at this moment by
English bayonets; and it was but yes
terday that it ended. In accounts of
Egypt twenty or thirty years ago, you
will find such incidents as the follow
ing: In 1871 the governor of Esneh set
eyes on young and pretty woman, and
had her carried away from her house
and brought to him. The husband of
the woman went to lay claim to her,
and received two hundred blows with a.
stick A fortnight afterwards the
ravisher gave his victim her liberty,
and she returned to the coniugal roof.
| The fellah received her with apparent
satisfaction, and cut her throat during
| the night Then he sent petition to
Selim Pasha relating the facts of the
case. The petition was forwarded to
the governor of Esneh, who had the
poor devil seized and put to DEATH
Due d'Harcourt, in the Correspondent.
English Quakers Dying Out.
A ROchdale cOrreSnOndent 1yr;+ac.