The record-union., 1893-08-04

clapped his hands, the hand-banging OF
the drums began, every body took posi-
ton IN the ring and clapped hands and
h0WIed, while one woman waved her
hand, stamped her feet and swayed her
hody-and that was dancing!
ihere was "a tiny naby t0duling around
the inciosure. lis father " as much whittier
than some of the swarthy Bedouns OF the
desert He seemed very proud Of tie
kid, which was decked out TO rival one OF
the rich children Of Chinatown at New
\ ears time.
This Bedouin, with his hair hanging
around his face, picked up the child and
began walking around the circle. The
dllerent visitors nodded their heads to
the infant, which attention the father re-
celved IN dignitiGd silence. When the
baoy came in front OF me it suddenly set
up vigorous yelling, stretched out its
arms to me, and would not be app63sed
until | had taken it to myself. BY this
time the HedOuins had all gathered around
US. This IS getting serious thing" said
i TO myself, as the child began cooling
with delight pulling TO pieces the lilac
that one OF the BedOuin ladies had given
me. 1t cannot he that ID mis1ooS me for
lis mother, for that person with a prior
proprietary interest in the insistent bit of
humanity stood at my right. looking
very WldeaW2kc and all there, rs il We're.
I was afraid they might think l had be-
WItched the baby. / didn't know whether
Bedouins believed i'll efictlon oi the eVi!
eye or not. It's always well when abroad
to be posted on the superstitions o! the
country. 50 J daudied the baby once or
twice, and after quick but keen scrutiny
found clean speck on its fat little cheek,
kissed tho speck, and handed the infant
back TO its parent. he Bedouins all
seemed pleased, whether at the episode OF
f4.s la
once more in their possession, ! cannot
tell. But the father laughed aloud for the
first time, pointed to the bahy's cheek.
ami then 10 mine; probably calling atten-
ton 10 the difference in color, and then
relapsed into his dignity.
l thought this was a good time to 90
out, so / salaamed, and vanished like a
dream.
one cannot feel serious In the Midway
Plalsance. 1t is the only place where one
hears the sound OF reyelry by day or by
night.
The great crowds in the fair grounds
are intent on educational sightseeing,
| but in the Midway they are being
amused
On a square, covered platform a tired,
turbaned Turk is stamping around to the
sound Of hand-drum and a hute He
keeps this up for five minutes, then lie is
graciOusly permitted to drop into a seat
I ICAG " bLl6 NlOSleIll woman. VINO is SO
weary OF doing nothing that she dozes in
/ front Of the crowd, and has to be chucked
under the chin 10 wake her up, and to
keep her tlom taking q header on her
nose.
/ Then an Italian-looking boy in Turk
/ ish costume and broken English an
nounces That in the theater inside there
| viii be enacted MoSlem wedding. We
/ pay our quarter each and enter, and have
seats every whit as good as those sold for
/ fifty and seventy-hve cents.
/ The bride-eect is seated on the stage
with her maidens. They are all bowling
dismally. \ man who walks up ana
down the aisles explains the proceedings
| in very choice bric-a-brac English, and
as the noise on the stage increases he
raises his voice, too, so the din is Oriental
| The maldens pass of, crowd Of Oriental
young men come on with shout and
. clash of swords. These are the bride
groom's companions, and they are an
\ nOunclng his coming marriage. Then,
after they have left the stage two
fellows with long lanterns wave
their way to light the bridegroom
and his papa to the stage. The cur
/ tain rolls up behind them, the ladies are
/ discovered seated, the papa approaches.
gives the bride that is to be a ring She
/ kisses his hand and carries it to her fore
head III token of her perfect submission.
She is already robed in red to show she
/ is the bride. Then, as the crier in the
aisles announces, The father, he 90 way.
talk to the old folk, he leave the young
! by themselves" more howlings, which
D are not without a certain mournful
cadence, although all the Oriental sing
/ ing | have heard sounds like a drill in
phonetics, with particular attention paid
/ to all the sounds of the letter A. Some
/ Dervlshes come in and swing round for
awhile, present hanging baskets for aims,
] f~rfa a xlIt Ii lI,,ar
Then the dancing girls step out and
/ wrlggle around, and throw themselves
| out Of joint. That's Oriental dancing.
! but l will tell you about the streets of
Cairo, and its dancing temple. This and
/ that LADY from Damascus" as each
dancer was announced, can't hold a
candle to the Oriental Delsarteans there
\ gypsy dancing man comes in. He Is
great shakes" and no mistake lie
made human spiral Of himself in short
order, and seemed as if he could dr0p
I apart II he wanted to just as easy as could
/ be. a funny, awkward dance between a
man and a woman completed the cere-
mony.
/ 1 asked the crier in the aisles at what
age the dancers began their training. He
said that they had to begin as early as
years OF age 10 acquire the tieXibility OF
the muscles. Ugh!
Near The Turkish theater is the Turk
] lo4A bdLdl lillSSlOu Tree. IL Is ike
Oriental street, where all the stores of one
sort congregate. Every style of goods.
/ linens, DraSses, carved woods. iewelrv
! rOsarles, Dead Sea stone ornaments. rugs
scarts are for sale at prices varying from
a quarter to many dollars. In many Of
the stalls the aruhcers in brass are TO be
seen at work. The ceiling is completely
covered with Turkish rugs. Many of the
statesmen are Turks, but here, as III all
I the baZars and sale stands Of the Plai-
I sauce, American girls are selling the ar
tlcleS.
The great Ferris wheel looms up in the
center OF The Midway. This is a colossal
structure OF iron ana steel. 1t has self
] fightlug, glass-inclOsed commitments.
/ which afford line view Of the surround
/ ing country, as the wheel revoIves and
/ the highest point. \ trip in the wheel
costs nfty cents. Since the accident on
/ the ice railway and since the blowing
away OF the captive balloon l feel much
safer ON terra tirma. Beside. being a
! loyal Californian, / would rather return
To my State in Pullman than in the bag
I gage car.
But all the attractions OF the Midway
7 Plai-ance pail before the oddities and the
/ Il had almost said enormities of the
street of Cairo. At first one paid ten
/ cents TO geL IN. but, owing to the great
success OF this deuart:ueut, the manage
ment decided TO squeeze an additional
I nickel ont OF the great American public
I Enter the streets Of Cairo; Won are no
7 longer in America By one swift
/ Presto, change!' you have been trans
4 ported to The Orient. Walk for whi1e
through the narrow, crooked, brick
paved street, that bends and darts of at
! unsuspected angles. and you will not
wonder that the street that was called