The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1894-06-12
4-
A VISIT TO DAMASCUS
A TRAVELLER WRITES or WHAT ne
SAW IN THIS FAMOUS CITY.

It's Extensive and Interesting Haxaars--The
Wonderful walls Of Damascus and the
View One Has From Them-The nEoham-
medan Women and Thelr Masks.
The bazaars of Damascus are quite
extensive and more interesting than
those Of Cairo, with which they are fre-
| quently compared, because they i en-
tirely untouched by European infu-
enceS They are generally covered, and
some Of them have lofty roofa In them
are found all the products OF the east
Caravans go from here TO Ragdad and
beyond, and o great deal OF merchan-
disc is carried to and fro. There are spe-
cial large, pretentious buildings, with
numerous domes, In which wholesale
trade is carried n. It vas q rainy day
when we first went through the bazaara,
and we appreciated the advantage Of go
ing shopping under cover.
The largest bazaar is in '.the street
called Straight" Its great roof extends
for . 900 feet, with small shops o each
side 1t is wide enough for carriages
BY the way, this street il straight,
though Mark Twain made o reflection
indicating that the expression in the
| Bible (see Acts) was ironical. The con.
sui who represents the United States
| government in Damascus is q Syrian,
and that fact makes him o permanent
officer. He Is not obliged to turn over
his Office TO somebody else when q new
administration comes into power.
He received us very politely and de-
taileda "kawass"-a sort of official mil.
itary escort-to attend MS while we ne
manned in the city. This is rather desir.
able, as it insures respectful treatment
Without such an escort we might have
unkind remarks thrown at us though
we should not understand them. The
tskawass'' could not talk English, but
another young man from the consul's
office also went with MS. He spoke Eng.
lish and was an intelligent and agree
able guide. He took Ms to see the inte-
| riors Of two very handsome houses, one
0 Mohammedan's and the other o jews.
| We did not zee the proprietor Of che
first, but the Jew took rs into his libra.
~ and showed rs copies Of the Jewish
Scriptures ON double rolls As the read.
en- proceeds he unrolls from one to the
other. We also visited an English mis-.
sion school Tor girls, I'm which the pupils
had pretty and bright faces. They ars
mostly Greek Christians, but onr ska
wass, " who Ii q Mohammedan, seemed
TO take great pleasure In pointing out
his daughter in one Of the classes.
OF the walls OF Damascus only the
lower courses date from Roman times.
Above these courses lis Arabian work,
and, still higher, Turkish. Il In rather
u~nfavorable to strong emotions when
looking at the place where Paul waslet
down to observe that this part Of the
wall is Turkish, not more than SOC
years old.
About the most satisfactory thing we
did in Damascus was q ride TO the
northern suburbs, where from the slope
of o hill we got o fine view Of the whole
irrigated valley, with the city set in
frame of verdure. All outside OF this
was brown and barren. The domes and
minarets Of the city make q very pretty
picture, in the center of which stand
the citadel and the great mosque, which
was partially destroyed by fire only last
year. Our guide pointed out TO rs thu
caravan roads 10 Mecca and Palmyra.
extending across the great desert TO thu
horizon. This view gave rs by far the
best idea of Damascus and it's surround.
ingS Twenty miles away we caught the
CLEAN Of q lake, into which the Barada
tthe ALBANIA Of Scriptures pours It's food.
Except in the spring it Is rather o mo
rass than q lake.
Our hotel at Damascus, the Hotel
Diamatri-K Kara, was formerly the palace
Of q wealthy pasha, and IL contained In.
teresting specimens ct decorative work
of the first class. It Is very well kept
far better than any hotel In Jerusalem.
In fact, the Jerusalem hotels are the
poorest we have encountered SO far In
our travels. Our Damascus hotel was
built around q central court, embellish-
ed by q handsome fountain and orange
and lemon trees Every window IN tbs
street in Damascus the streets being
narrow. is covered by q wooden lattice.
You can look ont through it, but yor
cannot see into the room across the way.
It is considered very improper to raise
this lattice. You might see q Moham
medan woman, or she might SEQ you,
which would make trouble. A very pc
culiar effect Ii produced by a fgurei
muslin which many OF the Mohamn1e
dan women wear over their faces. i
makes them look like masquerader1
with masks. You see something tina
looks like features, but it is not. A
roguish eye may be twinkling under th,
gauzy material, but il Ii completely dis
guised. 1t il said 10 be unsafe In thi
fanatical community 10 show too mucl
curiosity about the faces Of the women
Damascus women have q reputation to
beauty. I regret TO say that we are nm
able DO express any opinion ON the sub
iect. The uncovered faces we have seel
ought not to get their owners int
trouble Cor. Boston Herald.
Il vY1sva~a.l Snfrpa~a