Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1894-01-20

narrow streets are found 70 b. filthy
teyond Imagination and noiSome win
vice and crime Nor IS there any rro
gress made toward better thin=s on
the contrary, the whole nation seems
steadily sinking deeper and more hop
Is-ssly into the mire Nothing" says
+ q recent writer in the Times. Of Moroc-
90. "caH be hoped for in the way Of
social PROCESS in this country till the
minds OF the men have lzau rtis,-l and
their estimation Of woman vastly
changed Althor - Turkey was 80 lolg
much IN the position of Morocco today.
IL i noteworthy fact that rs She
. steadily proceeds IN the way Of ciyili-
Zltion one 81 the most apparent
features Of this progress j the grow
Ing respect for women and the iucreas
ing liberty which Is allowed them in
public and private But I'D Morocco
the position Of woman remains IN
speaEaDly deplorable A. q daughter
her birth is considered q great mis-
fortune, and even a curse from heaven,
as wife, she is an Instrument Of
pleasure for the ricl and a slave "a
machine for work for thu poor; and
as "a mother she Is only considered by
her husband as one Of the indispen~
able elements for the bearing and
rearing Of bis children
But 70 get NJ me rot IF the matter
+ il is necessary 10 20 a step further
4 The abSGiute lack Of morals among the
+ people Is the real cause of all the rest
( Morocco is so deeply sunk ia the deEra
daticn Of sin that 1t Is Impossible to
Icy Dare itS deplorablp condition. L.
mOst countries whore there is q fair
I proportion Of the pure and virmOuS
J there IS some sort Of an attempt made
F to gloss over and conceal vices. but In
this country the only one which public
opinion seriously Condemns is drunken
rcss, and it is Only before foreigners
that any sense Of shame or desire for
secrecy about other vices is observ-
able.
The taste for strong drink, though
stin indulged comparatively in secret.
is steadily increasing, the practice
spreading from force Of example
among the Moors themselves, and rs
a result Of the strenuous efforts Of for.
eigners 70 ;nculcate this vice AS yet
it is chiefly among the higher and
lower classes that he victims are
found, the former INDUCING in the
privacy OF neir own homes. and the
latter at the low drinking dens opened
by the scum Of the foreign settlers at
all the open ports. Among the country
people Of me plains and lower hills
there are hardly any who would touch
intoxicating liquor. though among the
mountaineers drinking has ever been
more common Tobacco smoking is
very general on the coast. owing to
contact wIJh Europeans. but compare
lively rare in the interior as yet, though
the native preparations of hemp tkeef,
md also opium. have a large army
Of devotees. more OF less victims. The
latter, however, being an expensive i'm
port, is less known in the interior.
Snuff taking is fairly general among
men and women, chiefly the elderly.
What they take is very strong. too, be
ing composition of tobacco, walnuts
and charcoal ash. The writer once
saw a young Englishman who thought
be could stand a good pinch of snuff
fairly knocked over" by a quarter Of
what the owner Of the nut from which
it come took with the utmost com
place0cy.
one woman has. howcS a. risen to a
commanding rank in Morocco. and still
exercises q sway rivalling that Of the
emperor himself This is the Shcreefa
Of Wazan an English woman hy birth.
The sherccfs Of Wazan have ever been
at least the equals, perhaps the super
iors, &c the sultans Of Fee, 10 whom
they are nominally subject Wazan is
the holy city Of Morocco. and one Of
the hottest in all the Mohammedan
world and it's shcreefs are dcscende@
directly from Fatima, the prophets
favol-ite daughter, while the emperor
himself Is descended merely from some
collateral branch Of AIohammed's fami-
". So the shereef is reckoncd the
holiy- man IN an Islam and his spirit
uaI authority is recognized by the
faithful everywhere, in Egypt. Turkey.
Persia India.
The latest generations of these
p0tentates have been invested with not
q little romance. 1t was told that the
grandfather Of the preseat shcreef lived
10 be- more than 100 years old At the
last, VIII IN he lay dying, the elders ask
"a him 70 name his successor; for
there is no law Of primogenitWe in
Wazau The old man answered in the
oracular manner in which his inspired
utteTancoS had always been made:
THE child that playeth with my stan,
he shall sway the sceptcr Now it
happened that one OF his slaves, a
negro woman, was standing just out
side the door and heard this She
had been one Of his fayorjtes, though
not married to him, and she had one
child. a brighteyed little mulatto So,
hearing the old Shereefs words She
instantly seized unnoticed his gold
headed staff and placed it in her sons
hands, bidding him hestride it rs
hobby-horsc. And when, few mo-
,,..t+- 3..ar tho eupd shrTCpf died.