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

Its Extensive and Interesting Baxaars-The
Wonderful Walls OF Damascus and the
View One Has From Them-The Moham-
medan Women and Their Masks.
The bazaars of Damascus are quite
extensive and more interesting tht1n
those OF Cairo, with which they are ire
quently compared, because they are en-
tirely untouched by European influ-
ences They are generally covered, and
some Of them have lofty roofs In them
are found all the products Of the east
Caravans go from here 70 Bagdad and
beyond, and q great deal of merchan-
disc il carried to and fro There are spe-
cial large, pretentious buildings, with
numerous domes, in which wholesale
trade is carried ON It was o rainy day
when we first went through the bazaars,
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 2, 900 feet, with small shops ON each
side. 1t is wide enough for carriages.
By the way, this street is 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 o Syrian,
and that fact makes him q permanent
officer. He Is not obliged to turn over
his Office to somebody else when o new
administration comes into power.
He received us very politely and de-
taileda "kawass'-a sort OF official mil
itary escort-to attend us while we re-
manned in the city. This Ia rather desir-
able, as it insures respectful treatment
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 us 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
. Mohammedan's and the other aJew's.
We did not see the proprietor of che
first, but the Jew took us into his libra
~ and showed us copies Of the Jewish
Scriptures ON double rolls As the read
ar proceeds he unrolls from one 20 the
other. We also visited an English mis-
sion school for girls, In which the pupils
had pretty and bright faces They are
mostly Greek Christians, but onr 'ska-
wass, " who IL 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 is Arabian work,
and, still higher, Turkish. Tt liz rather
unfavorable to strong emotions when
| looking at the place where Paul wasaet
down 10 observe that this part Of the
wall is Turkish, not more than 800
! years old.
About the most satisfactory thing we
did in Damascus was . ride 10 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 q
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 us the
caravan roads to Mecca and Palmyra,
extending across the great desert TO the
horizon. This view gave ms By. far the
best idea of Damascus and its surround
ings. Twenty miles AWAY we caught the
| CLEAN of q lake, into which the Barada
| 1.-THE ALBANIA Of Scriptures) pours its food.
Except in the spring it la rather o mo
rass than o lake.
Our hotel at Damascus, the Hotel
Diamatri-Kara was formerly the palace
of q wealthy pasha, and it contained In
teresting specimens of decorative work
of the first class II Is very well kept
far better than any hotel i'm 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 lennon trees Every window ON the
street In Damascus, the streets being
narrow, is covered by q wooden lattice.
You can look ont through it, but you
cannot see into the room across the way.
It is considered very improper to raise
this lattice. You might zee o Moham-
medan woman, on she might see you,
which would make tronble. A very pc
cnliar effect ID produced by a figured
muslin which many of the Mohamme-
dan women wear over their faces. Ii
makes them look like masqueraders
with masks. You see something that
looks like features, bat ii Is not A
roguish eye may be twinkling under the
gauzy material, but it Is completely dis
guised. It liz said 10 be unsafe In this
fanatical community 10 show too much
curiosity about the faces Of the women.
Damascus wornen have d reputation fo1
beauty. regret to say that va r nm
able 10 express any opinion ON the sub
iect. The uncovered faces we have seen
ought not 10 get their owners intt
trouble. -Cm. Boston Herald.
Universal Suffrage.