The daily morning journal and courier., 1895-01-23
IT IS AN IMMENSE HUMBUG.
CAIRO IS NOT NEARLY WHAT TT HAS
 BEEN REPRISENTED TQ BE.

There is Nothing but Dirt and Filth, and
 the Houses are in Condition of Decay
 How a ItraFeler Had Fire Built in His
 Room blythe Arabs.
 Cairo, Dec. 91st, 1894.
 To the Editor of the JOURNAL AND COURIER:
 Imagine a large ship mrored in a broad channel. On one side is 9 queer looking town with new, flimsy houses. You are reminded little of Coney Is- land; but the bright, ill-assorted colors are foreign and tasteless. On the oth- CT side are other ships, dredges, light houses, piers projecting beyond the channel and out into the sea; stretches of water and sand reaching as far as the eye can follow. The sun is low down and will soon set. Shadows are long and are becoming strong. It is chilly and will soon be gloomy. You notice approaching the ship large, dark bargeS on which are standing rows and rows Of motionless figures dressed in dark blue or black shirts. They are turoaned. Most of the tur- bans are also dark. A few are red and t 9L4 AtAAAl1 etllN piCeNStAllt NOlAt et' Their'fac and naked legs and feet are a rich bronze. There are two columns of the barges, each being lowed up along either side of the vessel. As they approach you see that they are laden with coal; and now you know that the ship is to be coaled. As soon as the barges are fast to the vessels sides the rows spring into life as ~1. fit; and as they fit they cry. Their cry is half howl, half yell a yell in minor key. Above their cry is a stronger major cry which they recognize and obey. First off, in long lines of hun dreds they lift against the vessels deck ponderous beams seventy or more feet long. By main strength they lift them higher and higher, shrieking more shrilly in unison as the height grows greater. Just so thousands of years ago they labored under Cheops at the pyramids. When the beams are in place they scamper up and down them like electric moths to see that they are firm and solidly placed. Then commences the work. Each one seizes a wicker basket already filled with coal, slings 1t on the back of his neck, trots up one beam with a step of zephyr lightness, empties his basket somewhere. and scurries down another beam, throwing his basket into barge as he goes. One, two, three endless chains of them, as close together as they can lock step on the beams Clouds of coal dust arise at once, dark ening the ship and all about it. At a distance you would think the vessel on fire, and that the smoke was about to burst into flame. Everything must be shut tight to keep the dust from sa- loon and cabins. Carpets have been rolled up and put away. Soon the air becomes suffocating. The fine dust cannot be kept out and beclouds the sight If you rush on deck for relief you rush into still thicker atmosphere You are traveling for pleasure, mind you. Not one hour, but six hours, the internal torture continues. You won- der how creatures can stand the labor for every basketlmus hold fifty pounds at least. When it grows dark iron cages are stood up holding burning coals This adds to the smoke, but makes the coal devils visible and spurs them to make their sharp vail more inhuman Finally when it seems as if every nerve and organ had suffered to the verge of collapse the din begins to diminish; the smoke rises. You struggle on deck through inches of soot to see the barges lowed away into darkness with their loads of dark ghosts standing as up- right and as still as when they ap- proached. For days your clothes and the pores of your skin are full of It.. May all good people be spared coal ing at Port Said
 There is no use in sitting up to see