The herald., 1895-05-28
A Lecture on SYRIA

PASADENA, May N.-The lecture on
Syria at the Presbyterian church yester-
day afternoon was we'll attended by the
church people of all denominations, who
were greatly interested in the account
given 10y the young Syrian, Mr.. Shehadi,
of his own country and people.
The lecturer was clothed i'll his native
costume and presented very pictuI-
tcsque appearance in the bright colored
garments of curious cut and shape, pecu
liar to that country. On his head was the
"kaffya" white silk head dress.
sprinkled with PINK and blue colors, and
bound about his head with headband
Of darker hue. The long yellow and white
garment which formed the chief feature
of his costume was the "kimbaz", topped
off with "bcrnous' of white silk, which
CORES ponds to our top coat.
The young Syrian, who has not yet
reached his majority, WAS introduced by
q. &. Reynolds, who related some facts OF
the boyhood and school days of the lee
turer, after which Mr.. Shehadi addressed
the audience in voice with quitJ "A
noticeable foreign accent. This, however.
did not detract in the least from his pre-
sentation Of his subject. which was
marked by considerable cleyerness and
humor.
lie began oy saying that although Syria
was principally known as the source of u
large share of the lgs and dates used in
the civilized world, nevertheless it had
better cIaim to the attention and interest
of the world than such "a merely CONNER
cial one, as his country had given to the
world its noblest religion, was the source
of the hrst science, and in fact laid the
foundations of modern civilization.
Judaism, Christianity, and to great
extent, Mohammedanism, had their birth
within its borders. Syria has about one
third the area Of California, and Il popu-
lation OF about .2, 800, 900. The country is
now dependence of Turkey. but as for
the future that is beyond conjecture,
for who knows whicn of the European
nations will feast on Turkey for its
Thanksgiving dinner2 Each nation that
has subiugatrd Syria has left something
of it's own customs and laws SO the civ
ilizatiOn of Syria as you find it today is
a combination of them all.
OF the dom setic relations Mr.. Shehadi
said that family ties are more sacred
than in almost any country he knew of.
nothing but death separating hus-
band and wife.
In his town. the lecturer said OF 30. 600
inhabitants there is not a single saloon.
But. he added with reluctance, they are
the most inveterate smokers OF cigarettes,
and this is not confined to the men by
any means, for the women 60 farther and
do worse. They smoke pipes. In speak.
ing OF the religions there found-and there
are no less than eight of theni--he told
of the sect, with an unpronouncable
name, that worslips the devil. They ad-
vance as a reason for so doing that since
God is good and merciful he will snot in
jure them and will forgive their short
Comings, hence the safest way is to keep
OH good terms with the devil.
Fifty years ago there were no newspa-
pers in Syria, now there are many. One
of the first ones established rejected an
article by Il woman saying it would not
disgrace its columns by publishing2the
thoughts OF woman but today that
same paper contains three columns OF
wonlen's writings regularly.
America was looked upon with the
greatesG respect and friendllness, and
much help was expected from her.
Many questions were asked at the close
OF the lecture. which brought out consid-
cradle additional information.