The Bryan daily eagle. (Bryan, Tex.) 1895-1898, 1897-02-11

The worst Guy Ia the wona-cst@s
ana vice Supreme.


aud vice suprsms.
A writer TO the London Daily Mail
says: ION the baking sands At the
southeast corner OF the Mediterranean.
just where the suez canal gives berth
to tons Of steamers. ships and every
sort Of craft, lies Port Said, the worst
city in the wor' 1T Is no, lightly that
this dirty. unailfAcilye town on the
borderland between Asla and Africa.
half mud walls and half brick, has been
given this name, for II ever a locality
deserved such an opprobrious designa-
tion II IL Port Said. Not In any single
particular has Port Said any advan-
tages. commercial or atmospheric.
Seven months in the year u Is baking
hot and fever breeding. and the other
Ave months hardly less dangerous 20
health. Trading or business there ia
almost none In the ordinary way, not
even OF the Oriental sort Few cities.
indeed. have 20 little 10 offer In the way
OF shops and goods for sale. Port
SaId's sole business importance, In fact,
Is simply that II serves ~ a port OF
call for vessels Just entering or just
leaving the sue1 canal There are H.
900 OF 10000 people IN the town who
are permanent residents, but there not
being any business 10 speak Of. four
ifths Of these lead idle. wandering. dis
sipated lives Their numbers are con-
sianily added to. for. with the arrival
OF every ship In the roadstead-a ship
Is always bound 10 stay here ten or a
dozen hours At least--crew and passen-
gers come ashore for strollr through
the dirty streets. and a number Of
them drink and gamble In the dena
that dot the town on every hand.
Under these conditions there has
sprung up a most alarming state Of
continued debauehery. which never les
sens. but increases yearly. No Law. no
regulations, no police force hold Il in
check. All Il open and free. No other
city offers like soil for vice 10 grow
In. irregularly. Port Said has sprung
up since the opening Of the suez canal.
when Il was only a handful Of mud huts
on the Mediterranean shore. until the
present time. when Il IL a populous
city. While still a struggling Oriental
village. Of miles OF crooked streets.
narrow lanes. with many a turn. and
grim looking byWays between dirty
walls. Hardly a street In the whole
town can boast Of such q thing AZ
pavement Even the chief avenue. the
Rue de Commerce. IL ankle deep IN
dust and sand. and seems more like a
Stun quarter Of a European city than
the chief artery OF any metropolis.
however small. Two things 90 10 keep
Port Said the worst city In exlstence.
one being the climate. which invites
hard drinking on the part Of the resi-
dents. and the other the fact that for
some reason or other the scum Of all
the nations near by pour themselves
into Il. Italians. Russians. Austrians.
Turks. Abysslnlana, Egyptians, Arabs,
spanlards. Frenchmen and degraded
Englishmen are 10 be found In overy
corner OF this pronigate settlement. all
Of the worst types their respective ma.
lions can produce. blacklsgs. sWlndlers
gamblers. forgers murderers and pro
fessional begEars. whose arts hav,
failed elsewhere. II \ a common say
ing that I've out Of every six men who
go to live At Port Said die either Of de
lirium tremens or fever within a few
years. Most Of them s1ecumb quiekl,
to the temptations Of the place. ant
Join IN the great professions Of disslpa'
ton and riotous living. There are. q
IL true. many respectable people living
on the outskirts Of the town. but shey
make no impression upon the great IN
lcavened mas.