The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-12-23
THE MODERN DAMASCUS.
IT'S FASCINATING STREETS AND
PICTURESQUE BAZARS.

How the DamaScene of To-day Takes
His PIeasure-Where Are the Mar
veIoux Charms Told by Byron and
Moore and in the arabian
Nights"
Correspondence of London Standard.
Cross legged. upon a red velvet couch,
the citizen of Damascus smokes his Gig
arctic or nargileh, sips his coffee or araki
"A strong drink Favored with aniseed-
and looks dreamiy out upon the world.
la the heat of the day his favorite resort
is the shadow OF orange or mulberry tree
on the banks of those rivers which Naa-
man preferred to -an the waters of Is
rael." The ripping Barada is fute-note
IN the lazy drone of conversation. When
the dark blue shadows have crept down
the mountains. the Damascene seeks the
crowded street or square. and his long
robes and turban are added 10 the bright
lines that extend in front of the cafes.
There he sits for hours without opening
his lips except to draw in the thin acrid
smoke of the hubble bubble Thus the
sober citizen takes his pleasure. If he is
"a young man about town. he may
plunge recklessly into the excitements of
the cafe chantaut and. still with coffee
and nargileh before him, listen to adapta-
tons of western songs and Sketches
sung and played by Greeks or Dalmat ians
Women may not share these public amuse-
ments, and not even a progressive county
councillor could find fault with the per
Torrance. 1t is blamelessly dull The
D.F,,
ment.
Last evening there were many private
gatherings in honor of the Emperor. At
10 O'Clock a carriage took US to a house
in the Jewish quarter. Passing through
marble courtyard, with fountains and
orange and citron trees. we came to a
magnificent reception room. The lofty
walls We're richly inlaid; a fountain dane
eG and FLASHED in the middle of the mar
be floor and luxurious carpets and
couches We're spread upon the divan. A
Turkish soldier, with drawn sword sa-
luted US at the door. His presence was
guarantee against disturbance for the
Moslem resents these pleasures in which
dancing and singing girls take part, and
Is apt to make them more exciting than
agreeable. Heaven knows why he should
be SO sensitive! An Oriental entertain
ment is as respectable and almost as
stupid as a suburban drawing room party
The only difference is that the performers
are little more noisy, that all the la
dies smoke-openly, and that the dancing
girls would shrink from the skirt dance
Like the japanese Geishas and the Indian
Nautch dancers, they seldom move their
feet from the floor
We came away at midnight duly i'm
pressed with the dullness and respectable
ity of a genuine oriental festivity. and
with feeling of resentment toward Lord
Byron, the author of "Lalla Rookh" the
compiler of the arabian Nights" and
those other historians of the East who
mad nurtured our credulous youth No.
even in Damascus, where nature has
laughed and been radiant for centuries
of centuries, the oriental is a duh person.
whose features rarely relax from their
intent look Of digniied contemplation.
There is only one place in which ne ap-
pears a natural man, and that is the ba-
Ear. There, in these long passages with
vaulted roof life palpitates hot blooded.
Sleek Syrian, hungry Turk, apple-cheeked
Druse, and stealthy Bedouin are men and
women when they come to barter
The bazars of Damascus are famous in
the East Their importance has become
less since the opening of traffic in the
Red sea and the Persian gulf. vet their
picturesque interest is still great They
form a labyrinth of courts and arcades.
open to the sky, or under lofty-vaulted
roof-arcades long, straight and broad.
with modern shops; arcades narrow. wind
ing and ancient, with dark recesses. where
figures in turbans and long robes squat
among merchandise thumbing the Koran
or reciting prayers. As in Western Europe
when trades were guilds, each set of mer-
chants has its own quarter though the
tendency is to remove these landmarks.
There is, for example, the silk bazaar.
where unless you can haggle over paras.
you are likely TO pay dear for embroideries
and delicate tissues of Damascus and
Aleppo. The goldsmith's bazaar is 1isap-
pointing. It is a gloomy court with a beg
carly array of coins and antiques" in
locked cases. The sound of the hammer
leads one to the coppersmith's who make
those enormous trays with which the
peasants and Beduoin measure their neigh
bor's hospitality. Narrow strips of Per-
sian carpet, Damascus" blades forged at
Sohngen, crimson leather slippers en-
broidered with silver thread, gaudy sad
dies and brides, catch the eye as one
saunters through arcade after arcade.
But it is the people-not the mercnan-
dise-that bring the stranger again ard
again TO the bazar. From dawn until an
hour before sunset there surges through
these dim vaults a noisy bright-colored
stream Women in white robes or gowns
OF amber and black fiji like phantoms from
shop 10 shop hagging over the price of
a piece of silk, telling out piastres for small
phials of rose oil. for henna with which to
stain their nails or for that black pigment
which is to add TO the lustre of their dark
eyes. Children dart hither and thither in
loose gowns of violet and gold and crimson
and blue, small Bedouin women with shy,
tattooed faces, and gowns of dark blue cot
ton, look wonderingiy on all this wealth.
Sleek Effends, in turban or fez, mounted
on gorgeously caparisoned horse or ass.
press through the throng; carriages hurry
along with shrin cries of 'Dahrak," Your
back, on, siri'' your back oh, boyt" Ven
doris or raisin water and lemonade rattle
their brazen cups, and all to the din with
shouts of "berrid ala kalbak-refresh Thy
heart, o thirsty oner' Bilious-looAng
cakes displayed on a large wooden tray
are loudly commended as "akel es-snunu"
food for swallows"
The Greek trader pounces on the hest