Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1899-03-15
IN MODERN DAMASCUS


Its Fascina ting Streets and the Charm.
ing Picturesque Bazaars.
Cross-legged upon a red velvet couch
the citizen of Damascus smokes his
cigarette o. nargileh, sips his coffee or
araki-a strong drink favored with
aniseed-and looks dreamily out upon
the world. In the heat Of the day his
favorite retreat Is the shadow OF or
ange or mulberry trees on the banks OF
those rivers which Naaman preferred
TO ..all the waters Of Israel" The MP
pliny Barada is a flute 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
robs and turban are added to the bright
lines that extend in front Of the cafes.
There he sits for hours without open
ing his lips, except to draw In the thin.
acrid smoke of the hubble-bubbie.
Thus the sober citizen takes his pleas
ure.
II he Is "a young man about town
he may plunge recklessly into the ex-
elements Of the cafe chantant, and,
still with coffee and nargileh before
him, listen to adaptations Of Western
songs and sketches" sung and played
by Greeks and Dalmatians. Women
may not share these public amuse-
ments and not even a progressive coun-
ty councillor could find fault with the
performance. 1t is blamelessly duil
and as respectable and almost rs stupid
as a suburban drawlng-rOom party.
The only difference is that the perform
ers are q little more noisy. that all the
ladies 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.
Not even in Damascus, where nature
has laughed and been radiant for CEN
turies Of centuries, the oriental is q
dull person whose features rarely re-
lax from their intent look of dignified
contemplation. There Is only one
place in which he appears a natural
man. and that is the bazaar. There, in
these long passages with vaulted roof.
life palpitates hot-blOoded. Sleek
Syrian, hungry Turk, apple-cheeked
Druse and stately Bedouin are men and
women when they come to barter. The
bazaars of Damascus are famous in
the east. Their Importance has be-
come 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-arcafes
long, straight and broad. with modern
shops; arcades narrow, winding and
ancient, with dark recesses where fig
ures in turbans and long robes squat
among the merchandise thumbing the
koran or reciting prayers.
As in Western Europe, when trades
were guilds, each set of merchants had
its own quarter, though the tendency
Is to remove these landmarks. There
is, for example, the silk bazar, where
unless you can haggle over paras, yo,A
are likely to pay dear for embroideries
and delicate tissues Of Damascus and
Aleppo. The goldsmlth's bazar is dis
a beggarly array Of coins and "an-
tiques' In locked cases. The sound of
the hammer leads one to the copper
smiths, who make those enormous
trays with which the peasants and
Bedouin measure their neighbor's hos.
pitahty. Narrow strips Of Persian car.
pet, Damascus" blades forged al
Solingen. crimson leather slippers EN-.
broidered with silver thread, gaudy
saddles and brides, catch the eye as
one canters threagh arcade after ar.
cade.-London Standard.