The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-08-27
A COSMOPOLITAN CORNER.
CURIOUS DAILY LIFE IN THE RECTOR
WASHINGTON STREET DISTRICT.

Hector streets "Amcrican-b orns'
The grlmy cnds Of New York the gloomy ten
ements, are often full of romance TO those who
10 penetrate beneath the surface and get .
firm grip the lives that being lived there
The streets of the Rector Washington street dis
trict are sad and dun looking enough and II
were not for few Syrian cafes here and there
with their tAwdy but brilliant hangings and their
dark faced Oriental loungers. one might pass
pnintercsted But this end Of the town has Q
curiously fascinating life II shelters Syrians
and Armenians and Turks proper, Greeks 1tal-
ians, Germans Irish and what Rector street
calls American borns." and all these arc
being continually shaken up into the strangest
combinations.
When. as Is just now the case, the young
Syrans" are discussing desperate revolutionary
plans against the dcspotc Pashas Of the Sublime
Porte. then the fat, peaceful, befezzed Turks
Of the neighborhood are disturbed in all sorts
OF ways. Little bands of Greeks and Armenians
and Syrians go round TO the Turkish stores and
make pretcnce of pulling the boards of the per-
picked old Turks and cry Allah !" to them-which
seems TO the Turk as insulting as It's sacrlegoua,
or "Giaour" pronounced yowr), which raises them
to the last pitch of rage, Giaour means only
infide but the sting of the application 10 the Turk
es in what seems 10 him a very upheaval OF the
foundations of the world. He who oven in the
back Of his New York store, with the cable car
changing block away, makes daily all the pros
tations on the praying carpet that arc prescribed
in the Koran. washes his hands and feet as Mo-
hamet taught he TO be called Giaour by tho Giaoun
themselves that fills him with wild rage. He
does not know, poor outraged Son Of the Law,
how comic he lis in his wrath and the derisive
laughter of his tormentors only increases his fury.
at for this left the Land OF the Law
ne Of these outraged merchants complained
the other day to a sympathetic stranger. For
this, unhappy one, accurscd fled from the shad-
ow Of God his wings (thc wings OF Abdul y that
the Giaour pluck my boards with their hands
and spit upon the name OF the prophet who 10
great My goods are in my kes kore (store) but
my mind is away from them. What is the money,
to me, that suffer the words OF the Giaoun, that
| they mock at the law"
| They do not readily call in the police however.
| In Stamboul, If you poor, when you SEQ a POI
| liceman you spit in the gutter and hurry away
| before he you. For if it is his within and the
| day is cool enough and you look mean enough
| and he knows you have no protection from Ger
many Russia, the United States or England,
| he may carry you off and swear that you haven't
| paid your head tax" or your window tax" and
| whether you have paid them or not, you will have
| only half day to sell your goods and trouble
| your friends till you raise the money-and tho
policeman will share in the spoils. So the old
| Turks only call upon Allah and curse the Giaouri
| and then il necessary shut their stores for the
day when the representatives of the Slave races
| get festive and frolicsome
| Sometimes Agop Darran, the Armenian, and
| Abdul Apharas, the Syrian, will quarrel over
their cards and coffee and each will call the other
| a slave-the pot and tho kettle each will swear
| by the dead bones Of his beautiful mother that
| rather than belong TO the race OF his adversary
| he would feed on rotten dates and green water
| all his life. Then the trouble begins There
| is wild talk in the cafe and poor Selim Al Theska
| the proprietor, makes haste to shut his door to
| keep out the crowd who would surely como 70 fan
the flames Of controversy. II it is q lucky day
with him, he will prevail upon the disputants
| and their hackers 70 leave the place. He IL a
| poor man and his tree is not yet full grown and he
begs his very honorable guests not TO get him
embroiled with the mighty men with clubs who
will assuredly lead him 10 the court and force him
TO pay much backsheesh Once the men out
side the trouble grows In some dark corner
in the hall OF some tenement house, they gather
and there is loud talk and much abuse. 90
casonally. though not often for fear OF the police
there is a handling OF the long thin -bladed knives
Sometimes it is the Irish who offend or an
other OF the Italians Perhaps some overicalous
matron has emptied basin OF water upon group
OF Orientas who have disturbed her peaceful medi-
tations by iabbering round her door Then IL is
all the other aliens against the Irish and there are
the widest scenes. ENJOYS OF either party 60 of
TO right and lett TO gather recruits and the cosmo-
potan abuse that is poured out all round would
delight the soul OF Kipltng Occasionally the
humor oil the situation will strike some calmeI
spirit
"a lot OF blitherin' omadhawns, ye are Tor sure
The one hall OF yez don't know what yere meaning
ALL and the rest OF yez nd talk till the end O. time
and word out oil yez that Christian I'D
understand. Sure why wouldn't yez hold yer
whist and be of home wild ye, and no more about
it,
And it has happened that some such an appeal
has struck home and a general laugh has driven
rage away.
| mder form OF amusement which is always
called into play when the evenings are FULLY peace
Jul is the tormenting OF Grandma Mamie" Her
name isn't Mamie, but the name was given to her
because she hates to be thought old As matter
OF fact she is a withered old Syrian woman with
a skin all parched by working in the burning sun
OF the Lebanon district She is ma rried 10 a reek.
a fine honest, simple old fellow who watches over
her and loves her He speaks scarcely any Arabic
and her knowledge OF reek, his language leaves
good deal to be desired. When he is home from
his cook shop nobody dares to interfere with ran
ma" hut when he is bending the great pots,
stewing the fires at the big down town hotel,
Grandma" often suffers martyrdom. She
has lazy lite OF it. Her husband stpuI..es
shall bring three meals day TO the old woman, so
that she has nothing to do but clean up her room
and then spend the long hours at her window
watching the lie OF the street and dreaming OF the
return to the East toward which both the old
people saving and planning She is con-
spicuous at her window with her yellow skin and
her big eyes cleaning from under her saffron