Mexico weekly ledger., 1902-03-13


18th misnsmea Pompey's Pillar-but
really having nothing to do with
Pompey-its shadow failing suggestive
IL over a dreary Arabian cemetery are
al the antiquities which Alexandria
possesses. Yet no one can walk the
crowded, commercial streets without
recalling from a mysterious past the
name Of the most beautiful woman In
the ancient world. Hypatia was a
good second II the stories are to be
believed hut the first lady OF the land
was Cleopatra
She waSl not a negro nor even a
negroid nor halfcast, whatever the
poets dramatists and noveliSts may
say. This splendid woman, whose
beauty ruled Egypt and who enslayed
BY her charms the generals sent to
conquer her, was, for all that expert
evidence may have adduced to the
contrary, a Greek, a Ptolemy Of the
purest blood. Plutarch will tell you
that, and so will any cultured Greek
in Alexandria where Greeks still
dominate and viii assure you that the
complexion was as fair as that Of any
Athenian belle to-day.
We saw the famous bass -reliefs
from the Temple of Hathor at Den
derah which are relied upon to prove
the Nubian ancestry Of the great
queen. They do nothing Of the sort
but are-these acknowledged stone
portraits Of Cleopatra-what Byron
said Of another charming creature
naked, natural and-Greek.
The name of Cleopatra haunts you
every where in Alexandria. Anayenue
is called Cleopatra boulevard, F"
pleasure-boats in the harbor, cafes on
the streets, and even cigarattes bear
her name. To get ones name uponan
Egyptian cigarette is fame indeed.
Tarrying travellers discuss her merits
and her memory. A learned Egyp-
tologist convinced US that the story OF
the asp is all wrong. This eonsum-
mate mistress OF the art Of fascination,
he declared, was too vain to have EN-
ployed means.of saicide so certain to
distort her face after death. To proud
TO 20 to Rome to be exhibited in the
triumphal procession Of octiavanus,
she doubtless employed some less dis
| figuring poison. Whatever it was
Alexandria, where Cleopatra with bel
fatal gift Of beauty had been borr
just thirty-nine years before, was alsC
the city Of her entombment, Should
her mummy be found Unequal preserva
ton with that Ramses the, Great Il
would surpass this worn and wrinkleC
figure in the Gizeh Museum in popula.
interest.
THE COTTON AND THE CORN.
The railway from Alexandria u
Cairo-with railway tickets printed II
French and Arabic and tolerably com
Portable cars-will take one in fou
hours 10 the capital OF the country
The line runs through the marvellous.
fertile Delta, where cotton and corr
and sugar cane are the chief products
1t appeared just now a huge cotton
field. The product Of Egyptian cotto.
fields has doubled since England too
Egypt in hand. "Egypt's cotton,
asserted Sir Samuel Baker, ''will 500
make England independent
America The best Egyptian cotto
brings prices two cents in excess Of III
best from our southern states. IL
its fiber, so we were told, nearly a
inch and a half long, which gives 1t il
peculiar value. There is no labC
Question in Egyptian cotton-helds an
the fellaheen, the native laborer, col
stitutlng the bulk Of the populatio
receives but fifteen cents a day Il
working in the fields.
Mehemet Ali was the Great InititC
of things modern in Egypt. Our fait
in the value Of scientific experiment
In agriculture was strengthened whe
we heard the story Of the cotton fell
A friendly botanist, after some priyat
experimentation, told Mehemet A
that the plantsgrowing wild in CARER
! gardens Whose blossoms developed 4
10 iber-flled bolls, could be cultiya
, ed on a large scale In Egypt at gre
profit. This was the origin Of cottol
I culture In Egypt. Let those who ha'
doubt as to the value Of scientific e
periments in agriculture at instit
lions, such as the Missouri Agricu
. tural Experiment Station, read al
! reflect. From the words Of this sayal
! has sprung the nations greatest !
7 dustry, which has made Alexandr
rich and all Egypt prosperous.
: FARMING IN EGYPT.
: The camel, the buffalo, the hors
the donkey and the OK are the anima
most employed In farming operatio
. in Egypt. Il was a curious sight
witness, as we did on the way fro
Alexandria to Cairo, a camel and
OK, unequally yoked together, plOwil
in a field. Harvesting is by haI
+ mostly, though now and then one mi
J see modern machinery or a rude ada
tation OF a harvester upon primiti
Hines.
Irrigation is carried on in the san
q method as In Bible times and beyon
F. The simplest IS a wellsweep shadoOf,
a weight at one end that lifts the sing
n bucket Of water and which, guided
o the hands Of the fellah, waters I
o tiny field. Sometimes two shadoc
q are needed to raise the water to
e higher level. The richer farmer el
plOys oxen or other animals to turn
water wheel for irrigation. Upon I
e wheel are fastened jars which dip Z
IT water from canal OF river or well al
Z pour II into a trench for a thirs
J. land. We saw upon ancient tombs
b four thosand years old $50 pictures
g laborers Of that day with shadoOf a
d sekeih Of exactly the same kind
those 10 be seen in the Egypt Of
ie day.
But here we are at Cairo station.