The Cooperstown courier. (Cooperstown, Griggs Co., N.D.) 1902-1913, 1902-06-26
soUDANEsE ARMS AND ARMoR
A Demand for Weapons of the East
Has Been Created by the
Cozy-Corner Fad.

has made wide demand for the arms
and armor of the races who are sup
posed to have invented that comfort
able sitting arrangement in the mod
ern salon and boudoir. AS matter of
fact it may be questioned if there is
single coy corner in Arabia, Egypt,
or the Sudan. They have their divans,
which are clumsy structures, half bed
and half bunk. These are covered with
rugs, skins, pillows and cushions, and
are exceedingly comfortable to re-
cumbent person, but they almost in
variably stand free from the walls, so
that the breeze may be enjoyed by the
occupants. The last place to occupy
in hot country is the corner formed
by two house walls, says The New York
Post. =,
The stylish American coy corner
must have canopy, and this canopy
should be upheld by two sudanese or
Arab lances. An ultra-fashionable
coy corner has shield, steel cap,
and yataghan or scimitar upon the
wall just high enough from the ground
to be out of reach of the head of one
sitting upon the bench.
The so-called Sudanese arms and
armor are very cheap affairs, and
though coming from southern Egypt,
northern Africa, or Arabia, are gen
orally of European origin. Birming-
ham and Sheffield have long done
large trade in supplying the Children
of the Desert with their picturesque
weapons. The genuine arms and ar
mors are very rare and expensive. Few
are made at the present day, and the
larger number, especially those worn
by emirs and sheiks, are heirlooms,
which they would not sell under any
circumstances. Some of the spears
are very handsome, especially where
the shafts have been carved by their
Arab owners. When made in England
the shaft is long pole of oak or other
strong wood. When it reaches the
Arab countries it is usually too thick
and cumbrous for the purchaser. The
Semitic races are smaller than our
own, and their hands are, though mus
cular, more slender and graceful. They
cut the shaft down until it is quite
thin, and then polish and stain it, or
else carve into it geometrical designs
and lines from the Koran. When the
shafts break, which is often the case
in hunting or in village feuds, they re-
place them with whatever comes to
hand.
It is at this point the variety is OBJ
tanned which all observers have doubt
less noticed. Sometimes the new shaft
is of bamboo, the lightest and strong
est of all the vegetable tissues; some
times it is reed similar to the ma
lacca cane. 1t is very light, but is
brittle, and will not stand a consider
able transverse strain. Often It is
made from pitch pine, Oregon pine, or
other timber derived from sailing craft
or ships in the Mediterranean or Red
sea. Rarely it is made from native tim
bers grown in the oasis of the desert
lands or in the agnificent forests Of
the Sudan.
OF the metallic armor sold not enc
per cent. is of Arab origin. A variety
which is genuine and extremely inter.
esting is composed of the shields and
bucklers made from the hide of thu
rhinoceros, hippopotamus, and African
elephant. These are cut and treated
with few simple herbs, dried inAhe
sun upon mould. so that the finished
shape shall be moderately convex. and
completed by inserting boss or sharp
spear-head in the center.