Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-11-21

tfat naturally springs from the fatalism OF
Islam In the streets of Algiers. Fee or
unis you have only to stand for a mo-
ment 10 watch an old Bedouin crossing the
street In order to realize this. He may he
man OF ninety. who in America would
nave TO be carefully helped across by the
p sear., put in a Moslem city he neyer
seems TO take the faintest notice of trafi3
uf.til he is absolutely obliged to do so. I'D
VIII not step aside for horses and carts
until they are on the point of running HIM
u1wA, ana then only with utter unconcern.
IL Is the same even in business as any
baZaars.
The venerable merchant will sit and
smoke IN the recesses OF his shop" said
teroert Vivian. an English traveller who
KNOWS the people of Tunis well satisfied
that customers will come to him If so be
that fate shall decree it, When thew do
come he requires much pressing to induce
Iim 10 take the trouble TO display his
wares though you may be sure that he
VIII VIII drlve very hard bargain before part
ing with any of them. He appears to be
rejecting all the while that he would he far
better pleased II the world could only he
induced to leave him alone"
Where Women Work.
In the country districts the centenarIans
are even more in evidence than in the cities.
ana many OF them are of the softer SEX
some or the Berber tribes yoke their yo-
men 10 The plow with the OK and the ass
ana the blood of the foreign traveller bolts
at the sight of aged grandmothers and
Observation-Disclosures being treated i'm this
manner: But they trudge along the furrow
cheerfully enough. The work is not really
50 nara as 1t appears, and they do not
reahze the degradation, because they have
never been used to anything else
BerDer chieftain who was demonstrated
win lor putting his own aunt a woman
piled calmly:
Women are bestowed by Allah for pleas
ure and profit. When they grow too old
them to profit"
rms Is the prevailing sentiment through
OUT North Africa, except with some of the
Bedouin and Kabyle tribes among whom
women. -
The Holy Men.
Many of the ''marabouts." or holy men.
who are to be found at the sacred sbrines
and tombs which are scattered 60 tbickiv
all over the Barbary States. live TO incred-
IDLE ages. There is one at Marakesh who
is said TO be over one hundred and Gfty
years old. His body is shriveled nm like a
mummy $, his face is the color of ashes
ana the skin is drawn tightly over his
cheekoohes, like the parchment on a drum.
1et ms eyes are bright and fierce and he
walks unassfsted every morning TO the
tomb, where he sits all day long to receive
the offerings of the faithful and listen to
their petitions.
The Sheikh of Glawa. n powerful Arab
cheftaln who is feudatory to the Sultan OF
Morocco, is considerably over a hundred.
years Old yet he still rules his tribe with a
strong hand, and rides about his territory
every day on horseback He is as straight
as an arrow, and can ride and shoot better
than many of his young warriors He has
led ms tribe to war several times within
the past few years Not long ago h, told
an English visitor that he hoped to lead
ii against the French before he died
Centenarians are common enough through
OUT the tropics, but nowhere else prob
AMY, are there SO many as in these Bar
barry States. and nowhere else do they dis
play such unnatural youth and vigor They
puzzle the French doctors in Algeria and
Iunis, VINO often write learned monographs
on the subject, which only serve to deepen
the mystery.