Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-11-21
A LAND OF OLD AGE
Where Centenarians Are as
Thick as Blackberries.
HALE AN D He A R TY
NO MAN IS AGED UNTIL HE IS A
HUNDRED.
In the Barbary States a Man Of
Seventy May Have
Grandfather.
q ALE AND HEAL TY

Written for The Evening Star.
II saw a lot of queer things during my
wandering through Morocco, Algeria ana
Tunis," said a man who recently returned
to America from a long tour in the north OF
Africa, but the queerest thing of all was
the multitude of centenarians. They were
| as common as blackberries here in August
| and a man woman had to be at least
hundred and fifty to enjoy any sort of local
reputation.
TT is quaint and refreshing to step aside
for moment from the hustle of modern
life and make acquaintance with men
whose fathers or grandfathers were Bar
| barry corsairs: to drop into coffee houses
where public story telers rivet the atten-
ton of a crowded audience and where the
jars of Ali Bahia are still in common use;
to frequent public squares where snake
charmers, barbaric musicians and other
story-book delights are a commonplace; to
| meet Kadi riding to court on white
mule: and to mix with people who tell you
stories of djinnS as if they We're everyday
occurrences.
"All this and more you can enjoy in Mo-
| rocco Algeria and Tunis-though the
French are doing their best to spoil the old
world charm of the last two countries. But
of all the strange things l saw there, the
strangest were the old people. There are
so many of them. and they are so strenu-
OuS.'
Every traveller in the "Barbary states"
as they used to be called, is impressed by
this remarkable abundance of centenarians.
A gray-bearded old man of seventy, who is
trying to sell curioS to a tourist for thrice
their value, eXclaims:
BY the beard of the prophet, may my
grandfather die if what l tell you is not
true.''
Land of No-Hurry.
Looking at his gray beard you think he
is quite safe in calling down that curse upon
himself, but when you make inquiries you
find that he really has a grandfather living,
aged about one hundred and ten, and that
the old gentleman is still going about do
ing busnesSson market days.
Life is not wearing In Moslem Africa.
man never does anything in a hurry there.
Naturally, he does not even grow old in a
hurry. When he is seventy he is beginning
to get over the first hot flush of youth; he
is no longer counted as one of the boys.
But not until he is az least ninety does he
expect people to pay honor and reverence
to him as veteran, and even then he must
take back seat and listen deferentialiy
when the hale and hearty centenarianS ap-
proaCh.
The Arabs and Noors Of the Barbary
states are strenuous only in their religious
exercises The excessive zeal of the various
confraternit;es which give vigor to the Mos
lem faith in that part of the world must be
very wearing. But even among these con-
fraternties many very old men may be
found who go through the eXhausting ritual
Just as easily as a mere boy of thirty or
forty can.
Of all these confraternities the best known
and most interesting are the Aissawa, who
may pe met with all through Morocco, AL
geria and Tunis Unlike most of the other
societies they delight to display their fan
tastic ritual in public, even to the unbeiev-
ing eyes of the 'infidel dogs of tourists.
May Be Hypnotism.
It is an undisputed fact that they eat
snakes and scorpions. chew glass and
transfiX themselves with swords without
being any the worse for such injurious
habits Opinions differ as to how they
manage It, but the favorite explanation is
that they are under the influence of hyp-
notism. They do not attempt their danger
Gus exercises until they have wrought
themselves UP to the highest pitch of ex-
altation by series of wild gyrations and
much frantic beating of drums. And many
of these dancing dervishes, who whirl
around like top for quarter of an hour
and then swallow snakes and thrust swords
through their bodies, are white bearded old
men of ninety years or more. Some are
even centenarians. One would think that
such fierce excitement would be fatal to
them, and, indeed, their faces oftentimes
take on the CHASTITY pallor of death during
their performance. But soon after ii is
over they are all right again.
Their fantastic emotions are very catch
ing" An English resident in the city of
Tunis once induced a number of them to
perform at a garden party which he gave.
Many of the guests, Europeans and Ameri-
cans, confessed to a strange impulse 10
join in the various exercises of the Ais
sawa, as If they had caught something of
the religious infection. "One of the native
servants was so far carried away" said a
man who was present, that he suddenly
farcied himself to be a camel and retired
to remote part of the garden to eat cactus
leaves
Calm and Dignifed
But most of these graybeards of Barbary
are very different from the juggling ia
natcs of the Aissawa. They are dstin-
guished by calm. courteous dignity which
it seems impossible to ruffie-the dignitys