Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-02-01
| wife they get rid of her in She
Professional Mourners.


Professional mourners are still employed
and when a person dies they are hired to
shrek and howl before the house and at the
funeral to prove the grief of the family
They are lot of vultures, and can scent
sorrow with extraordinary accuracy. They
usually reach bereaved home before the
undertaken, and will squat outside house
in which person is lying i'll waiting to
hear of the death. They then cali upon the
head of the family for baksheesh and be-
gin their lamentations as soon as .hey re-
ceive it. The bowling will c ,ntinu2 until
the body Of the dead is deposited in the
grave, when they will hunt for another
job.
Professional mourners are Sill tolerated
because of moral cowardice. ModerHzed
Egyptians talk very frankly about The aD-
surdity of the custom, and when you ask
why they do not abolish it they shrug their
shoulders and reply:
who will start the fashion,"
The same rule is true of the marriage
customs, which are still preserved. Ac-
cording to the old ways, every wedding is
attended with noisy professions, the illu-
mination of streets, the feasting of friends
and functions of public and private char
acter, which often continue for a week.
The bridegroom goes to the home Of the
bride-elect, escorted by brass band, the
members Of his household, his servants
and employees and multitude of his
or donkeys, and trudging along on foot
with much noise and enthusiasm as is
usually shown in political campaign
The house of the brides father is illumi-
mated with thousands Of candles and lamps
and surrounded by crowds which extend
into the street and block the way. There
Is a big supper and plenty of hilarity, but
If the family are good MohammedanS
which is q fortunate thing. In many cases,
however, the injunctions of the prophet
are not observed, and the results are I'M
fortunate and often disgraceful.
The bride, accompanied by all her friends
and relatives and the servants of the fam
lily and the employees of her father, is then
escorted TO her future home, where similar
hospitality is extended, and the rest of the
night is spent in conviviality. Formerly
the happy woman was borne in palan-
quin borne by two camels, but nowadays
with Persian shawls. The next day a
drove of camels loaded with her dover
and wedding presents is escorted with a
brass band to her new home.
Delivery Of Milk.
One Of the most curious customs you no.
tice in Cairo is observed by the dairymen,
who deliver milk ION the hoof," as 1t were.
That is, they drive their cows from house
to house each morning and serve their pa
irons directly, so that an intermediary
visit to a pump Is impossible. A servant
comes out with a jar when he hears the
milkman's call, and stands by while his
order is filled direct from the udder. The
same practice prevails in other countries.
1 have seen 1t in Italy, in Spain and in
South America, but here the dairyman car
ries around with him stuffed calf, which
is laid upon the sidewalk during the milk
ing process, and is supposed to exercise
some sort of a favorable influence upon
| the COW. If the calf We're alive We might
! low, he 10 in hut "a CT iy,
stuffed with straw cannot possibly fool
either cow or customer