The Breckenridge news. (Cloverport, Ky.) 1876-1955, 1905-03-29

The Filthy Habit of Eating In Com
mon That IL Followed by the
Arabs, Among whom Fingers Yet
Reign Superior to Forks.
Germs cannot be as destructive to
human health as is popularity believed.
for If they were the total destruction of
the orientals would haze taken place
many centuries ago. for among tie
many peculiar and primitive customs
of the semiciviliZed races of tie Holy
Land one of the most loathsome prac-
ticed today is that called by westerners
dipping in the dish" The custom dates
back to Biblical days.
witnessing an Arab meal, one truly
wonders that there can be any human
beings left to carry on this horrid Gus
tom when one considers how great are
the precautions deemed necessary in
civilized lands both for the sake of
cleanliness and for checking the spread
of disease, for it is a collection of
dirty and grimy hands that one sees
around the one common dish of rice
and beans or of sour milk which con-
either in the home or in the field.
To watch these hungry beings set
ting to work to devour their food, max
ing use of their black hands reeking
with filth and CRIME, is enough to take
away ones own appetite. True enough.
according to the religious laws of both
Mohammedans and Jews, it is required
that the hands be washed before eating
as well as before praying. Correct
manners demand that the bearer of
pitcher shall pour water over the hands
Of each member of group sitting
down to eat. Where the people are
well to do both pitcher and basin are
of silver, and Il towel is carried on the
bearers arm for the wiping of hands.
Ordinary people simply pour the water
over the hands, letting it fall to the
ground and using the corner Of the
flowing robe for a towel.
But even when they do thus wash
their hands" before sitting down to
eat the scarcity of water allows only a
so called eats lick" and, as soap is
an unknown quantity to the Arab, this
does not really lessen the dirt on the
hands, as they are rarely washed at
other times, nor does it remove any
germs of disease that must inevitably
have settled there during the days in
tercourse with animals and friends and
neighbors of every class and condition,
to each of whom a hearty salutation
hoc haqn in a cln IF
handshaking and elusive kissing of
both hands ana faces, all Of which
would tend more or less to spread
germs.
When one thinks of the numerous
lepers in Palestine, who are allowed
much freedom, and Of those afflicted
with minor skin diseases who mingle
freely with others regardless Of the
possibility of infection. without men
tioning the appalling prevalence of
Ophthalmia. about which there is absO-
lutely no care or precaution taken, it
becomes fearsome sight, this min.
Cling of soiled and diseased hands in
one common dish of food at the same
time and the placing of these hands
within the eaters mouths after having
handled food just touched by their
neighbours perhaps flthier ones.
Still more repelling than this custom
of putting ones food into ones own
mouth with soiled and greasy hands is
the mark of attention demanded by
Bedouin etiquette from a host to his
guest Before any of the group seated
on the rough mating around the wood
en- bowl of food on the floor begin to
eat the host. with much ostentaton,
places his hand in the dish before him.
and, taking out good handful of the
greasy sop. rolls it well between his