The San Francisco call., 1906-10-14
By H. c. Oshander.

~ THE borders Of the great Sa-
hara, where the endless sands
first meet the living spirit of
the Nile. and almost under the
shadow Of mighty Cheops. that old
Egyptian monster known as the Sphinx
lifts his hoary head and stares across
the ages into an eternity to come. The
Arabs, with their usual poetic sense Of
appropriateness. call him 'Abul Hawl.'
or The Father Of Horrors" and he re-
mains today as heS has remained for
over COCO years.. the mystery of mys-
teries, the universal symbol for the
great unknown.
Older than the pyramids themselves.
older than any Of the gray. old tenn
pies, this gigantic, mysterious face
Eazes ever toward the east. even assit
has done since those dim, far days
when Egypt herself was Young
The age Of colossal pyramids gave
way TO an age Of marvellous temples.
andsa long line of Pharaohs carried the
glory. of Egyptian arms and conquests
into other lands. and still this great
stone face gazed across the sands;
older than anything known. to the an
Gent world, even when Herodotus visL
1ted and described it some. twenty -four
centuries ago. For 1000 years it had
been looking with tireless eyes toward
the mystery of the sunrise when Joseph
and Mary aid the infant Jesus fed for
safety into this ancient land.
It has looked upon the rise and fall
Of many dynasties and many nations:
Egyptians, Hfttites and shepherd
0<ings; Persians, Greeks Romans, Sar-
'acens, Mamelukes: Turks and Arabs,
'all tn turn have risen to power in the
valley OF the Nile. and through IL all
q hc len
Today the same grave. questioning
face looks down in apparent amaze
ment upon that most narrowing, mod
: ern desecration Of Oriental tradition.
the Ameiacap trolley car. and it's hid
reous rows Of towering poles, which
come stalking across the plains from
Cairo. II the great stone lips seem to
shape themselves into a giant smile
who, even in this matter-of-fact age,
shall dare TO wonder at it, or to ques-
ton their right to do so? s-s
A Swift Transformation.
You'll have to hurry IL You want ia
see Egypt, the real Egypt Of the .Pha-
raohs. and OF the Khalifs. for today the
land of mystic charms and tempted
wonders in which the history Of the
world was Graded uncounted ages ago
IS undergoing a transformation so won
derful and SO swift that another decade
ress" viii surely spoil the splendid pic
ture for all time
Seven thousand years of wondrous
ancient civilization which knew no
Aequal in all the world have left chain
OF titanic temples all the way from am
cient Heliopolis TO the mysterious land
Of the Soudan, far to the southwark OF
Wady Haifa, like a peerless string OF
mighty pearls a thousand miles s in
length, set in the glorious emerald OF
the valley of the Nile. But ruined tenn
pies and tonlbs alone remain to tell OF
the pristine glCries Of the ancient land
Of Khem. Gone are the mighty cities
OF this wondrous valley. Gone are the
great caravans Of stately camels wifi
their swaying burdens OF priceless orr
entail freight The screech of the loco
motive now echoes through the Nile
valley Telegraph poles stalk In end
less procession along the crest of The
Libyan Mountains. ever in sight from
'our Nile boat as we journey from Cairo
TO the first cataract. Electric lights
siiiie across the ripping waters of the
historic stream as we anchor at nigh,
opposite some third-rate Arab town OF
Upper Egypt: and even in the tonbs
OF the Kings. those stupendous sepul.
chers Of Egypt's mighty Pharaohs OF
thirty centuries ago, have been strung
with wire and are now lighted with
electricity. The advantage of q per