The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1907-03-10
o..c.o.o.


yard. the vines growing close up TO the
walls and hugging the foot oil the great
tower. A crowd of Berbers were picking
the large white grapes into baskets as L
drove through the ruins and tried TO
= people them with the great army ana
/ The gay throng of 600 years ago IL was
impossible amid such surroundings 10 re-
build. even in imagination, the immense,
edfiees, the magnificent palaces, the
great houses and the gardens traYersed
By streamlets as described by the hlsto-
rians; but the scenes recalled to me some
F, of the verses of Omar Khayyam the
great Persian poet, about the evaneseenee
of all things earthly. Yakoubs soldiers
! finally conquered Tlemcen, but he him
self was assassinated just before its sur
render. After that the city Of Nansoura
began to decline. and its greatness was
soon swallowed by Tlemcen.
Among the Natives.
But let me describe the Tlemcen of
today. A live dog lis better than dead
lion and the Algeria of the present is
more interesting than that of the dead
centuries of the past. l like the swing
and go of this French colony, the jaunty
air of the soldiers as they strut about
In their fat. red pantaloons and short
jackets and their tall caps of blood red;
the stately walk of the Arabs as they
go on slippered feet through the streets;
ana above all the iOHS EDWllo anu ttaii
hats of some of the native gentlemen
of Tlemeen. We think Sc much to pay
for a derby and S. a big price for black
silk tile, but these Tlemcen natives pay
quite as much for straw hats. Their hats,
are however gorgeous beyond description.
and they stand from twelve TO eighteen
inches above the crown of the head. They
are made of straw is finely woven as a
Panama and of several different colors.
The brims are covered with silk embroid-
cry and they extend for six inches out
all around the hat. These hats are large
enough to be worn over turbans, so big
that | was able to put one over my cork
helmet, while my photograph was taken
with my guide Mustapha standing beside
me.
Many House Industries.
One of the industries Of Tlemcen is
making such hats The town is quite
manufacturing center. The natives-l
mean the Berbers and Moors-seem to
be all engaged in house Industries of
one kind or other. / went through street
after street lined with little shops, lighted
only by the doors at the front, con-
tanning men and boys weaving cloths,
embroidering caps for women and hats
for men, sewing on slippers and shoes
and working at the various other trades
OF the country. The weaving is all done
with native wool upon rude hand looms.
In the dirtiest of shops the most beautiful
of white burnouses are made, and little
round caps covered with silver are turned
out in places no better than dog kennels.
The whole of the native quarter is
mixture of the gorgeous and the squalid.
A man will wear So hat and at the
same time have bare feet and legs bare
half way to the knee and a dirty white
gown. A woman will go along wrapped
In white flannel blanket much the
worse for wear and on her head will be
one Of these gold embroidered caps, just
about as big around and of the same
shape tin funnel such as is used in
our kitchens. The cap will be hidden by
the blanket and she will keep it so tight
about her face that only hole the size
of a postage stamp can be seen. Through
thsi hole peeps a liquid black eye, and
it is only when she stumbles when
the amorous wind tears open her gar
ments that you see any other part Of her
person. Even little girls are often SO
draped, although some show their faces
Land of Queer Costumes.
! wish l could tell you American girls
just how your well-to-do sisters of this
side of the world are clothed. If you
saw a party of them on the street you
would think they had picked up their