Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-05-11

bath here today for twenty cents in bath
ing establishment which would be consid-
cred fine in any American city, and this in
cluded thorough massage and cup of
delicious Turkish coffee at the close. The
men who bathed me were brawny Arabs.
the waist. and they spent something like an
hour on the job. l do not by that mean to
say that it took that much time to get of
the dirt; but the hour was used up in mas
bathing place in the days Of the Romans.
1t had a Roman name which meant baths,
and which probably referred to the hot
sulphur springs outside the city.
With the French Soldiers.
Biskra Is under military government. 1t
is the chief station of the eastern Sahara.
and 1t Is called the Territoire de Commando
ment. One sees French soldiers every
where, and there are French officers at the
hotels and on the streets They are fine
looking fellows and far different from our
ordinary idea of the French army. They
are straight. broad-shouldered, bronze
faced men who have seen fighting with
these tribes of the desert, and show 1t.
Some Of the officers have the appearance
Of dudes, and they are noted for their
politeness. but no one dares to presume
upon their weakness.
The territory of Biskra Is about as large
as the state Of Ohio. and 1t has a popula-
ton of less than one hundred thousand, all
told. The natives live In lumber of GASES
scattered here and there over the desert.
Btskra itself Is commanded by a major, as
sisted by captain, three lieutenants and a
military interpreter. In the other GASES
there are captains, lieutenants and inter-
prefers. The town has electric lights and
1t has schools for both French and Arabs.
1t has negro quarter as well.
The French city Is made up Of hat-roofed
white houses OF one or two stories. Many
of the roofs have walls about them, and
the women and children play on the roofs
in the evening, and the people often sleep
there at night.
/ wish / could take q walk with you
through one Of these Sahara towns. Even
in French Biskra the scenes would seem
strange. There are Moors who sit right out
In the street, or upon the sidewalks, upon
mats which they have laid down for the
purpose. and play dominoes. They have
little tables about as high footstool,
and thus sitting. with their bare feet under
them, they will move the blocks for an hour
or more without saying word. Many of
the players are gray-bearded and gray
headed. but age does not seem to affect
their love for the game.
Everywhere l go here l meet the charac-
tiers OF the Scriptures. AS / write these
ham with the aged Sarah beside him and
his buxom Hagar behind. That little baby
In Hagar's arms might have been young
lshmael. and observe that Abraham looks
Sarah seems to be jealous and glares at
both baby and mother out CT the tail of her
eye.
That Moor coming down the street might
be Joseph the friend of King Pharaoh. OBJ
serve his costly raiment Of fine silk and
wool; he walks with a strut and is evidently
a man OF authority.
On that donkey trotting toward US is
an old man whom one might easily imagine
to be BALKAN, and 10! the donkey stops and
opens his mouth and brays. His message.
however. we do not understand, for he has
not the power OF speech as had the ass of
the Scriptures. And SO 1 might so on find
Ing a character at every step which would
correspond to one in the Bible. This is<the
Simon-pure orient, where the natives are
about the same today as they were three
or four or more thousand years since. They
are all Mohammedans and believe only In
Allah and the prophet.
But let US go out to the oasis and visit
the people who live under the palm trees.
We driye along the Rue Bertha by walls
OF yellow mud inclosing date trees, which
rise high above them and are loaded with
ripe yellow fruit. The wallis are as high
as my head. and on their top dried thorn
bushes have been set in while the mud was
stu wet, protecting the fruit like SO much
broken glass.
The gates to these gardens are rude doors
Of palm wood, and the only other openings
are through drains seen here and there
where the water flows In or out. This
oasis Is fed by springs from the River
| 6iSAra, WHICH Is Qfy tne BFedtcF part Oh
the year. Wells have tapped the springs.
and there Is a flow Of several thousand
gallons q minute. The water II some
what alkaline. but 1t puts the sugar into
the dates and the sun is SO hot that
the fruit Is delicious. According to the
Arabs to make good dates the head OF the
tree must be in the burning sun the great
er part of the year. The thermometer here
even in midwinter never falls below sixty,
and the climate seems just right. although
II is not so at kantara, which Is thirty or
forty miles farther north. Biskra IL an
nually producing something like 10000. 600
pounds of dates, enough to furnish hand
full to every boy in the United States and
leave some to spare.
As we ride on into the oasis we can see
men picking the dates. or rather cutting
them of. They are in enormous punches.
and good tree Win produce on the aver
age about 40 pounds annually. The fruit
Is not good until II Is dead ripe. bit into
some green dates today and they puckered
my mouth like unfrosted persimmons.
i have already written Of the GASES OF