The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1907-01-22

ing from observation-disclosures Clad
in Blankets and Men in Gowns
Courtship and Wcddings-Every
Bride Gets Seven Hot Bath-A
Land OF Pig Tails and Tnrbans-
Donkeys Which Carry Upright
Pianos.
Tangier, Morocco.
Come with me this bright Sunday
morning and take a look at some Of
the odd things in this LAM Of Othello.
The somber-faced Moors are going to
and fro through the streets and we
shall meet with many q scow We
shall not see the faces Of thcir BESIDE
mOnaS, and we shall have to move
carefully for fear Of giving offense.
We shall first take q bird's-cve view
Of Tangier before We start to walk
through it. The city lies on the edge
Of the Atlantic ocean in Il hollow, or
nest in these wild African hills. 1t
has 4 big wall around it n its blue
ana white houses remind me of q lot
Of gigantic store boxes jumbled to-
Ecther in all sorts of shape. The high
est part is the citadel, where the gov
ernor lives. There he holds court and
there is his prison, where scores fof
miserable beings are shut
up, with chains around their legs. At
night they sleep on the stones, all tied
together by one chain which binds
the necks of the whole criminal
crowd. They do their own cooking, and
their friends must furnish the food
or they starVe on short rationS of dry
bread and water. There is no habeas
corpus act here, and it is not hard for
a mar of influence to get a poorer
brother in Jail.
Tangier From the Citadel.
Let us stand together near the gov
ernor's palace and take a look over
the city. h a strange town is this
within almost rifle shot of Europe,
here at the beginning of the twentieth
Century. The roofs are Mat an Ii4aro
is not a chimney in sight. There are
no smokestacks and no smoke. There
are sixty thousand people living in
that tumble of houses below us ana
they eat at least three meals Il day.
Their cooking is done upon fires of
charcoal made in clay basins, half the
size of a wash bowl with a hole at the
side for the draft. Some of the larger
establishments have little brick ovens
built into the walls of their kitchens.
but the cooking there is done the same
way. The land about here is useless
and the fuel is costly, an armful Of
faggots as big as a broom handle cost
ing "a dollar; charcoal is proportion
ately high.
About all the washing is done in
cold water. We can see the clothes
drying on the roofs of the houses.
There are but few yards, and the laun-
dresses often dry their clothes near
the streams, outside the city, where
they wash, pounding the garments on
the stones.
The Water Works of the Moors.
There is a scarcity of water in al
most every Moroccan city. Tangier
has no water works, and it is short
on sewers and other modern improve
ments. The streets are ~Sprinkled by
men Who go through them with goat
kin bags on their backs, bending half
ouble as they scatter the drops here
and there. Each bag holds about ten
gallons and the ~sprinkling water
comes from the sea. Other carriers
go from house to house, with fresh
water, which they bring from the wells
or the streams outside the city. They
ring bells as they go; and have little
brass cups in which they will give you
all you can drink for less than a cent.
/ should, however, as soon think of
drinking q cup of pure typhoid bac-
terra as of tasting such water, al
though l stopped one of these ragged
DC water beggars today and bought a
cup while my guide, Mohammed,
snapped my camera. Such men receive
about -four cents per sk%infull, and they
aid in supplying the household.
Much of the cooking and washing
water is brought into the city IN lit
tie five-gallon kegs, two or three of
which are S1ung on each side of a
donkey, the peddler sitting on top or
walking behind. [ venture that there
are 500 men who tote water in one
way or another in his town of Tan
gier.
The Drays of Tangier.
"And why do they not have water
~wagons?" I hear some one ask.
Open the eyes of your imagination
and see. These streets are SO narrow
that a hand cart could not be pushed
through them. In some l can stand
in the enter and touch both walls
with my hands. There is not q wheeled
vehicle inside his Whole town, and
for that matter, there are not a half
dozen in all Morocco. This country,
which is six times~as large as the state
of ohio, and which contains one-tenth
as many people as our whole country,
has no other roads than bride paths.
and all transportation is on horses,
mules dOnkeyS or camelS and also
upOn men. Here in Tangier there is
not even a hand cart or a wheelbar-
row, but there are SO many passenger
donkeys tina one has to jump from
side to side to keep out of their way.
They go along without brides or halt
ers, directed by the cries and the
sticks Of the donkey boys, who follow
behind. They are the drays of Tan
gier.
How Freight is Carried.
These pack donkeys carry enormous
loads. ] saw today two little fellows
not much higher than my waist. al
most covered by an upright piano,
which rested on their backs as they
walked through the main streets OF
the city. Every one knows what such
q thing weighs and how six men are
required to lift one in our country.
HI piano was in a pine box and the
little beasts carried it on their Dare
backs. steadied by two porters, who
walked at the side. The animals had
enormous ears and their rat-like tails,
shaved close, made me think of alb
]breyiated black snake whips. Both
were ragged and knotty and SCARED
with the sores where their masters
had cut away the skin in order that
they might the easier hurry them on
ward by goading the raw flesh.
Among the other donke SIGHTS |
saw this afternoon was a caravan,
each animal loaded with two heavy
bags of flour. The little fellows had
to brace themselves while the men
tbrau, on the has S and thew went off