Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-01-05

medan East Indian out Of his way and the
Frenchman does much the same in Algeria.
1 should not like to risk kicking the fat
bare legs of one Of these Moors or even Of
looking at his yelled women as they pass
through the streets. 1 have been in Santa
Sophia. the famed mosque Of Constantine
pie. when ten thousand Mohammedans
were praying there, during one night in
Ramazan. 1 have watched the holy der
wishes go through their antics In the ala
baster mosque in Cairo, and have put my
hands on the sacred rock which tried to
go up with Mohammed during one Of his
TRANSACTIONS to heaven, and which now
stands in the mosque of Omar in Jerusalem.
In none Of those places was 1 molested,
but 1 dare not enter the mosques here
A Religious People.
At the same time one cannot help re-
speeding these Moors for the way they OBJ
serve their religion. They read their Ko-
rams in their stores while at their business,
and when the time comes for prayer they
drop everything else and attend to that. 1
am awakened every morning by the shrill,
loud voice Of the mueZzin on the tower of
a mosque near my hotel, calling the people
to get up and worship. He says in Arabic:
Prayer is better than sleep! Come to
prayer! Come to prayer!"
And adds TO it, God is great, and Mo-
manned is His prophet" This cry is heard
such times one sees the men preparing for
their devotions. Many go to the mosques,
carrying prayer rugs under their arms as
they walk through the street. They take
their hands, feet and faces before going In.
Nearly every mosque has well or foun-
tain connected with 1t, and common sight
is to see a ng-bearded man sitting over
a basin and splashing or primping prepare
tory to praying.
These Mohammedans think that they
have the only true religion on earth. They
believe that we are already damned, and q
sheik who had formed a great friendship
for of our American consuls Illus
trated his idea of our future by once say
ing to him in plying tones:
Indeed, 1t seems sad, that so good fell
low as you must go to hell"
The Two Mohammedan Sultans.
There is a radical difference between the
Mohammedans here and those of other
parts of the world. The fifty million Mo-
hammedans of India bow down to the Sui
tan Of Turkey, and our Moros do the same.
The Arabians, the Egyptians and the Turks
all acknowledge allegiance to him, and this
is of large part of the other Moham-
medans in Africa. The Mohammedaas Of
Morocco think that their sultan Is far su-
perior to any other, and they say that he
Is the only one that has the blood of the
prophet in him. They will not allow the
Turkish sultan to have a representative
here. and they recognize him neither relig-
iously nor politically. They revere their
own monarch only because he comes Of the
family of Mohammed, and for that reason
he can give them blessing. If this were
not so he would be dethroned tomorrow;
and, as it Is, they dislike him because he
is favoring the Europeans and modern i'm
provements. This feeling is even stronger
in the wild tribes of the mountains than
among the people Of the city. The Berbers
as well as the Moors want to get rid Of
the Christians. and they would be glad to
have them ousted at once and forever.
In the Mohammedan Schools.
This country was once amongst the most
advanced of the world along educational
lines. Centuries ago its universities were
noted all over Europe. Today there is
none more backward. The children study,
but they devote their days to committing
texts from the Koran. The little ones sit
on the floor cross-legged in their gowns
with their bare feet under them, and
sway back and forth as they sing out the
holy words of the Mohammedan Bible
The teacher is Moor in a turban and a
gown. He also sits cross-legged He has
a long stick in his hand, and the boy who
refuses to shout gets cut. This l saw
in school opposite the hotel today.
These little Arabs learn to write the
states of about the size of a washboard.
The slate is first busted with a white pow
der, and the characters are painted upon
it with brushes in an ink which can be
washed away. The main study in the
University of Fee is the Koran, and ad-
vanced students devote themselves to Ko-
ranlc law.
Face to Face With the Moors
1 almost despair of bringing you face to
face with these Moors. They are unlike
any Africans we have in America. They
are tall, straight, -boned and broad
shouldered. and they walk with grace
and dignity not found in our land. They
wear long white gowns with hoods at the
back. These hoods are often pulled up
over their turbans and make them look
taller. The men are all bearded and the
razor touches only the hair of their heads
Nearly every other man Is white faced
and most of the dark-skinned MoorS have
features like ours. Their noses are large
and straight, their foreheads high and
their eyes as fierce as those of Othello
They walk with a strut, swinging their
arms, and they frequently go along hand
in hand. The men are great friends and
enjoy each others society. They are very
polite, and even the poorer classes and
the Berbers in from the country are free
from the roughness of such classes other
where's.
They are great takers l see crowds of
them gossiping on the street corners. and
toward evening the streets are full Of
/ these white gowned. bearded men sitting
down on the stones chatting together. At
night the coffee houses fun of men
playing dominoes or cards, and of groups
listening 10 story telers to the musi-
clans.
In the Market Of Tangier.
| Moorish people he can do so in the big
| market on the edge Of this city. Not far
from the American legation there is a