The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1907-06-05

ASSS'C. Inc water Is always, but aC
the overflow especially, laden with
soil, SO that a drinking glass full of
it will deposit an inch Of sediment.
The famous mosque Of Moham-
med Ali stands within the citadel
which occupies an impressive heighth
above the city, and which is gar
risoned by British soldiers. This
mosque is sometimes called the ala
baster mosque, because it is We
neered with alabaster without and
within. Itis a thing of almost bar
barlc magnifcence.
Having concluded our observa-
tons within. we went out and stood
upon the walls overlooking the city
until the sun went down. AS we
looked upon this great monument
which Mohammed Ali reared in hon
or OF his religion and as place of
worship for his people, we were re
minded Of the means employed by
him to rid Egypt Of the Mamelukes
and raise himself to power. He ar
ranged for a magnificent reception
in which, with his most prominent
fellow-citizens, he proposed to honor
the rulers Of the land. In the midst
OF the entertainment, Mohammed
Ali and his fellows fell upon the
Mamelukes and slaughtered them.
Only one escaped, and we were
shown the precipice over which he
caused his horse to leap in his flight.
The horse was killed, tho the rider
lived and swore allegiance to Mo-
manned Ali. One of the finest
statues we have seen is the great
equestrian statue of Mohammed Ali
at Alexandria. The pose of man and
horse is magnificent, something to
thrill the blood with it's suggestions
of activity and daring.
1t seemed to me that our guide,
Mahmoud, became reticent and sad,
| if not sulky, when DIR. Kerfoot
greeted with some enthusiasm the
British boys of the citidel, who,
with us, were looking down on the
city from the wall beside the great
Mosque. Mahmoud had assured us
of his conviction that trouble was
coming soon between the Turkish
government and the British. He
says the extension of the railway
south from Damascus will soon make
it possible for the sultan to send
into Egypt by way of Syria all
the help needed by the Mohamme-
dams in Egypt. The fearful punish
ment inflicted upon the citizens Of a
Mohammedan village who killed an
English officer in an alteration oc-
casioned by an English pigeon shoot
ing too near a Mohammedan village,
was not approved by all good for
eigners in Egypt. and added fuel to
the flame of Mohammedan hatred.
Mahmoud thinks trouble is coming.
| When | asked these British boys if
they were not afraid the people
down there would attack them, the
reply was, Eve would just like to
have them try it.
We stood on the wall by the great
! Alabaster mosque and watched the
sunset. Immediately below us was
this fast-growing, wonderful city, so
powerfully suggestive Of the old and
the new. The influx of European
life is creating splendid city, thoro-
" up-to-date and modern in it's
appointments and appearance; but
! this modern city is joined to the one
which the Arab and Turk have been
building for more than thousand
years, and on the edge Of the latter
is that fragment of old Cairo, which
the Copts saved in the old, bloody
days when the flood Of Mohamme-
dan invasion swept over the land.
Out beyond old Cairo are the vast
rubbish heaps which mark the site
of the Cairo that has passed away.
Farther away is that grove of date
palms whose roots reach down to
clasp the buried walls and feel for
the hidden treasure of Memphis, the
white walled city," whose inhabi-
tants 5000 years ago looked back
thru centuries to her golden age.
And yonder on the desert edge, just
a few miles away, at Sakkara and