The farmer and mechanic., 1907-09-24

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FRANK G. CARPENTER.
, ruled All the students wear red fez
caps which extend about eight inches
above their heads, and they keep these
caps on in both class room and chap
ell They wear long gowns which are
often belted in at the waist and they
look much more dignified than the col
lege boy or America.
Education at s35 Per Year.
The students are of all classes and
conditions. Many of them are working
their way through school, and there
are three different grades of expense,
graduated according to the tables at
which the boys eat There is one
class which has a special table, where
all have knives and forks, and where
the food furnished is as good and of
as great a variety as can be found
anywhere. This is for the rich, who
can pay as much as 500 year for
room and board. The second table is
filled by students who afford to
pay only $50 year, and the third by
those who have not more than $35 per
year. OF the students of the first
class only two or three live In one
room, and OF the second from four
to eight, while those of the third class
are lodged in large rooms accOmmo
dating twenty or thirty, each of whom
has his own bed, which he furnishes
himself.
The students of the second class
have simpler food than those of the
first, and they eat with their fingers
in native style. Those of the third
class have still cheaper food, but in
all case9 it is as good or better than
the boys get at home, for they have
wheat bread and meat at least once
or oftener every week.
Gtf q a
session in money. but as far as is pos
sible he may work out the rest of his
expenses. The ordinary tuition is only
$40 a year.
The Copts and the Government.
Man of the students of this college
are Copts. They belong to that class
of natives who are the direct descend
are more intelligent than the Moham-
medans and they take naturally to
education. They arc shrewd clerks
and, many Of them are educated.
they have large part Of the minor
government appointments.
The British are now trying to cod
die the Mohammedans, as they form
the great majority Of the population,
and are giving them offices in pref
erence to the Copts. This was recent
ly charged by COptic committee,
which called on Lord Cromer shortly
before he left Egypt and objected to
to his crowding out these native Chris
uans and giving their places to the
followers of the prophet The crowd
ing out of the CoptS is done in d
curious way. Take, for instance, the
selection of students for the training
school for policemen. Before eXami-
Hation all applicants have to give
their names, and the Copts can thus
be easily distinguished from the Mo
hamm edans The Copt boys get their
names from the characters of the BIZ
BILE, while the names Of the Moham-
medan boys come from the Koran.
When the examination papers are
turned in the Judges are instructed to
mark down all those who bear such
names as Moses and Jacob, Peter and
Paul. and to recommend for appoint
ment the Mohammends, the Ais and
the Hassans.
Coptic MilliOnaires and Their Charities
The Copts are the shrewdest busi-
ness men of Egypt. Many of them
start life poor and grow rich. 1t is
a common saying here that no Jew
can compete with them, and they
have driven the Jews out of the upper
part of the Nile valley. In Assiout
there are q number of rich Copts who
have changed their religion and be-
come Protestant Christians, and some
of these men are very charitable. One
for instance, has built Protestant ma
tive church. He put up the building
after a visit to England, where he
was much impressed with Westmin-
ster Abbey Upon his return he said
he was going to build a church for
Asslout on the plan of Westminster
The missionaries here advised him II
the contrary and asked that he make
his building rectangular instead. But
no! 1t must be Westminster Abbey or
nothing; and the result is a great
T-shaped structure Of wood with a
long hall in the center and wings at
the end. The church cost about $40
600, and 1t will seat 1900 people Il
attended 1t last Sunday and found
men IN gown and fez caps The
wings were shut off by curtains. but
L was well UP in front and so near
one side that l could look through the
cracks. Each wing was filed with
women clad in black balloon-like gar
ments and veiled so as to conceal all
but their eyes. A few of the women
wore European clothes and French
hats, showing how the new CiyiIiza
ton is coming in.
Another rich CoDt has established
two large primary schools here. one
for boys and the other for girls In
the boys school there are five hundred
and fifty pupils, and in that for the
girl more than two hundred These
schools are taught by native Protes-
tants, and not one cent of American
money is spent upon them.
Queer Christians These.
I am much interested in the Copts.
There are about 100000 of them in
the country They look much like
the Egyptians and dress about the
same. The women veil their faces,