The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1907-05-28

/
| am now in comfortable hot-I
situated on street go narrow that
carriage cannot turn round in II.
am only a short distance from whore
the ledge drops off into the depths.
and We're | a sleep walker I might fnd
/ my way out Of the house end dash
/ myself TO pieces in the gorge below.
Constantine now belongs 70 the
/ French, but the greater part OF its
/ population Is composed Of Mohamme
/ dams and Jews. 50 that all the strange
+ characters Of North Africa walk
4 through its streets.
In one part of the town there are
many fine buildings The French
/ have put up city hall ct a cose Of
several million francs. There are
! some excellent stores. c1d Off AZ the
north, reached BY bridges. Euro
pean city is being con tructed on
modern scale b. q syndicata Of capi-
talists from Lyons In France. Tn"
i city of Constantine has now about two
+ thousand European soldiers stlt'oled
in the kaslah or fort Icatiors at one
j end of the town.
The Moham:nCdans.
/ Constantine has about forty til h3us-
and souls who believe in tho Prophet
i Mohammed. and in adition something
like eight or ten thousand Jews TIL"
NJ ohammcndans are the cOntr bling
4 native element. Living at tbs place
they might be said to actually have
i mansions in the ckies" | wish |
/ could show YOU their homes. They
I are along narrow streets. the houses
/ in some. places being 50 close together
i that YOU stand in the ccnter of TIC
road and touch tho walls on both
sides. The streets wind this way and
/ that. There are many blind alleys,
/ and the maze Of crossing ways is often
such that one might wander about
long time and only learn his location
when he came to the edge of the
/ plateau and looked down into the
I gorge.
These houses are saualid and rough.
i They are usually in two or three
stories, made of brick and stone. Gov
cred with stucco. The are painted
blue white. with the roofs of the
same hues The roofs are flat, and
4 each has q low wall about it. The
roofs form the Fairgrounds of the
women and children and they are
often the sleeping places of the whole
4 family as we'll.
But few of these houses have win
dows facing the streets and the win
+ doWs are covered with an iron net
work for fear the ladies of the harem
may be seen by others than their
i husbands
The Arab women here are quite
secluded as those of other parts of
Algeria. They wrap themselves in
shaWls when they so out Of dOrs. and
wear pieces of white cotton tied tight
lN about their faces 50 that one sees
only their ewes SO far l have not
observed a single pair of the VoluT-
inous ladies' breeches which are so
/ common in the streets of Algiers.
4 The eowns of these Constantine ladies
!, fall clear to the feet and the female
! population looks like SO many big fat
/ bundles Waddlng along upon slippers.
| The Arab men. on the other hand. are
/ gorgeously dressed and they spend
| q lot on their clothes.
| The jews Of Constantine.
The Jews here are different from
/ their race In Europe or America. and
! what | write is not to be considered
| in connection with our Hebrew pop
/ ulation. There have been Jews in At
rica since the time of the Carthag
! inians. They are people of their
| own class and cutie as African as the
Arabs themselves. In Constantine they
/ dress like Arabs. The men wear rich
! Jackets, beautifully embroidered, and
1 full trousers tied in at the knee They
] have red Fee caps which are often
/ bound with great turbans. Some wear
/ gowns and now and then one is to be
! seen in EuprOpean clothes. The faces
| of these Israelites are darker thaa
| those of other countries. but they
have the same Jewish features, and
many of them are fine looking.
| | especially like the appearance of
| the women, although I sadly fear that
| some of them are no better than
/ they should be. The Jewesses do net
veil their faces and they look at the
men boldly and without shame. To-
| DAY is Saturday, the IsraeEtish Sab
! bath, and al it is also fete day the peo-
pie are al out in their fine clothes.
! The streets are swarminE with young
Jewesses loaded with jewelry Their
/ h,l to Sion Id lo,,c lSnil
fingers sparkle with rings and their
wrists and forearms are adorned wi
| bracelets of silver, and gold. MANY of
them are dressed in silk gowns, over
which lace shawls are thrown. Their
! heads are tied DIP in silk handker-
chiefs. and on the top of them, just
over their crowns. are red velvet caps
| EN- broidered With gold. These caps
/ are much like cOrnucopias. They are
about four inches in diameter. and
are worn on the crown of the head.
| They are fastened on b. silk bands
/ tied under the chin. and these bands
! are often decorated with gold coins.
/ Sometim gold chains are used. Near
| ly all of the Jewesses wear earrings
some have brooches set with diamonds
and many have strings of pearls
| about their necks.
y Visit to tho Synagogue.
During my stay here I have visited
! near the gorge IN the heart of the city
and well attended. When | entered ii
/ today it was filed with Hebrew men
| wearing the same dress as the Arabs.
/ Each had also a white shawl and all
| kept their feZ caps on during the ser
/ vice. The rabbis, who occupied a
/ pulpit in the center of the synagogue.
read the Scripture in q nasal tWang
from parchment scrolls. and the Wor-
shippers followed them with their He
/ brew Bibles Every man and boy had
a little velvet bag. decorated With He
| brew characters in gold or silver, for
carrying his books of worship, and IS
| far as | could see the books them
! selves were we'll thum bed.
\ Business City.
The Jew stores are shut today. but
the Arabs are carrying on business as
u. lsua This is one of the industrial
! centers of eastern Algeria, and the ma
/ tive quarter fairly huns with men
| working at their trades. Constantine
| is famous for its leather work. 1t
makes shoes, saddles and harness. and