The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1907-02-19

frank q. Carpenter.
Tie inhabitants are ehlegp spanish
Jc~s ano motley Moor iae Jew
haNe Little stores II the town. aud tt4e
Moors h&ve bazaar just inside the
All, where each turb-ned merchan
stands IN Z sort or u hole. With hls
goods piled around him. There 81
Il Moorish eacaunprneut nearby ~nQ
here i quite q Caravan trad" Min
ali western aud southern Morocco
stoned by the >naniHrG>.
! have not found the natives here
any too friendly AMI / am glad IL be
back on IN" little steamship E:nir. Far
out in the harbor. where / am writing
this letter when We landed and SHOW
ed Or passports describing as aS
Americans the soldier sloaled a4u
We're none too pleasant. although /
succeeded in getting some excellent
photographs Of them during nay stay.
In the town it became known we were
Americans, and the boys ana men
gathered aroun ~ with no friends
air. One Of them threw 4 rock the
size of j mans fist at The carriage ami
narrowly escaped hitting me. ~ it wa~
ii struck the door handle and bent IL.
our cOachman pumped down and ran
after the boy. but We concluded not
to give the offender over To the police,
ana indeed were rather glad she We
We're SAFE out Of the town.
\ Land Of pirates.
1t seems odd To think OF pirates car
rying on their trade in his TWEEN
tieth century. out that is the regular
business with certain Of tli. tribes Of
the Riff mountain near here. They
do not go out with large ships ~ at
tack the vessels of the Mediterranean.
as they did at the beginning OF the
last century. but they rob and some
times Kill the sailors OF the smaller
craft when the bad seas drive them
upon the shore. Not long ago the
whole Of Morocco was filled With pi-
rates, and there were pirates all the
way from the strait OF Gibraltar -
Tripoli. Just before entering tho strait
sees on the north coast the town
Of Tarifa with its old Moorish forts,
from where the Moors swooped down
upon all vessels going through the
strait and made them pay tribute
From h q town and custom came our
word tariff"
About that same time the Moors OF
Morocco ana Algeria were prcying on
all the commerce Of the Mediterranean
and nearly every great nation submit
ted TO their cXactiOnS. We did 50 for
a time, but in 1915 we declared war
upon these pirates, and were the first
TO bring them to time. We had trouble
~ - 49, - . = 49, Ef -
Commodore Decatur over TO tell him
that Americans would pay him tribute
no longer. The Dey insisted until De
catur pointed his guns at the city Of
Algiers, wien he began TO weaken.
He then sent out word To our com
modore suggesting that If he would
pretend TO storm the using pow
der only. the tribute might be omit
ted. Commodore Decatur replied that
cannon balls always went with Amer
lean powder. if the Dey received the
one he must take the other. soon af-
terwaTd Decatur captured SOM Of the
Algerian ships and the Dey finally had
to pay him damages 70 the amount Of
about 100000 and to conclude a
treaty which renowned all tribute
from Americans for the future.
At this time hey not only seized
the ships. but they enslaVed their cap
tives. Capt. John Smith served a.
such slave Shortly after our refusal
TO pay tribute the English did like
wise and bombarded Algicrs. The
pirates, n in 1880 they threw the
Dey from his throne and captured
$4,000. 900 Of gold and silver which
they found in the treasury
Blinded for Stealing.
/ saw q blinded beggar going
through the streets here this morning.
His eyes had been burned out with
! td-Ilpt i1DhtIS DN Ok o. iC bEA 9
chiefs Of the mountains near BY. and
he presented q horrible sight. / am
told that this was done as q punish
ment for stealing. and that il is not
uncommon in certain parts Of Nor
occo. AT the first theft the mans hand
is cut off and at the second his eyes
are burned out. Sometimes Il DOT IS
also cut off. after which the thief must
move about upon crutches with a boy
TO lead him.
During my stay in Tangier l rode
one day out into the country and made
some photographs Of a village which
had taken summary vengeance upon
an under official. who had been unjust
n oppressive in collecting taxes for
the basha who held office prior TO the
present governor. This official was
caught as he passed through the VII
lage and his eyes were burned out.
That WAS not long ago and II shows
that such crimes are still possible in
this land of Morocco.
sailed To Death
Abou the only reason why things
are not in a worse condition than they
are now is the mildne<s OF the present
sultan. He IS more OF a boy than
anything else. and he tends 10 western
ways in thai he is not at an blood
thirsty. His father. Mulai Hassan. was
just the reverse. and he had some pun
ishments which were horrible to an
extreme. one Of these might be call
ed Sailing TO death" II consisted Of
cutting our great gashes out Of the
palms OF the hands of the offender and
Of filling them with salt. The fingers
were then ben inward and fitted
tightly into the holes or cuts. After
that each hand was eewed up in green
rad-hide which shrank as il dried,
causing terrible pain. In some cases
the raw-hide was sprinkled with lemon
iuice which il Is said ranidlE acceI-