Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-06-01

molasses and almost as thick chocolate.
1t is made of the beans pulverized by
pounding them in mortar, and is brought
In hot from the Goals After we have
drunken, he begins to show his perfumes.
He takes out q cork and touches it gently
to the backs of our hands. The next bottle
Is tried on the wrist. and the next by pull
ing up our sleeves to the elbow and press
Ing the cork upon the forearm Indeed he
stamps us with so many brands that when
we leave we are walking perfume shops
last for hours. The Arabs use perfumery
not only on their clothes and in their baths,
but also in their food and drink. There Is
an essence of orange flowers which is sold
here with tea, and there are other perfumes
for various foods.
Among the Shoemakers.
1 have spent some time today among
the shoemakers. There is a long street de-
voted to their shops, and there were hun
dreds of men and boys working in 1t when
saw it today. They were cutting out
shoes of bright yellow and red leather
and sewing them into shape The yellow
shoes were for men, and the red ones for
the women. They were also making many
shoes for children. About all the footwear
of the Mohammedan world is made thus
by hand. and it might be a good idea for
some bright American shoemaker to set up
a factory here and supply the trade.
The Tunisian cobbler's bench is nothing
like that of the American These cobblers
cut and pound upon a section of a tree
like a butchers block raised upon legs
They do not use hammers, but pound the
leather with pieces of brass so nodded
that they can be easily held in the hand;
they are not unlike brass paper weight.
The leather work Of Tunis is famous,
and shoes are sold everywhere. A good
pair can be bought for 20 cents.
Another street near that of>the shoe
makers is devoted to the saddlers. and
others to jewelers.. to the sellers of cottons
and silks. There are also many baZaars
filled with old and new carpets, and many
which have fine brass work and embroidery
and furniture -inlaid with mother of pearl
How the Arabs Do Business.
All trading among these Mohammedans
is by bargaining. There are no fixed prices,
and the merchants always ask more than
they expect to take. l usually offer one
half or one-third. and am surprised to
find that the dealer often comes after me
and gives ME the goods. This is especially
so with the Jews. VINO have shops in the
souks. They give a commission of or 10
per cent to the dragoman, and the first
thing your guide does when you enter the
baZasrs is to lead you into one of these
shops. He pretends that he works in your
interest, but he is really q confederate of
the shopkeeper, and gets a rake-ofY from
every sale he brings in. The first day l
visited old Tunis | took along Maltese,
warned me that l must expect the mer
chants to charge more than they would
take, and said that when l saw him draw
his handkerchief across his lips / might
know the price was too high. The first
Jew shop we entered had some magnificent
rugs, for each of which the man asked
about 500, but GaOuchi's handkerchief re-
manned in his pocket In the next room I
was shown Tunisian silk dresses for which
the man wanted S12 apiece, and still there
was no sign from Gaouchi. Notwithstand-
ing. / found that could have bought the
rug for one-fifth of the price asked, and l
did buy silk dress for little over S..
The Souks fairly swarm with boys and
men who beg you to come into the shops
They will say they want you not
to buy, but only to see, and ges-
ture to show what they mean. They
point to their eyes and catch you by the
hand trying to drag you in. l have since
learned the words for go away and get
out" in Arabic, and l now repeat them In
that language and in French. German and
English whenever one of these pests be-
comes over persistent.
A Great Arabian Trust.
Many of these baZaars are now run by
corporations, and there is great semi-re-
ligous trust company that owns and rents
out large part of the shops. This Is called
the Habous. think that the Bey of Tunis Is
connected with 1t, and also many OF the chlef
sheiks. This institution has been In existence
for long time, and its funds amount 10
many millions. 1t has had great sums
dedicated to 1t with the understanding that
the interest from them is to go to certain
religious or charitable purposes. One rich
Mohammedan, for instance, left his money
to the Habous, in order that it might supply
free drinking water to q certain LOCALITY.
That was a long time ago. and the water
still flows. Men sometimes leave fortunes
to thia tsssast with instructions that 1t IL to