Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-03-16

that the fat Jewesses are squeezed as they
go through. In places such as the Rue de
Diable or street of the Devil, the houses
are built over the streets and one climbs
through dark pipes, as it WERE from one
level to another. 1t makes me think OF the
cave jewellers or the catacombs.
The French city was gay>and noisy. This
old quarter is sullen and silent. Sober
faced men in turbans and gowns, and Wo-
men with sheets of white linen fastened SO
tightly over their faces that they seem to
be pasted on, go along In slippers in their
voluminous breeches. The city is all up
hill and the most of the streets consist Of
staircases which climb from level to level
The shops are in striking contrast with
those of the Rue Bab-AZoun. On each side
Of us are more holes in the walls, in which
somber Arabs sit surrounded by goods or
work away at their trades Here Is a shoe
maker with four helpers in a boxlike cell
not more than eight feet square; just above
is carpenter in space hardly big enough
for his bench, and farther on are men in
similar quarters, making jewelry of horns,
using their toes as we use our fingers.
How strange the crowd looks! There are
bare-legged Biskris, who have come here
from the dessert to act as porters. carrying
great loads on their backs There are Ka-
byles with turbans and big hats in from the
farms and there are many fat Mozabites, the
Jews of the Sahara, who have come here
to make fortunes by trading with the Chris
tianS and Arabs Now and then native
soldier makes his way through the crowd,
and a Jewish woman, unveiled, waddles
along climbing from level to level. Indeed,
old Algiers is the same as 1t has been from
century to century far back into the time
of the deys, when these people had Chris
tian slaves and their piratical bands were
the terror OF Europe. The scenes here are
who might be an Abraham or an Isaac at
every few steps, and are crowded against
the wall by others who remind US of the
forty thieves The pious Mahammedan Is
also In evidence. Turbaned men are pray
ing In business hours and merchants are to
be seen reading their Koran in their shops
between sales.
Where the Dey Ruled.
Through scenes like this we climbed w
to the citadel, which was both the palace
and the fertilization of the deys of the past
This rises high over the rest Of the town,
and is now occupied by French troops
There are soldiers at the gates, and we are
watched by them we pass through.
The citadel is surrounded by walls, with
great portfolios. through which were thrust
two hundred guns, commanding the city
and harbor. There is one building which
the dey devoted to his harem and in which
he kept his numerous wives Another was
his mosque. which has been turned into q
French church; and third is a tower
which was built right over the entrance
| gate and contained his throne room where
the dey held court. Outside this room Is a
chain, which hangs down over the entrance
gate. Upon 1t the heads of Christians and
criminals, who were beheaded according to
orders from the court above, were strung.
l told that the heads were usually
shown for twenty-four hours, and were
then taken down and given to the Moham-
medan soldiers for foot balls.
A Costly Blow With a Fan.
Such were the antics these Moslems were
cutting before high heaven when John
Quincy Adams was President of the United
States. They did not monkey with the
Yankees however, for Commodore Decatur
had taught them better Nevertheless
they were still bulldozing Europe and
preying upon the shipping of the Mediter-
ranean sea. They enslaved and murdered
Christians. and insulted the powers when
they objected. One morning, along late in
the twenties, the dey held an interview with
! the French consul during which he was
feeling especially bad. He may have been
having trouble with his numerous wives;
his breakfast may not have agreed with
him, or he may have been dissatisfied with
the number Of Christian heads hung upon
the chain below his judgment seat. At
any rate, he grew angry during the inter-
view and struck the French consul in the
face with his fan. The blow was not
heavy, but it cost him his kingdom. France
Immediately declared war. 1t conquered
the army of the dey, and since then Al
geria has been a dependency of France
FRANK g. CARPENTER.