The Montgomery advertiser. [volume] (Montgomery, Ala.) 1885-1982, 1909-06-01

cairo, ERypt.--Au tno Ano"s1hu 49,
One Nights" a citizen OF Mosul praises
Bagdad as the city OF peace. but q
venerable man In his audience replies
that he who has not seen Cairo has
not seen the world Her soil, ne de-
clares, 10 gold. Her women are an
enchantment. The Nile Is wonder.
Upon the following evening Schehere-
zadeah says:
what are the joys of seeing the be-
loved compared to seeing Cairo? when
one has seen Cairo he thinks OF the
night when the Nile reaches the de-
sired height, and returns the goblet
or wine to him that offers it. He let's
the water return to its fountain head.
That is to say, he wants nothing more
And when thou seest this land OF
Roda. thou art transported with
joyful delight. And when thou stand
est by the Nile, when, at sunset, II is
yelled with q tissue OF sunbeams. thou
are revived by the soft breeze tnat
fans the shady shore"
This was written Of the CITY OF .ne
Caliphs before European civilization
super imposed itself upon the struc-
ture Of Egyptian life. Nowadays the
streets OF Cairo present livelier scene
than they did before the British occu-
patton resulted in the establishment OF
aNchain of hotels from the shores OF
the Mediterranean to the cataracts OF
the Nile, brought Thebes and Karnak
within easy reach of the personally
conducted" tourist, and brought the &C
complished French chef to presi1e over
the fieshpots of Egypt.
The Nile valley Is ribbon OF emer-
aid upon a casret Of brown. No less
striking than the contrast between the
desert where 1t L. still desert, and the
strip that Nile water has MADE TO
blossom as the rose, are the contrasts
that make the streets Of Cairo ms
tinctive. Color is the idiosyncrasy o.
this gay city. It gives character TO
the streets as optimism and opthaimla
characterizes the Egyptian masses. In
the multichrome. scarlet rules supreme.
Every color In the rainbow contributes
to the picture, but the flaming coat
OF the British soldier and the Dlaxing
fez OF the Egyptian predominant In the
perspective.
1t is a kaleidoscope panorama that
unrolls itself The beggar in pictnr-
esque rags passes the hey IN E1Io peAn
garments OF the latest mode; me boy
contortionist, clad in O union SUIT OF
American manufacture and crimson
sash. who ties himself In knots upon
the sidewalk. Is gravely contemplated
by the stately turbaned Moslem sncikn
with lowing robes; the dainty Paris
tenne passes the Arab girl who Is proud
Of the siiyer ankists above her bare
feet, and whose black eyes nash above
the veil that hides her mouth from me
profaning eyes of man. American tour
list, Levantine adventurer. Tunisian'
Armenian, Algerian, Nubian. creek,
Copt. and Syrian, lend their presence
10 a spectacle of cosmopolitanism I'M
eaualed In any city of the world.
Where the Orient and occident meet
the west makes no effort to conceai
its interest in the costumes ana Gus
toms of another world. the orient
OF interest In a world for which 1t has
no admiration, and in the doings O.
which It feels no curiosity The camel
individually as ancient asfthe pyramids
in appearance, and scion of an anciens
race. does not look with greater as
datn upon the electric hanson tlan
does the unprogressive son of the East
upon the progressive son OF the west.
The Egyptian. astride of DONKEY
no larger than q ROCKY mountain
burro. his red toe-slippers hanging
dawn from his bare heels and almost
brushing the asphalt 10 not envi0us
of the magnificence of the British army
oflcar whose gold lace, giints in the
sunlight as he gallops bye upon trig
Arabian horse. The American mlliion-
aira may impress his own countrymen,
but he Is only a poor worm compared
to the gorgeous Circassian. in oaggy
cream colored trousers and req poots
with gilt trimmings, who swaggers
along with the air of the man VINO
broke the bank at Monte Carlo. me
Young sprig of British nobility, wear
ing his white fjannels, his mono lie ana
his sun helmet, 10 q bird of sorry plum
age. and humble withal. compared TO
the white-robed and crimson ashed
eunuch from Central Africa, who
guards the carriage conveying the Cir
cassian ladies of a pasta harem TO the
shopping quarter.
SURPRISING all OF the rest in prtde OF
raiment and position Is the Sudanese
footman. whose ebony compIexion' me
shadowed livery of the FURNISHED sun,
makes his white duck suit and white
turban whittier than the wing OF q guH
The west may invade the East. and
camp there, with its striped pantaloons'
its derby" hats, it's theories OF educa-
tion and sanitation, its religion, Its
laws and It's militant determination to
inaugurate reform, but the East IN
yaded remains measurably the East
unchanged. That is why Cairo is not
Europeanized, but picturesque, arper
a
quarter of a century OF British occu-
patton.
In the native sections the distinctive
features of Cairo life are seen Just as
thew were before the Europeans came.
In a street above which the pencil-ike
minarets of Mohammedan mosques
tower against the ever blue sky, the
lemonade seller threads his way
through the throng, chanting in Arabic
the virtues of q beverage that simmers
under the rays of the sun. The milk
man delivers milk by driving q COW
or goat to the customers door and 10
ing the milking there. The water
seller carries his stock in goat skin.
tanned with the hair upon 1t.
The Egyptian in the humber walks
of life takes his siesta upon the side
walk. When drowsiness overcomes
him. he lies down in the sun, draws
his robe over his head. and dreams
happily of Egypt for the Egyptians or
of three new wives for himself. HIS
fellow countrymen, the English occu-
piers of his soil, and the tourist with
in the gates, respect his slumbers, an
walk around him. Even the police
man does not club him on the soles Of
his feet nor send him to the lookup.
The custom of sleeping in the street is
honored because of its age. When the
railroads were new in Ntleland many
Egyptians lost their lives by selecting
the railroad track for a pillow so that
the train would awaken them IN timo
TO finish their labors in the fields.
Cairo cab horses, like Cairo Arabs.
take their rest and much of thei- noun.
ishment on the streets. The driver
feeds his team whenever he is not
earning 10 cents by hauling from ono