Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1909-06-01

of Egyptian life. u..t,,.
N o W a a S h
streets of Cairo present livelier scene
than they did before the British occu-
nation resulted in the establishment of
4 chain 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 ac-
complished French chef to preside over
the fieshpots of Egypt.
The Nile valley is a ribbon of emer-
aid upon a carpet of brown. Not less
striking than the contrast between the
desert where it is still desert, and the
strip that Nile water has made to bios
som as the rose. are the contrasts
that make the streets of Cairo distlnc-
tive. Color is the idiosyncrasy of this
CAV city. 1t gives character to the
streets as optimism and ophthalmia
characterize the Egyptian masses. In
the multchrome scarlet rules supreme.
Every color in the rainbow contributes
to the picture, but the flaming coat OF
the British soldier and the blazing fez
of the Egyptian predominant In the
perspective.
It is a Kaleidoscope panorama that
unrolls itself. The beggar in pictur-
esuue rags passes the hey in Euro
pean garments of the latest mode; the
boy contortionist, clad in a union suit
of American manufacture and Grim
son sash, who ties himself in knots
upon the sidewalk, is gravely contem-
plated by the stately turbaned Moslem
sheikh with flowing robes; the dainty
Parisenne passes the Arab girl VINO Is
proud of the silver anklets above her
bare feet and whose black eyes flash
above the veil that hides her mouth
from the profaning eyes Of man. Amer
lean tourist Levantine adVenturer,
Tunisian. Armenian, Algerian, Nubian,
Greek. Copt and Syrian lend their
presence to a spectacle of cosmopoll-
tanism unequaled in any city of the
world.
Where the Orient and Occident meet
the west makes no effort to conceal its
interest in the costumes and customs
of another world. The Orient does not
trv to hide it's serene lack of interest
in a world for which it has no admira-
ton, and in the doings of which 1t
feels no curiosity. The camel, indlVld-
ually as ancient as the pyranlos III
appearance, and scion of an ancient
race. does not look with greater disdain
upon the electric hanson than does the
unprogressiVe son of the east upon the
progressive son of the west.
The Egyptian, astride of a donkey
no larger than a Rocky mountain
burro, his red toe-slippers hanging
down from his bare heels and almost
brushing the asphalt, is not envious or
the magnificence of the British army
officer whose gold lace glints in the
sunlight as he gallops by upon a trlS
Arabian horse. The American million
aire may impress his own countryn1en,
but he is only a poor worm compared
to the gorgeous Circassian, in paggy
cream-colored trousers and red ooots
with gilt trimmings, who swaggers
along with the air of the man VINO
broke the bank at Monte Carlo. The
young sprig of British nobility, wearing
his white flannels, his monocle and his
sun helmet, is a bird of sorry plumage,
and humble withal, compared to the
white-robed and crirnson-sashed
eunuch from central Africa who guards
the carriage conveying the Circasslan
ladies of a pasha's harem to the shop
ping quarter.
Surprising all of the rest in pride of
rainent and position is the Sudanese
footman, whose ebony complexion, tine
Swallowed livery of the FURNISHED sun,
makes his white duck suit ana Whte
tnrban whittier than the wing of gull
The West may invade the East, and
camp there, with its striped pantaloons'
its derby" hats, its theories of educa-
ton and sanitation, its religion, its laws
and its militant determination to inaug-
urate reform, but the East invaded re-
mains measurably the East unchanged
That is why Cairo is not Europeanlzed,
hut picturesque, after a century OF
French influence and quarter OF
century of British occupation.
In the native sections the distinctive
features of Cairo life are seen just as
they were before the Europeans came.
In a street above which the pencil-like
minarets of Mohammedan mosques
tower against the ever blue sky, the
seller threads his way through
the throng, chanting in Arabic the vir-
tues of a beverage that SINNERS under
the rays of the sun. The milkman de-
liyers milk by driving a COW or goat
to- the customers door and doing the
milking there. The water seller carries
his stock in a goat skin, tanned with
the hair upon it,
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
the English occupiers of
his SOIL and the tourist within the
gates, respect his slumbers and walk
around him. Even the policeman does
not club him on the soles of his feet
nor send him to the lookup. The GUS
tom of sleeping in the street is hon
ored because of its age. When the rail-
roads were new in Nileland many Egyp-
tians lost their lives by selecting the
railroad track for pillow, so that the
train would awaken them in time to
finish their labors in the fields.
Copyright. 1909, by Frederic ]. HasSin)
TomUrrow-rwentieth Century Egypt.
III. English Rule In Egypt.