The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-06-10

| The antiouarian made of Cairo 2 stopping place and workshop; SO eiety Of tour continents has made Il social capital. The British army oi occupation made the Egyptian metrop- oils habitable. and the 'wtnterinE public has made 1t city Of splendid hostelries frequsnted by the sociali, notable of every civilized country The Egyptologist still camps in Cairo, but he Is submerged beneath the waves ok society.
 Contrast is the chief charm of Cairo The luxurtus caravanseriss ad1oin the domiciles of the sons of the soil in whose domestic economy the bath tub has no place. It Is here that the elite of Africa meet the elite of every other continent. The Egyptian, cream colored or moderately brown. wearing his fex indoors and outdoors, mingles with Westerners. though, of course, the Circassian ladies of his household are never seen at social affairs. The ball rooms are brilliant with red-coat- ed officers of the army of occupation. and rssplendent with the amazing plaids of the officers of the Scotch nobility and representatives of the American "aristocracy of wealth" con- gregate at these functions and lend an effect varied and unique.
 Then there is the city and the des- ert. Sunset upon the desert was i'm. pressive and beautiful when Egypt was young and the oldest of the pyra- mids had no place in the dreams of men. One may sit comfortably upon the roof of his hotel and witness the spectacle. The tall masts of the da- habeahs rise above the level of the roof. and the Nile. giving back the slanting rays of the sun. stretches far out towards Doda. where Moses was found in the ark of bulrushes. and to- wards the Island of Ghizireh. made beautiful by the reckless extrava- gance of rsmail Pasha. Against the still brilliant heavens upon one side of the Nile are etched the slender min arets of the Alabaster Mosque. While a stately Arab or Soudanese in flow ing robes is serving once Appetizer" the sun sinks below the long line of brown desert hills, and 2 Hich~ns af- duration. bathes the heavens in fire. When the pyramids at Gizeh have fad- ed gradually into the purple shadows of the deepening dusk 1t Is time to dress for dinner.
 If one Insists on going to the des- ert for his sunset there are drome- daries with one hump or can,eis with two, with gatts that wrench the back of civilized man. But motor car may be depended upon to convey one thither in comfort. A dozen motor cars parked under the shadow of Cheops Is no unusual sight. Camel back excursions into the desert form an especially popular diversion of wis., camel is like having chronic rheuma- tism--one gets used to 1t. but can never be said to really enjoy it, But desert rides are the fad of the pc. riod and the torture is undergone un- fnurmuringly. Sand carts usually con- vey the chaperon. while the interested couples trek ahead on the camels. A number of Bsdouins may be hired to precede the caravan and sing songs in Arabic while the prehistoric look ing ship of the desert and the mod ern sand cart vie with one another in swaying the excursionist to and fro as if to discover the secret of why the vertsbrae of the human spin. al column stick together.
 Viewing the pyramids by moonlight forms another feature of social activ- ity in Cairo. Thanks to the largeness of the late Ismail Pasha's ideas. a fne macadamized boulevard. built upon 0 "fll," traverses the plain between the Nile and Gizeh.. Antiquarlans objected some years ago when a trolley line was projected to the pyramids. but inasmuch as the Egyptian trolley car advances toward it's terminal station at a pace sufficiently decorous to suggest genuine reverence for historic ruins in its vicinity. there Is no cause of progress" at Gizeh.
 After the tourist has visited the pyramids in the daytime he does not wonder that Napoleon chose midnight as the hour to pay his visit and utter his invocation--there were fewer pestiferous guides to annoy him with offers of service Nowadays. the noc- turnal visitor Is compelled to use vio- lent language to rid himself of the "watchman" who proposes, for a shill- ing. to burn 6 magnesium wire to light up the monument upon which the dazzling light of the full moon is shining. A boy in flowing robe solemnly tells you that Napoleon shot off the nose of the Sphinx with three cannon shots, and that he was there and saw it done. A young man of athletic disposition proposes to run to the top quick in seven minutes like Mir. Mark Twain" and others would rent you a donkey or tell your fortune or sell you little blue scarabs, the workmanship of which suggests a French or Italian factory. When one journeys i've thousand miles to con template the Pyramids and solve the riddle of the Sphinx, Interruption by