The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-06-01

Its militant determination to inaugurate
reform, but the east invaded remains
measurably the east unchanged. That
Is why Cairo is not Europeanized, but
picturesque after a century of Erencn
/ influence and a quarter OF a 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 street above which the pencil-lil1e
minarets of MOhamm sdan mosques tower
against the ever blue sky, the lemonade
seller threads his way through the
throng. chanting in Arabic the virtues Of
beverage that SINNERS under the rays
of the sun. The milkman delivers milk
by driving a COW or goat 10 the custom
er's 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 sidewalk
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 Occupiers of his soil. and the
tourist within the gates respect his SUM
bers and walk around him. Even the po-
liceman does not club him on the sOle5
Of mis- feet nor send him 70 the lookup
The custom Of sleeping in the street IS
hOnored because of its age. When the
railroads were new in Nneland many
Egyptians lost their lives by selecting
the railroad track for a pillow so that
the train would awaken them in time to
finish their labors In the fields.
Cairo cab horses, like Cairo Arabs, take
their rest and much of their nourishment
on the streets. The driver feeds his team
whenever he IS not earning 10 cents by
hauling from one to three persons a mile
or more. Bundles of dark green Egyp-
tan clover brought in on camels from
the adjacent fields are carried In front
Of the drivers seat When a patron or
ders the cab 70 wait the dfiver Ieeas
his horses. a handful at a time. till he
is ordered to proceed. Upon this diet
served I'm homeopathic quantities, the
horses thrive. They are much more spir-
tied than their fellows in Paris or New
York.
Cabs are patronized by nearly all visit
Ors because Of their cheapness, but Cairo
boasts a street car system which pro-
vides all Of the comforts Of a contlnental
railway train. There are first second ana
third-class carriages, with separate COM
partments for women in the first-class
There IS no Jim Crow law but a no.
tice, in polite English and French, re
quests visitors not to allow their dragO-
men to ride first-Class. At street cor
ners. where the car tracks curve, an
impressive official stands upon the curb
stone and blows a brass horn to warn
pedestrians that the cars are coming
Quite regardless OF his country or the
state Of his education. unless he is pro-
ficient in Arabic, the tourist Is somewhat
handicapped in Cairo. But this is not his
chief reason for hiring a guide. The
Egyptian guide is too impOrtunate to be
escaped. Your choice lies between put
ting a dragOman On a salary and having
him for your philosopher and friend-not
questioning the quality Of his philosophy
or the sincerity Of his friendship-Or be
ing assailed by a dozen wOuld-be guides
whenever you venture upon the street
There is an unWritten convention be
tween the natives that when a tourist
falls into the hands Of one guide the
others shall desist from really serious
attempts to tear him limb from limb.
Like Paris. Cairo is a city whose inhab-
itsnts like the open air. Small marble
topped tables surround each cafe, and in
the evening more tables are brought out.
until sometimes an entire street becomes
an open air restaurant and traffic is d.
verted TO other channels. European Cairo
IS desolate after midnight. although there
IS a cafe called the Sphinx which emu
lates MaXinl's in Paris. In the native
quarter midnight is the dawn Of even
ing shows of various kinds, few Of
which are superlatively wicked, except
where they have been made so to meet
foreign demand. run full blast till morn
ing The tune that made the Streets
of Cairo famous at the Chicago world $
fair is not heard. The danse du ventre,
popularity known as the "hOOchee COO
chez" is presented to audiences COM
posed Of Mohammedans who MUNICH pis-
tachiO nuts. drink coffee and eat sweet
meats during the dance. But the per
formances and the costuming are tame
compared to the Midway Plaisance version
Of the Sudanese dance.
Copyright 1909, by Frederic J. HaskinD
Tomorrow-Twe ntieth Century Egypt.
III English Rule in Egypt