Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1909-05-31

patriot in his dreams of reform, and at
the same time ruling him and keeping
firm grasp upon that real and tansl-
BILE gateway to the Orient-the Suez
canal.
Here is a country nominally subject
to the sultan of Turkey. and nominally
a part of the Ottoman empire. Under
that power it is nominally autonomous
and is nominally ruled by the khedlve
of Egypt. He in turn is nominally cir
cunscribed by a sort of constituted
government which gives the people d
nominal voice in the nominal govern
ment And back of all this is Sir Eldon
Gorst, his Britannia majesty's consul
general, who rules the country actually,
although nominally he has nothing
whatever to do with 1t.
Here one sees parading the streets a
well drilled and we'll set up regiment or
soldiers. 1t is a part of the Egyptian
army. 1t is Differed by Egyptians, for
the most part, and owes allegiance and
fealty to the khedive. It is respecta-
BILE army. But, an hour or so later,
there is another regiment. Instead of
the khaki and red tarboosh of the
Egyptian, here is the scarlet coat of
Tommy Atkins. 1t is a part Of the
British army of occupation. That army
has been here more than quarter OF a
century. 1t came with the protested
intention of staying three months, but
probably will stay as long as Britannia
continues to rule the wave.
The Occidental has always looked
upon the Orient as a topsy-turvey land,
where everything is done backwards.
We know that the Orientals begin to
read and write from the right side of
the page, instead of from the left. We
hear of strange customs which offend
our own. We learn of habits of thought
which strike us as impossible, and here
in Egypt, at the threshold of the East,
one finds himself already in the Land
Of Paradox"
Here was the first civilization, the
first written history, the first code of
morals, the first law. The evidences of
the greatness of this early empire are
found on every hand in the magnificent
monuments which have withstood the
ravages of forty centuries. The tombs
of the ancient Egyptians are inhabited
by the living Egyptians of today-mis-
cradle creatures to whom civilization
means nothing, and who look at the
great monuments only as a means of
bringing tourists in whom there is the
hope of bakshish. If there is a new
house in Egypt one of two things is
true of it-either it is built of mud or 1t
has been built by a European. The
grandeur and glory of Egypt is de-
ported.
Yet here is the river Nile, bringing the
floods of Ethiopia to make fruitful this
richest of all farming lands. The crops
are certain and bountiful, and are re-
peated several times year. The Eng
fish have begun to restore the splendid
Irrigation facilities which existed in the
time when Joseph ruled over Egypt.
The Nile is being cared for and its
waters soon will enrich many more
acres than ever before. 1t is difficult
to comprehend it, yet it is true that the
peasants are living in luxury compared
to their condition before the British
occupation.
On every side one sees the evidences
of the meeting Of the East and West.
The Oriental in his red tarboosh, cor
rupted by western Christian nations,
sits in front of an imitation Partisan
cafe and sips an alcoholic liquor, de-
spite the prohibition of the Koran. The