Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-08-21


tain an account OF all the mosques ana
meddresses. but they are generally alike
I'm architecture and arrangement. as they
are in purpose. Each has dome OF
splendid proportions, either painted blue
and dotted with golden stars. or green.
which Is the sacred color OF Moslems. or
is covered with tiles which giisten In the
SUM- The storks have built nests In the
cozy corners on all the roofs and on the
tops and the balconies of the minarets.
The stofks are regarded as sacred In
Bokhara and therefore are very tame.
They come into the market place to pick
up garbage and the peasants treat them
almost with reverence. Any one who
should injure a stork would be roughly
treated. and. indeed. one has 10 be ex-
ceedingly discreet in his conduct here be-
cause of the hatred OF foreigners, espe-
cially Europeans and Christians.
=.
The spirit Of fanaticism is not so In
tense as it was before the Russians came.
People are now accus.
FanatiCism toned to seeing foreign
r.I: ers in the streets and
"S' many Of their prejudices
have dissolved under the magnetic in
fluence Of foreign money, but Bokhara IL
perhaps the most intoierant community
outside of Tibet.
The Jews have always been kindly
treated and Hindu Brahmans are now
safe. There is a large colony of them
selling tea, buying skins and engaged in
other business. ~-
The largest seminary in Bokhara, and
one Of the largest in Asia, Is called Mir
Arab. and stands on the other side of
plaza from the great mosque. Its ciois-
tot toI y>x.
go mullahs (priests) and softas tstudents).
1t was originally a beautiful building and
has been Often mentioned as exhibiting
In its structural detail the best designs
and decorative work in central Asia, but.
like everything else. 1t is going to pieces.
Between the Masjid Ba1iand and the
Mfrf Arab stands a lofty tower 212 feet
high and AZ feet In diameter at the base.
built In the tenth century. The material
is ordinary gray bricks which are stamp
ed with decorative patterns and laid in
belts, some twenty, others fifteen and
ten feet wide At the summit Is an open
gallery from which criminals formerly
were thrown headlong upon the pave
ment below. but of late years this penalty
Is inflicted only upon counterfeiters. mat
ricides and persons guilty Of treason to
the government. Such executions are
announced by public criers and are wit
tence is read by q herald and the cuIprit
is then hurled from the platform
between two Of the arches and falls
crushed and bleeding mass upon the
There have been no such spectacles for
three years. the Russian adviser to the
government having suggested to the emir
that they gave his government bad
reputation.
The tower IL called the Minari Baliand.
Baliand.
There II. Of course. . stors's nest on
the top OF the tower-more than one,
should judge-and near
St0rkS the base II large pool
u..+, of putrid yellow water
with eight steps leading
down to. 1t. 1t il surrounded by shops
for the sale of meat and groceries. two
BARRIERS have their chairs on the pave
ment outside and peddlers Of sweetmeats,
cakes and other forms OF food are numer-
Gus.
On the other side Of the tower. in a
low building. is . maktab or primary
school. to which we were drawn by the
murmur Of children's voices. In eastern
schools pupils always study aloud and
create q babel Of voices. This 10 per-
mitted on the theory that the human
mind absorbs information through the
ears better than through the eyes. and
you are continually reminded Of II by
hearing people read aloud from news
papers. books and other printed or writ
ten documents.
/. II an oriental looks at q railway time
table. he reads 1t aloud: and he will tell
you that he could not understand 1t un-
less he did so. Hence at the primary
schools. where this habit Is acquired, you
can hear the little ones shouting their
A, B. C's. older classes repeating extracts
from the Koran and reciting to them
ed to them-all in loud tones. 1t is dim
cult to understand how they can learn
anything in the confusion.
As we entered the maktab. the boys,
who were sQuatting on the floor. began
to yell out their lessons
Youthful louder than ever. evident
c4ra.,+. ly for the purpose Of con-
CsuuonsS' vincing US OF their dIii-
gence. They were bright little fellows.
with keen eyes and regular features.
clean faces and hands and neatly dressed
In gorgeous colors. Every one wore an
embroidered skull cap upon his head. /
don't remember to have ever seen a more
intelligent or attractive lot OF youngsters.
The teacher, who wore q green turban.
indicating his descent from Mahomet.
was a fine-looking man and greeted US
cordially, but we did not stop.
The books from which the children were
studying are printed in Russia. except the
Koran. which Is printed here. The boys
are first taught the alphabet and when
they are able to read and write they are
required to copy extracts from the Koran.
which are committed to memory. Then,
when they have completed that task. lney
are given other books, usually OF re-
ligious nature, which are also committed
to memory. There is very little mathe-
matics except tho use Of the counting
machine, used by all orientals. History
and geography are seldom taught. The
school sessions begin after the call to
prayer at o'clock IN the morning and
continue until the call to evening prayer
at o'clock, with an hours recess at
midday for luncheon, which is usually
limited to a piece of bread. an onion or a
little fruit The school week begins sat
urday morning and ends Thursday night,
Friday being the Sabbath or day Of rest
and worship among the Mohammedans.
The schoolmaster does not receive
regular salary. but is paid by the parents
of his pupils, according to their means,
and on his birthday and other anniver-
saries he expects present.
0u0nrm