The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1910-05-13
THE STREETS OF CAIRO
a LIVING PICTURE or THE EAST
AND WEST.
lSpecial Dol INC CitIzen. }

east and west. Travellers as long
ago as the days of Bayard Taylor
found these streets famous for their
life and color But unlike some of
the institutions of the east, they have
not lost by contrast by the introduc-
tion of our western ways. Indeed
their interest is rather enhanced by
being brought into comparison with
the ways of the new world. The old
customs have not as yet been chang
ed. 1t is said that the east never
changes. Will it still continue after
the garb of our civilization has been
shifted?
Sitting in the Esbekiah Gardens,
which are in the heart of modern
Cairo, you may see much OF the life
of the great and growing city of
Egypt But you will see it as one
who sits apart, for no one is allowed
to enter who does not pay his plaster
This will keep you from the beggars
and touts, but il will also separate
you from much that is most charac-
teristic of this meeting place of the
nations. Whichever way you turn
there is something new and strange
set off by that which is older than
the days OF Abraham.
Here they come, one after anoth-
er, shouting, gesticulating. running
lettering, with faces intent, silly, i'm
passive The first thing that strikes
the visitor is the rapid movement on
the streets. Have the donkey boys,
used to running behind their animals
grown up into porters and servants
willing to race bare-footed through
the streets after they are middle-aged
men? The stinging crackle of the
cab drivers whip takes the place of
the warning step lively" more
familiar to western ears, while the
cabs and busses dart through crowd
ed and narrow streets at a surpris-
ing pace.
All are avid for your money. You
can hardly refuse to buy the articles
thrust upon you on every hand. To
hesitate or show the slightest inter
est is to surrender to the wiles of the
dealer. Newsboys thrust their pa
pers into your hands and will hardly
be refused, no matter what the Ian
guage of the paper or it's date either.
Dealers in sham antiquities would un-
load enough of their wares on you to
fill your trunk, gravely declaring
that they themselves have found their
useless wares in the mummy chamb-
ers.
But the greatest show is to be
found in the old or native quarter.
That man does not know Cairo who
has not seen this; here life goes on as
it did hundreds or even thousands
of years ago. The only difference is
that the moderns have entered to
take advantage of the ancient ways
of barter,-or more likely to be
taken advantage of by the ancient
people who barter.
1t is doubtful whether a Euro
pean, wandering into the maze of
narrow streets, would ever find his
way out, if he could not pass the
barrier of language. The safest way
to see the sight is to take a car
riage, or better still to bestride a
donkey and plunge into the seeth-
ing, shouting mass of humanity.
You must not be afraid to brush
against your fellow creatures, the
fleas will find you anyhow; but be
careful that the donkey does not
crush your leg against the angle of
some wall. If you are fastidious
you will want to turn back from the
smells, but you will miss one of the
strangest of sights if you do. 1t
will pay to take the trip even at
the cost of having your clothes dis
infected afterwards.
One advantage of the donkey is
that you can easily pass with him
where no carriage could possibly
enter. You make a sweep to turn
a corner and miss by a hair the
whole earthly stock of some street
merchant. You may bump hubs
with the tall wheeled stone carts
perhaps, but it is surprising how few
accidents there are. There is a
vast deal of shouting and much
swearing in Arabic, but / have not
yet seen blows exchanged.
Everything is done on the streets.
All the handcrafts are carried on
within a few inches of where the
feet of beasts and men touch the
pavement. Even the passing of the
foreigner does not cause the worker
to lift his eyes from his tasks. A
few simple tools, few bits of wood
or metal, a tiny stock in trade of
paint or enamel, leisurely adapting
of means to ends, but presently you
will have some piece of furniture
or jewellery that is a priceless gem
of its kind. Crowd your donkey
into some convenient alcoye on the
opposite side of the street and you
may watch the whole process. So
goes on all through the tropical
daylight, except for brief space
at noon, every conceivable sort of oc-
cupation, many of which are al
most unknown in our factory-made
civilization.
But if the processes of manufac-