Clarke courier. [volume] (Berryville, Va.) 1869-1997, 1910-03-02
BUYING RUGS N CAIRO
us a Risky Business For the
Mar Who Doesn't Know.
luRING ON AN EASY MARK

vas worked by Crafty Oriental
eaissman-under the Mystic Shell az
the Dim. Religious LIGHT.
writing OF The Passing OF the An.
uque Rug" in the Century. John Kim
oeriy Mumford tells this Story.
II Is beyond question cheaper to buv
:" america your rug aud the ingeniops
taie that goes with II than TO wait nm
III you visit ConStantinopie or SMYRNA
or cairo or Tifls. They are mpch
more skillfuI aud insInuating over
.nere. They have the advantage OF
iocai color and environment ana vour
common sense Is under the spell OF tho
east to begin with.
Here is an incident to illustrate. A
party OF rich Americans arrived in
cairo one day several winters ago on
yachting trip and passed a weel, or
more In sightseeing. One OF them haa
Just finished a palatial house NOT far
from New York and throughout En-
rope had bought marbles aud bronzes
Woodwork and velvets for II with a
lavish hand. The journey 10 Cairo
was MADE In order TO secure rugs
What happened Is best told in tho
words OF a dealer in the bazaar. from
whom 1 had IL.
There was fellow In our con-
Germ" he said. "who was always buv-
Ing nightmares, and had TO work
myself black In the face 10 get rid OF
them. The week before the AmerI-
cans came this chap had taken in n
shocsingiy bad pair OF Kirnans. enor-
mously big. new and. TO my mind. ut.
teriy unstable. When the head of
the house saw them he held up his
hands and shouted. Get rid OF those
things for n hundred pounds TO the
first person WHOM buy them
$50 rolled them up and put them
one side. Intending 10 send them TO n
commission man IN the bazaar 10 nm.
load. Next morning I'm came Money
bags from New York with his whole
company. He said be wanted 10 see
the best carpets had. and he saw
them. | turned the place inside out.
Nothing pleased him. for the reason
that | made the common mistake Of
1
had something hidden away. so he
winked me over into one corner and
told the who he was Now said be.
i want you to timber up want the
best. and don't mind price II get
what suits me-
Il was In despair, for | had actually
shown the man every carpet had.
All OF n sudden thought OF these two
freaks baled away the day before.
almost laughed In bis face. but finally
pulled my mouth down and began
salaaming and asked him why in the
world he hadn't told me who he was
in the beginning. then shouldn't have
wasted his time and abused his pa
ticnce SO.
He grinned triumphantly. thought
you had them he said.
But said |, ii will take n little
time 10 set at them. and | must ask
you and your friends TO wait pa
tiently'
They waited. and tell you for the
next half hour the men around that
shop earned their pay. We went up
stairs and unrolied those two rugs.
We had n great big curtain OF green
plush. which we hung against the
wall. Then we pressed the carpets
out and put them up against the cur
tain. That. you know. is worth 80 per
cent 10 the looks. Then we adjusted
the lights and stationed men all
around TO look as solemn as worship
ers. Nobody was 10 speak above
WhiSDer md averv man vv,S g., ,,,vr
muir 'Mashallah" at appropriate inter
walls.
When everything was ready | ush-
cred the customers up and on tiptoe
led them in. There is no doubt about
IL, the effect was fine. At first every
body was still. Ii was like church.
"'Ah.' said the great man. that is
what ! came for. knew you had
them. You needn't tell me the price.
Just send them to the yacht at Alex
andria.'
THAT night I went up to the hotel
where they were stopping and got his
check for 60,O0O francs for the pair.
And that wasn't the best OF il. had
got into my stride then. and while he
was busy annexing the Kirmans | had
the porters bring up seven Of the car
pets be had refused downstairs and
showed them in that dim religious
light. unrolling them as If they had
been sacred and signing soulfully every
now and then. He bought the whole
seven and TO the day OF his death fully
believed that was the original wizard
OF the east"