Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1910-04-15

arrived in Cairo about four o. clock in
the afternoon and soon were located
in our rooms at the ontinental Ho-
tel, which is one of the best hotels in
the city. The odd thing here was
that Arab men as servants look after
the rooms and are stationed in the
hall Immediately adjacent. When
you leave the room you are supposed
to leave it open, or rather unlocked
and these Arabs are TO look after
them during your absence. The
maids were German and some of them
did not understand any English.
One gentleman thinking the same
custom prevailed here. as in other
countries, locked the door to his
room and took the key with him.
He came back in the evening and
found the bed unmade. Hunting up
the girl he asked her about it but
only got a stare until he spoke Ger
man, when she replied she had been
to the room at least ten times that
day but as he had locked the room
she could not get in. Evidently
such thing as pass key has not
been included in the equipment of
even first class hotels.
Cairo is a large city and much bet
ter built than l anticipated. There
is but little rain here, in fact it need
hardly be considered. as one inch is
about all they get and that to us is
nothing at all. This dryness enables
them to erect buildings that are ap-
parently good structures but which,
in reality, are mud whitewashed.
All of the buildings are not of this
character far from it-as many
substantial brick and stone buildings
have been built. In some. Alabaster
has been the material used. Some as
fine residences as person could
wish for, are in this city, and many
new ones are being erected that are
very costly. Cairo's residence Sec
tion appealed to me strongly. The
principal streets are we'll cleaned,
but this cannot be said of those in
the part of town where the small
merchants transact their business
nor in the poorer residence districts.
Here you can see all kinds of peo-
pie. and to sit on the piazza of the
Continental or Shephard's Hotel is
as good as having circus in town,
for in an hour will pass all kinds of
people wearing all kinds of clothes
made from cloths of all colors. Here
you see the camel-the transporta-
ton of four thousand years ago
coming along with load on his back
and swiftly by will glide the auto
of to-day. Truly great extremes.
Again, it is q donkey bearing rider
on his back, drawing q cart or even
with load suspended from baskets
fastened to him. Right after this
will be q man carrying on his head
load that we Americans would con-
slider heavy il we had to carry it on
our backs. And so it goes-a con-
tinuous performance with ever chang
ing characters.
The morning after our arrival we
visited the Citadel. This was built
A. D. 1166, with stones taken from
the small pyramids Of Ghizeh and
formed the key of a system of forti-
fications for the protection OF Cairo.
Inside the walls is situated the
Mosque of Mehemet Ali, or as it is
more popularity called "The Alabas-
ter Mosque" The interior of this is
very fine, as the columns and facings
of the walls are made from the pur-
est of Alabaster, and from this is the
name derived. Mehemet Ali is
buried here and his tomb can be
seen. From the Citadel can be OBJ
tanned an excellent view of the city
OF Cairo, and in the distance can be
seen the large pyramids as well as
many other smaller ones. This is
the point to get the best snap-spots
of the city and you may he sure all
who had cameras were busy pushing
the button.
We visited the Sultan Hassam
Mosque. for this is considered the
national mosque of Cairo. 1t is an
immense building, but sadly in need
OF repairs. AS the Khedive preced-
ing the present one commenced the
erection of a mosque just opposite,
it is not probable this one will be re-
paired. The original cost is said to
have been over three millions of dol
lars.
The body OF the Sultan, who was
assassinated in 1861, lies in a moso-
leum beneath a dome nearly two bun
dred feet high. The minaret, or tow
er, is square at the bottom, and octo-
gon-shaped at the upper portion, and
is said to be the loftiest in existence
$50 feet. 1t is claimed that by
command of the Sultan, the archi-
tect's hands were cut off so he could
not design other mosques equal to or
surprising this one.
The Ell Azhar mosque is now used
for university, and since 9S8 it has
been the chief high institution of
learning in the MOhammedan world.