Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1910-05-24

| cuIar stone steps downward. II contains
| a number OF chambers. one for the own
er and his wife, whose marble statues
| are still standing in inches, and OF their
| servants. It was of interest mainly as
slight foretaste of the pyramids around
| Cairo. the tombs OF the kings in upper
/ Egypt and the catacombs OF Rome.
RAILROAD TRAVEL IN EGYPT.
| We left Alexandria exactly at noon.
/ March q. had an excellent dinner (or as
| they would say, lunch), on the dining
car. rode over a fine track. glided along
so smoothly that we could scarcely feel
the motion Of the train. made only two
stops and reached Cairo. 80 miles away.
| in exactly three hours to the minute.
Think OF itl Fifty miles an hour! Dir
| ing cars! Yes. and sleeping cars, good
ones. too, as we had occasion to know on
our trip to Luxor later. And all this in
Egypt! II is not so much a land of dark
ness as you thought. is IL? 1t is natural,
though. that the track should be smooth.
There are no grades. The whole of the
Niles valley Is as level as a floor. and
all about the same elevation. Nor are
there any curves scarcely in the track
For miles and miles IL is a straight
stretch on a dead level. And when there
are curves they are long and graceful
No wonder the train can make such good
time and run so smoothly. 1t should be
added. though. that the track is well bal
lasted and is solid. The track is 6S inches
wide. while our standard gauge tracks
are IS 1-2. The cars are lower on the
track than ours. They are divided into
first-class. second-class and third-class.
All have compartments with seats for
six. three facing three others, instead OF
two and two as the Pullman cars. There
is. however. only one row of seats, in
stead Of two on the Pullman. The aisle
runs the length OF the coach on the side.
not in the center. II is two feet wide.
The hrst-class compartments have doors
which may be shut. II desired, by the
occupants while the second and third
class are open. This is about the only
difference so far as I can see. except that
the first-class cars are q little nicer than
the second-class and the second-class
little nicer than the third-class. The
fares are about cents a mile for first
class, two for second-class and one for
third-class. You cannot, however, travel
in a sleeping car unless you have a first
class ticket. Holders of ffrst-class tickets
have the privilege of eating first in the
dining car. The tickets are taken up
when you leave the train. not when you
first get on. You must show your ticket
to the gateman, though. as you get on.
Your hand baggage is put into the COM
partment which you occupy. Your trunk,
IL you have one, is carried in the lug
claim your own baggage on arrival at
destination. II you get the trunk of some
one else-well, you and he Cor she as the
case may bel for that
This style Of railway train and these
regulations apply to railroads in Europe
generally as we'll as in Africa. But they
seem curious to an American, and /
thought IL would be OF interest to tell
about them.
A MOVING PICTURE SHOW.
said that we made only two stops
between Alexandria and Cairo. 1t was
not because there were no places on the
road at which we could stop. There
were plenty Of them-cities, towns, viii
lagos in greatest abundance. On the
whole 100 mile ride we were never out
Of sight of not only one, but usuaIIy
two or tnsee towns or villages. The
reasons are not far to seek. The people
DO no. live in the country. some dis
lance apart from each other, as with
us-by us or course / mean Americans
but in villages. This they do for con-
venience and for mutual protection for
fear Of robbers. There is not as much
danger Of robbers now as formerly, per-
haps, but the custom OF living in viii
lagos has come down through untold
generations. It is necessary that. the
village BE located on or near water,
either the river Nile or some canal lead
ing from IL. And as the railroad runs
aIong the river or canal most OF the
way, il is natural that II should pass
through numerous villages. This is
particularly true after leaving the Del
ia in going from Cairo to Luxor and
beyond There the Nile valley is so mar
row that the railroad runs on the bank
OF the river a largo part Of the way,
and the villages are on the railroad be-
cause they must be on or near the river.
And 80 as the train glides along we
pass continuous succession OF cities,
towns and villages on both sides of the
track Some of these places are large.
One Of them has a reputation Of $4,000,
so Solomon said. Most OF them, though,
were villages with 800 or 400. perhaps
500 inhabitants. All the houses are one
story high. They are built of mud.
ere are only two kinds Of building
material in Egypt-stone and mud. ThisJ
mul may be made into bricks and
burned, or ii may be made into large
blocks and sun dried. The ricn build
TT ouses Of stone, the middle class
es OF tricks; the poorer must build
them Of mud. Why not OF timber? Sim
ply because there are no trees in Egypt
of which timber for houses can be
made. In fact there are ew trees of
any kind. The largest tree is the syca-
PAIN. Neither is fit for timber. 1 do
not suppose there is a wooden house in
all Egypt did not see one. To build
such a house there would be like build
ing a marble palce in a country where
miles or more. Besides, a house made
, Of timber would DE uncomfortable on ac-
count of the heat AS I said. these
sun-dried-mud-brick houses are only
one story high. I was sorry did not
have the opportunity OF going in one.
But so far as I could tell, they each
have only one room for a family. IN
that room the whole family cooks, eats,
sleeps, and / suppose entertains special
company. AS a matter Of fact, though,
! they do not spend much time in doors.
On account OF the warm climate, which
varies very little summer and winter
and the dry atmosphere, rain being al
most unknown the year around, they
have accustomed themselves to an out
door life. The men till the fields in the
early morning and late afternoon. The
/ women do the house work, what there is
| to be done, and all rest in the middle
OF the day from the blazing sun i'm the
shade of their hut or OF the palm trees. in
| the midst of which their villages are
usually built They need their houses
only as sleeping places, or TO store their
things, what they have, which is not
I - H. ~,