Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1910-04-22

Is that wailing nOise?. 1t comes from a
body Of ragged looking men, beggars
apparently, who are shufflinS along
three or four abreast. They wear white
turbans over a brown cloth skull cap,
Their dirty robes of white or blue re-
veal bare legs beneath. Behind them
comes a more respectable procession,
all men, some in European clothes with
the red tarbush or feZ, some in long
garments of striped silk, showing at
the neck a neat embroidered waist
coat. And see, following them again Is
a bier covered by colOred cloth and
borne upon mems shoulders.
It is a funeral, poor mans funeral.
A well-to- do corpse would have num-
Der of mourners carrying silver GEN.
sers and dishes of green herbs to go IN
front of 1t. This is the last promenade
of a man of no account. Yet the beg
gars cry with a will, There is no God
but Allah, and Mohammed is His
Prophet" and the police clear the way.
The dead man is attracting more at
tention than he ever did while he was
alive
If you wait long enough you are sure
to see the stream of fashionable cars
and barouches interrupted by a we'd
ding. First comes band making ORR
entail music on brass instruments or
bagpipes and tom-toms then string
of decorated carriages. The brides is
completely covered over by gay MAN
chester goods" While the marriage
feast is going on the band will play
outside the house, which is also pro-
fusely decorated. Before the bride joins
it the procession takes the bridegroom
three times round the quarter in which
he lives. Is this a kind of equivalent
for the publica ION of banns? Some
times the guests will mount Sayly
caparisoned camels instead of going
prosaically in cabs, and the procession
will be closed up by troop of donkey
riders.
Here in the Sharia Kamel l doubt
whether you would see a camel but
Just round any corner they are passing
all day long and getting mixed up with
the electric street cars, of which Cairo
has an excellent service. Here, how
ever Is sight better than many cam
elsa magnificent rider in regular
Arabian Nights costume comes curvet-
ing along on a jingling Arab horse.
Nearly all the horses in Cairo, even
those in cabs, are joy to behold. They
are small, swift and full of prancing
energy. Here. see, is a mounted police
man English, by the way) on beau
tiful bay. The Egyptian cavalry are a
smart lot, thanks to British drill SER
geants it is pretty to watch squad
ron of lancers cantering by on their
mettlesOmc little chargers.
Walk along the pavement, and the
contrasts are quite as striking as any
we have seen in the roadway. Dark
skinned Arabs, Nubian negroes, Coptic
Christians, Sudanesc, Turks and Sy-
rians in their flowing robes rub shoul-
ders with the most Smartly dressed
people of Europe. So far as the ma
tives go il Is mostly a crowd of men.
In the east one always misses the
charm of wOmen's faces to which we
are accustomed in Europe. But there
are some women. They are nearly all
in black, the only wear for the street
among Moslems, and their faces are
half hidden by yashmakS. kept up by
a curious brass or wooden nosepiece
But here and there an unveiled Chris
tian native with silver bracelets round
her ankles carries burden on her head
or squats in a doorway playing with
her children.
Outside the cafes sit EurOpeaniZed
but mostly tarbushed Egyptians. dis
cussing politics. with an occasional
sheik or we'll -tO-do-peasant in native
dress. In this particular street where
tourists especially c0ngregate. dra-
gOmans and street sellers are annoy
ingly numerous. There is little need
for an Intelligent person to employ
guides at all, but these nuisances do
their best to keep up the tradition that
no visitor can stir out by himself. They
follow those whom they hope to make
their victims with foolish persistence,
until a policeman, observing their un-
welcome importantly. bids them de-
sist. The police force of Cairo has a
smart appearance. The men, natives
all. are uniformed in khaki and well
drilled-by the English. of course. 1t
is odd to see them wearing the blue
and white striped armlet of the Lon
don constable. But they are a long
way off displaying the calm firm au-
thority Of the Metropolitan police.
Look, there Is one interfering on the
other side of the road. The pathway is
blocked by building materials, which
are being used to repair a shop. The
policeman shouts and makes angry
motions with his hands. The proprie-
tor and his servants wave deprecating
palms and try to persuade him that 1t
does not matter.
why should people object to walking
in the road? That is the Oriental view;
but the policeman is filled with the
new, the western spirit. In Europe nn
one Is allowed to block the pathway
No one must do it here. Two British
privateS i'm scarlet look on ut the row
with amused Indulgence. Noisy beg
CARS, these black men," says one to the
other And then comes along Il water
seller. Il lean. brown fellow with bar"
chest, who claps two brass plates to-
gether all the time. on his back is an
cartnen jar of Nile water: in his hand
a brass fagOn, from the long spoutS of
which he pourS out for thirsty subjects
into small cups. You meet these men
constantly all over Cairo, and they
seem To do brisk trade. Cake sellers
flourish also: so do venders Of oranges
and baked chestnuts and pistachioS,
and rings of salted bread.