The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-12-24
ALGER LA BLANCHE
By c. F. MARKELL

ARKELL
 the principal one, Fl Kebir I was struck
 with the impressiveness of it's gloom and
 grandeur.
 The sun, not yet high in the heavens,
 was streaming through the eastern win
 dows of the edifice and flooding it's in-
 terior with a wealth of golden light Be-
 fore one of these windows were two Mo-
 hammedans engaged in prayer. They were
 tall, clean limbed men, straight as an ar
 row and robed in gowns of perpendicular
 blue and white stripes. Their devotion
 and ceremonies were most peculiar, for at
 times they held their open hands close to
 the ear, with the palms presented toward
 the east; again they passed their hands
 over their faces as if bathing in invisible water and then they bowed their superb figures prone to the floor until their fore heads touched the marble tiling It was
 a superb gesture, and then it was that I obtained true conception of the signifi- canoe of the biblical statement such as
 And he (Jacob) passed over before them, and bowed himself othe ground seven tlmes.'' "She (AbigaiD fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground"
 Still, in all it's grandeur I sensed feel | ing of loneliness, for there was no music and no women.
 While the Mohammedans observe Friday as day of worship, the Christian Sab | bath is with them a sort of holiday. It IS a great occasion to visit their cemeteries 1 and thither l followed the throng The burying ground savored more of a church | fair than place Nof sepulchre, being | crowded with vendors of candy, cakes. candles, flowers and even ribbons all of | which were displayed on tiny tables The cemetery, being on the side of hill, was approached by a flight of stone steps and upon nearly every other step was sta passer-by for aims. The crush was tre-
 mendous and there was much merriment and little mourning.
 l The Arabic streets are filthy and so | narrow as to permit of passage only upon | foot or donkey back; carriages are impos-
 sible It seemed as if the entire populace was in the open, crowding the streets,
 lounging on the doorsteps and loling out of the windows
 | I visited several Mohammedan schools
 and droll little affairs they were. The l teacher occupied raised das in the cen I ter of the room and was surrounded by a
 number of rude desks for the larger schoi- ars. while the small ones, who were in a l vast majority, sat flat upon the bare | floor. They were all studying the Koran
 and the arithmetic.
 | The ancnet Kasba, which is the citadel and palace of the Deys, and which for centuries has been the stronghold of a l long line of Algerian princes, is situated
 on the very highest point of the city and l is well worth a visit. Algiers possesses | some excellent examples of Moorish archi- | lecture and Mustapha Superior a charm | ing suburb, may be reached by electric | tram in very brief period of time. | I found the Arabs quite cruel to their
 beasts of burden. Camels are never
 brought down to the lower city, but the | poor little donkeys are driven to the | quays. The latter are not taken over the | circuitous route leading to the water front, market and commercial quarters, but are compelled to make a short cut by descending and mounting hundreds of steps the very ascent of which well nigh I saw the miserable beasts prodded till 1 the blood flowed down their limbs and while literally staggering under ponder ous burden, forced to mount a flight Of stpes the very ascent of which well nigh exhausted me of breath.
 The Brasserie du Phenix Is most pop
 ular cafe of the city, famous for it's ices without number and little pots of coffee called "Nossi-Bey'' and where the fash ionabIe local world resorts not only 10