The Meridian times. (Meridian, Idaho) 1909-1938, 1911-12-29
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NAITONS
0' 1t Egypt Takes on Old Worlds N.w
"syS-PIaysrOund of Five Cont.
nen's Is Now Finding a New Ma
tIonal Life of Its Own. I've"
BY WILLIAM T. ELLIS.

' vi us past, 1t yet has notbino
more alluFing to show the thoupbtf,,I
traveller than its own transformatior
ne emergence of Egypt, within a pon'
eration' from land of bloodsbed in.
Justice poverty and misery, into a
wei Kept, prosperous and imnrovirs 6,
lanu is one of the great achievements
oL the present generation.
still there is unrest, of which civil
iZatlon has not yet heard the last Of
the complaints of the nationalists and
the answer Of the defenders Of the
BRUSH regime, more will be said IN
tne next article. This one can treat
only OF the awaking of this ancient
people into surprising modernity, That
II carefully retains some of the bizarre
ana oriental effects, so that the unso-
pnlsticated tourist in Cairo thinks him.
sell IN the simon-pure east. is merely
good business policy. The astute ORR.
entail fully understands the CONNER
clal value of the impression of nictnr.
esqueness which he makes on the visit.
or. No other city on earth is more
cleVerly staged, for purposes of rev.
enue, than this same Cairo. Even the
staggering Bedouin, posing in front
OF the hotels, knows that his pictur-
esqueness enhances his wage-earning
capacity as a guide. The bazars of
old Cairo" never lose sight for a mo-
ment of the gullibility of the traveller,
who sees no incongruity in being ad-
dressed in the English tongue in this.
to him, wierdly remote spot.
Some ChangeIess Things in Old
Egypt.
Antiquities and Orientalism are the
most marketable assets of Cairo. Truly
there is something awesome about the
persistence which a discerning person
may perceive here. Out at Sakkara
one looks upon pictures in the tombs,
painted three, four or five thousand
years ago, of farmers blowing, with
bent stick, drawn by bumped buff
faloes. Then he goes out into the
neighboring fields and perceives that
Identical picture in real life. The
plow is the same, the animals are the
same, the very physiognomy of the
farmers are the same. So with the
men carrying water in skins. One
could imagine that the very pictures
from the tombs had stepped down and
come to life. The shadduf along the
river and canals, whereby the animals
sometimes camels, sometimes don
keys, sometimes bullocks, sometimes
cows-draw up the water for irriga-
ton purposes, has been drawn with
fidelity to present day life by artists
who have been mummies for thrice the
length of time that Great Britain has
been a nation.
In even larger aspects the survival
of ancient Egypt is noticeable. In
many essentials this nation, with the
oldest recorded history, has remained
the same. 1t is still a rainless land,
and, as of yore, it is still dependent
upon the Nile for its life. Even as
anciently, it is threatened by the en-
vironing and encroaching desert. The
Coptic fellaheen of today are the sons
of the ancient Egyptians of five or six
thousand years ago. In physiognomy
and habits the type remains I'M
changed; though the new education
which has lately come in will prob
ably alter the latter within a genera
ton or two. The philosopher who,
in the presence of these strange sur
yivaIs asks himself whether the Egyp-
tian fellah will be working his shad-
duff and blowing with his bent stick
centuries after Great Britain has
ceased to exist as nation, will prop
ably have to return a negative answer
In present day world phenomena notn-
ing is more remarkable than the maj
overthrow of usages and institutions
which have lasted from the beginning
Of recorded history.
A High Type of Oriental.
Tall handsome, stately, the Egyp-
ian is the best looking type OF man
n the east. Both the Copt and the
Arab have a free, self-contdent anu
swinging carriage They are quick Oh
Wit and self resourceful. Like all sun
warmed peoples, they are of an aHec-
tomato and passionate disposition, and
title given to orderliness and meth
ID. They would rather wear fine
lotbes than practice the homely viz
ures of thrift. Poetical, philosophl-
al and courteous. they have a real
Intellectual future before them.
For this nation of the wondrous past
With memories of world DOMINION
in its breast, is far from
eing a spent race. The future I'M
oubtedIy holds for it destiny even
$ did the past. For Egypt has sud
enly awakened from its fruitless rev
rie upon the glories that are gone 10
mbitions for the future that Is aheau:
he contact with the west has stirred
ITO fame it's latent powers. The mag
al learning of the west, after Whlch
n the older nations are thirsting' mas
AIDE its appeal to Egypt also. Inc
,une men and women are breaking
i'm the deadly conservatism OF the
,st and seeking the new life and pow
that the western school DOCKS
I'D. ,., :