The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1912-02-02
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Old Egypt Takes on Old Worlds New
Ways-Playground Of Five CONT
nents 10 Now Finding a New Ma.
tlonal Life Of lts Own,
BY WILLIAM r. ELLIS.

Cairo. Egypt. - This old nation
is in a new and ever-newer
Egypt. The whole worlds play
ground, because of the charm and
mystery of its past, it yet has nothing
more alluring to show the thoughtful
traveller than its own transformation.
The emergence Of Egypt, within a gen.
Grafton. from land Of bloodshed, in
Justice, poverty and misery, into a
we'll kept. prosperous and improving
land is one of the great achievements
of the present generation.
Still there is unrest, of which civil
1zation has not yet heard the last. OF
the complaints of the nationalists, and
the answer of the defenders Of the
British regime, more will be said in
the next article. This one can treat
only Of the awaking of this ancient
people into surprising modernity. That
1t carefully retains some of the bizarre
and Oriental effects, so that the unso-
phistlcated tourist in Cairo thinks him.
self in the simon-pure east, Is merely
good business policy. The astute ORR
entail fully understands the CONNER
cial value Of the impression of pictur-
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 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
pillow 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
!sagth Of time that Great Britain has
been g nation.
In even lai6oc aspects the survival
Of ancient Egypt is noticeable. In
many essentials this nation, with the
oldest recorded history, has remained
the same. It is still a rainless land,
and, as Of yore, it is still dependent
upon the Nile for its life. Even as
anciently, 1t is threatened by the en-
vironing and encroaching desert. The
Coptic 1ellaheen of today are the sons
Of the ancient Egyptians of five or six
thousand years ago. In physiognomy
and habits the type remains un.
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 tho presence Of these strange sur
vivals 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 rs a nation. will prob
ably have to return a negative answer.
In present day world phenomena moth
ing is more remarkable than the final
overthrow of usaSss and institutions
which have lasted from the beginning
of recorded nis;c-y.
A High Type Of Oriental.
Tall, handsome, stately, the Egyp-
tian Is the best looking type Of man
in the east. Both the Copt and the
Arab have a free, self-conhdent and
swinging carriage. They are quick Of
wit and self resourceful Like all SUM-
warmed peoples, they are Of an affec-
Tomato and passionate disposition. and
little given to oriei;:1ess and meth.
NJ A.