The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-06-02
Humans Who Cast No Shadows
BY c. F. MARKELL

place. This muteness was due partially
 to an inherited characteristic of the
 people, partly by custom enforced by
 law and partly by being otherwise oc-
 cupied in the perpetual nibbling of | sunfiower seed, a habit which seemed
 to be indulged in by every man, woman
 and child present With the men sup pose 1t took the place of tobacco, as smoking Is prohibited in the district un-
 der penalty of a heavy fine, and with
 the women 1t was probably variant of
 our American chewing gum habit
 Then noted that neither the men
 nor the women wore socks or stockings.
 their feet being swathed in rags tightly
 tied with rope or twine and encased In
 shoes of plaited bark fIs5a
 There are many open air barber shops and open air kitchens. The restaurants are called "traktirs," and the lodging house numbers
 One of the most brilliant bazars of the fair Is that of the trunk sellers, and such trunks, they were blue pink. lavender and gold in color, with green movers and Arabesque designs; some
 were covered with metal and others were braced with brass or tin corners. some were vanished and lacquered till they shown with the resplendency of | mirror and others were panelled with paillon. They were bought by the thou sands by the Persian merchants, who used them as shipping cases and dis posed of them later at home for prob ably more than the initial cost. They l are, of course, covered with canvas | en transit to prevent scratching.
 How the brass bazaar would delight the heart of our American ladies. The | snmovars are superb, embossed and chased with an amazing degree of rich- ness, the basins are exquisite in de- sign and pattern and the lanters of most fantastic and Oriental style. Here are ecclesiastical lamps. incense burn ties of immaculate brightness and mis- cellaneous articles of every conceiva- l bls design and purpose.
 Odd and entertaining is the sheep skin department, where tunics, called touloupes, are sold They are made of sheepskin with the wool being worn on the Inside and the hide ornamented with Arabesques done in black waxed thread.
 Among the Jewellers one may purchase Caucasian bijoutry, Siberian amethysts and Balkan gems. The trumpery known 1 as articles do Paris Is also much in evidence. 4H ea st4TfH u
 Before each shop is wooden bench l occupied by the merchant as he attends the coming of customers, and incons are ubiquitous. As they wait in si- lence they sip their tea and sweeten the | beverage by holding a lump of sugar i between the teeth.
 The chief novelty of the crowd is af- l forded by the presence of the great number of Tartars. The Tartar maidens wear the black shawl. peculiar to the common women of Venice, but enliv- ened by an embroidery of red roses and green leaves, and they are not un- | familiar with the Occidental custom of 1 flirting. | The Chinese Row Is so named from | it's style of architecture and does not contain a single Chnaman.
 To those who have never visited Cairo or Damascus the Percian bazar is a flight. where the merchants re- cline on divans and offer brocade, silks, gauge woven with gold and silver thread, carpets, scarlet cloths mar ghelias, stools inlaid with mother of pearl, chaplets of amber and sandal wood, and babouches most gaudily embroidered. The chief feature of the Siberian bazar Is the huge bales of tea packed In hides with hieroglyphics cut in the leather. As the Greek church imposes fast of four months duration. | fish by the tons are present, so that | the prevailing odor of the fair is con glomeration of boots, oil, fish, perspira- | tion and stale incense. Tall wooden towers are numerous and a watchman never leaves the summit | He Is on the lookout for fires, and at the bottom of the tower Is fire en- l zine station with horses ready har- messed to respond to an alarm There l Is also a series of odd low towers l surmounted by baskets of wire work | like the inufflers of our old time loco motives and from these towers Issues oerpetually the blue smoke of burning ne-bs as a disinfectant, for the towers cover the entrances of tunnels, as the ccfa noD t,1, 1 | sanitary sewers.
 The fair, of course, has its midway where music and revelry run riot: i: where the fanfare of trumpets and humping of the drums of the circus, the serpent charmers side show, the exhibition of headless virgins and the anatomical museums vie with the or chestra of the great wooden theatre and the accompaniment of the gorgeous Russian ballet ' This Is an interesting spot to watch the motley crowd The men, even in August, wear the sheepskin touloupes. while the skirts of the women fall just a trife below the knees. the lower limb Is covered with coarse rubber greased boots
 | The Kunavino suburb Is the most abandoned quarter of the fair, and ladies are advised to give 1t wide berth but 1t Is not half so risque as | the Moulin Rouge or Bal Tabaran of Paris, which are nightly frequented by 1 American ladies. Most of the amuse ment consists of carousals and concerts. | Strangely enough, however, the carous- als were all located in the second story with the revolving disc sunken flush with the floor They moved with intol- erable slowness and the wooden horses or reindeer were ridden in absolute si- lence-no laughter. no conversation. The music of the concerts Is of Moorish character which one hears in Turkey and Syria, and which still fingers in the mountain homes of Spain. M kt.
 The promenading chorus girls are the | worse feature of the place.
 Drunkenness is common, but the in ebriates are never dlsordery, never 1 fight and there is an utter absence of rowdyism. M | must not forget the mention of tho odd rattles used by the policemen. which seemed to me to serve no other | purpose than to advise thieves of the officers approach. The rattles are com posed of two thin boards foot long and four inches wide and fitted to a handle in the shape of large tuning throng. Between the prongs of tho fork is ball attached to leather throng which does all the rattling.
 Visitors to the fair must be care full to quit the place before o'clock in the morning or they will md their st.