Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1913-09-18

We have been in Algiers for a half
day and an evening. 1t did not look
like Africa to me. In the geogra-
ply / studied Africa consisted OF a.
male cream center called the desert
OF Sahara, with green and yellow
stripes around the edges. Algiers
was on the north end Of the map
and hat much is correct. But the
high hills that rose from the coast
as the Franz Joseph approached the
port, we're covered with beautiful
green stripes OF cultivated gardens
and orchards, dotted with white
houses and dark foliage Of forest
trees. The city itself rose from the
harbor front like a semi-circle OF
an amphitheatre, tier OF
above tier, covered at various points
with churches, mosques and struc-
tures which / took to be palaces Dut
which turned out to be restaurants
The blue OF the Mediterranean was
the foreground of this beautiful land
scape which stretched from the
waters edge to the lighter shade OF
blue in the southern sky. The PIC
ture was one that artists brush
would fail in copying or writer's
pencil in describing.
Algiers is a city of over 100000
population. 1t has better LOOKING
buildings N its business District
than Kansas City and it's apartment
houses are models which New York
could copy. One is hardly prepared
for eight story structures in Africa
but here they are. And down the
street go the camel, the automobile,
the donkey and the trolley car, EVIL
dence that the orient and the occi-
dent are getting very much mixed.
Algiers was a good town when Col
umbus discovered America. The ma
tive Africans had been conquered
and assimilated by the Arabs n a
strong Mohammedan state resulted
Then the foolish Christians drove
the Jews out of Spain and many OF
them came to the protection OF the
more liberal Ottomans. The Mo-
hammedan religion is not much on
progress and it's strong teachings In
PHILOSOPHY do not develop manufac-
lures and trade. A little over a
hundred years ago the principal &C.
cupation of the Algerian was piracy
1t was an easy job, a good deal ike
operating on Wall street. The great
objection was to locate the other fell
lows ship, capture and possess its
contents, and hold the sailors as
slaves for work or ransom. Several
years after our Declaration OF In
dependence there were $4,000 Chris
tian slaves held in Algiers at one
time. When the commercial ma
lions Of the world could stand this
no longer they began a war against
the pirates in which the United
States took an honorable part and
put an end to the great prosperity
of the Algerians and their neigh
bors. 1t was difficult to get down
to hard work, and Algiers was like
a boom town in the west when the
boom is busted. Fifty-eight years
ago the French took some excuse for
Intervention" and came across from
their own country, a nights sail to
the north. Thus Algiers became
French and the language of Paris,
the ways of Paris, and much of the
habits of Paris are the superficial
coat on this city and this people to-
day.
1t was a beautiful afternoon when
we landed and drove through a lane
of palm trees to the park which
some old sultan planted many years
ago with never a thought of the
profit his descendants would get by
acting as guides for American tour
lists. We had fought u way to the
carriage through a mob of Arabs who
besought us to buy things, from
oriental rugs to embroidered leath-
er, hand made brass goods, VILLAIN
Gus looking knives and delicious
fruit. During the two hours drive
these descendants of the pirates new
er left us, and / often got mixed up
in repeating "how beautiful" about
the landscape and mo, no" to the
~uunfn salaeman That mart NJ the