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

Moors, Spanish Jews and natives OF
all parts Of northern Africa. and OF
all colors except white. The men
the fez or the turban and as
a rule were attired in a costume
which was a cross between a bath
robe and q bed spread. They wrap
ped this around them in a rather
decent manner and to my surprise
II stayed on. There was not mucn
work being done. A store was
about four feet by ten feet and the
proprietor sat on the sidewalk. He
only had one kind of goods n ne
evidently did not advertise. Every
few yards there would be a cafe
with a few Arabs sitting in the front,
sometimes drinking coffee but us
ually lust thinking. Vegetables and
fruit, fancy metal ornaments. ordin-
airy household goods and tobacco
were the staples in the shops. the
street itself was almost eight feet
wide and was generally so steep
that II was a series of steps, down
which ran the sewerage. in which
PLAYED the children. There were
ladies in our party who criticised
these arrangements but the Arabs
don't mind criticism from such I'M
believers.
An Arab woman is dressed In
proper fashion when she winds a
sheet of soft white goods around ner-
self and puts on a veil which covers
her face up to her eyes. The gown
eliminates in some way as a turban
and covers her forehead, so all that
a man can see of that lady is al
ghostlike figure with two bright
eyes. l was naturally interested be-
cause the costume was different
from that which is worn at home
except at an early morning fire. At
first l ~refrained from curious looks
for fear l might offend the ladies.
but / tried a look at one and she
did not seem to mind. ] looked at
her and she looked at me. / mag
ined / saw the beginnings of a lady
like Arabian wink. Just to be po-
lite / would have winked once my
self but / saw a half dozen male
Arabs observing the situation and
promptly decided that winking was
not in good form for an American
at such a time. So ! never Will
know whether that Arabess was a
winker or a deceiver, but ! am alive
and we'll, which is some satisfaction.
In the evening our party from
the ship wanted to do something ex-
citing. We hired a guide and told
him to show us Algiers by electric
light. He marched us up and down
several streets and into a moving
picture show! The first film was one
of those thrilling melodramas OF the
American cowboy, the villain. the
sheriff, the fight and the final tri-
umph of innocence with matrimony.
That was the best Algiers could do
for us in the way of devilishness, SO
we went to the city square and heard
a good French military band.
NH "4E
Algiers Is becoming quite q win
ter resort, especially for French and
English. The climate is like that of
the Riviera and the additional charm
of the Arab and the Moor makes it
more interesting. And then there
are the bargains" No Arabian mer-
chant has a fixed price" He is
ready to meet his customer half
way. The shopping instinct, which
is strong in some of US, is thus given
a great opportunity. l saw a Chi
cago lady offer So for a rug which
the merchant priced at $25. Just
before the boat sailed she got it for
$3.50. A very curious sword was
coveted for a present for some man
at home. The lady and the merchant
put in forty-five minutes and the
weapon goes to a fellow in Boston at
a cost of two dollars, when the orig
inal demand was ten dollars. Bar
gain hunting with women is q good
deal like duck hunting with men.
When the ducks appear in the fall
the duckster cannot resist the call
of the game. When the bargains"
appear as they do in Algiers, the
bargain hunter refuses to look at