Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1922-05-12

prepared by the National Geographic
] Society. Washington, D. CO el
| !. 1t is difficult to shake the dust of
/ the ages from the land of the Nile
and to realize that there Is an Egypt
of the vibrant present. The recent
announcement of the Withdrawal of
4 the, British protectorate from the
country, however, and the setting up
\ of its first king In more than 1900
years turns the spotlight squarely on
the modern aspect of this long civil
/ lied region. ,alsn no@lif niti p, fua
The map lacks. much of giving one
the true picture of Egypt. The coun-
try Is shown covering a large area of
northeastern Africa. This is the nom
inal Egypt. The real Egypt is mar
row., tortuous strip on either side of
the Nile and the fan-shaped delta sur
rounding its mouth. Save for a few
GASES outside the river valley. the rest
! of Egypt is buta sea of sand prac-
tically uninhabited. Figures confirm
square miles of Egyptian territory
only about 1900 can ever be cult
waited and considerable part of this
tillable area has not yet been re-
claimed.
Looking only at the surface of
Egypt's institutions, one is likely to
decide that the changes since the days
of the Pharaohs have been great, but
when certain fundamentals are con-
sidered the wonder may well be at
the lack Of change To be sure, the
Egyptian of today speaks Arabic in
stead of his old tongue and Osiris
Isis and Horus have been long forgot
ten for Allah and Mohammed. But
In spite of numerous invasions, the
blood of the great majority of the
population has been altered hardly at
all.
| Egypts resources are almost wholly
agricultural, and In the agricultural
scheme the millions Of fellaheen are
the ultimate units. They work long
hours scratching the soil with crude
| implements, or tediously raising water
in skin buckets attached to pivoted
poles that the thin stream may save
their plants from parching. Taxes
are heavy, and it is the lowly fellaheen
who keeps the treasury supplied. Liv-
ing conditions are very poor; mud
huts house most Of Egypt's thirteen
millions. In the fields they wear lit
| tie more than a. loir cloth, and the
younger children of the villages go
naked. When the feliah Is dressed
up" he wears q rough shirt and loose
trousers.
Cairo the Wonder City.
The stamp of tile outside world and
of the Twentieth century on Egypt is
to be seen chiefly in Cairo, that won
derland which has superseded Bag
dad as 1.-THE city of Arabian Nights"
Cairo Is a living Kaleidoscope. with
its cleaning and drab human frag-
ments tumbling into a changing pat
tern not merely from East and West,
but from North and South as well.
White robed Bedoutn, ill-clad fellah,
shiny-black Soudanese and central
African negro. swarthy Turk, Persian,
Hindu, Monaghan, .dusky Moor, Ital-
ian, Greek, Jew, Armenian, and the
whittier folk from Europe America
and the antipodes-all are jumbled
together in Cairo, their various tongues
making babel that can hardly be
duplicated at any other spot ON earth.
The life that flows along the streets
of Cairo could not be duplicated any
where else in the world. At times
the Western observer is likely to be
reminded forcibly of circus parades
on Main street back home. Swaying
cameis move along with brightly
dressed riders perched upon them or
with suspended cars in which are
yelled damsels, while drummers thun-
der their rhythm and fife blowers emit
their shrill notes. Snake-charmers
pass along with their bags of snakes
magicians perform in some nook ;
bullock-carts and laden donkeys com.
pete for space with shining .limou-
sines. ...
Cafes In the Streets.
The al ''fresco cafe is one of the
most characteristic marks of Cairo
It is not the more or less well-ordered
AFFAIR of the bouievards of Paris
sidewalks and streets overflow with
seemingly innumerable chairs and
tables until often a single file Of pedes
TRANS can hardly force its way
through. One gets the impression
that, few people need to work in. Cairo
Even in the mornings the chairs are
fiIled4 withee'ap apparently prosperous
men slipping coffee or sweetened wa
sotatisfessasA ssatsa u .snt4t,s