The Challis messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1912-current, 1922-06-28

prepared BY the National Geographic
Society, Washington. d. c.
It 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
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.
The map lacks much Of giving one
the true picture Of Egypt. The c0un-
try Is shown covering a large area Of
northeastern Africa. This is the nom.
inal Egypt. The real Egypt is a mar
row, tOrtuous strip on either side of
the Nile and the an-shaped delta sur
rounding its mouth. Save for a few
GASES outside the river valley, the rest
Of Egypt Is but sea Of sand prac-
tically uninhabited. Figures confirm
this, for Of the more than $4,000
square miles Of Egyptian territory
only about 1900 can ever be cult
waited and a considerable part of this
tillable area has not yet been re-
claimed.
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.
Egypt'S 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 1t is the lowly fellaheen
ing conditions are very poor; mud
huts house most Of Egypt's thirteen
millions. In the fields they wear lit
tie more than a loin cloth, and the
younger children of the villages go
naked When the fellah is dressed
up he wears a rough shirt and loose
trousers.
Cairo the Wonder City.
The stamp Of the 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derland which has superseded Bag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 changing pat
tern not merely from East and West,
but from North and South as we'll.
White-robed Bedouin. 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 a 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 paradeE
on Main street back home. Swaying
camels 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
1t is not the more or less well-ordered
affair OF the boulevards 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
oiled with apparently prosperous
men slipping coffee or sweetened wa