Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1924-10-15

against the fierce Bedouin fighters
within.
The tenets of Vandalism today seem
the mere husks of Wahab's teachings:
No tomb can have a cupola; one must
wear no articles of silk or use above
the bareSt minimizing of silver and
gold as ornaments; valuable rugs and
other fittings smacking of luxury are
taboo in mosques; and above all to-
baccO must not be used. Surrepti-
tious smokers have been killed on the
spot by fanatical Wahabis.
Es-Saud Now Their Ruler.
The present ruler of the Wahabis Is
Es-Saud, man about thirty-five years
of age. He rules like despot at his
desert capital, Rad, in the heart of
Nejd, some four hundred miles inland
from the Persian gulf. On that body
Of water he also possesses a port,
Clair. But though Es-Saud is despotic,
he is in turn dominated by the ia
naticism of his followers and must
live up to their demands. Incidental
ly the hitherto much maligned Wah-
abs are coming in for admiration,
often secret, from Arabs even in the
non-Wahabi coastal Kingdoms, since
they are looked upon as the most pow
erful nucleus for a free and united
Arabia
The most striking feature of Es-
Saud's plain palace is a white-tiled
reception hall, where he sits under a
kerosene lamp of great size binding
the eyes of all who face him. Phon-
ographs like pipes, are forbidden in
the Nejd. In contrast to this are the
thousands of wrist watches worn by
the soldiers.
The young ruler never has more
than four wives at once, changing all
except the eldest wife every three
months. The latter died two years
ago, sincerely mourned by her much
married spouse. Recently two Ar
menian girls were in the encourage,
quite content with their future of la
ter joining the harem of some favor
lite officer.
Tobacco is struggled into the coun-
try, where the mortal danger of using
it adds to the pleasure. The back
slider puffs his cigarette alone in
closed basement. A fire of brush and
damp palms is then made to stifle the
telltale fumes in smudge.
The Wahabis are not entirely I'M
tutored Bedouins Of the desert.
Though most of them are nomads-
they claim 300 fighting banners, each
with 1000 men, frequently three gen.
erations together, boys Of ten and
twelve years with their fathers and
grandfathers-they also have their
teachers and men Of the cities.
Natlonalism Is Growing.
In the back of the Arab mind is al
ways an ambition again to rule that
portion of the world which once was
his Since the war and the arbitrary
dividing of more of his lands, that
feeling has been intensified. 1t is
favorite saying that the Arab thinks
Of himself first, his religion second,
and his country last. Now spirit
of nationalism Is growing which may
reverse the order.
The Arab world Is vast, stretching
from the Arabian peninsula on the
east, across all of north Africa, to the
Atlantic. Once 1t was united under
the Saracens; now It is divided into
many tribes; but fundamentally they
have the bond of race and language.
Even stronger than this is the bond of
religion, a devotion Of Mohammedan-
ism which unites all Arabs and forms
a tie with other millions not Of their
race or their tongue.
The followers of the prophet are d.
vided into many sects and many
creeds, whose rivalries are the most
intolerant of any religion. These diff
ferences are temporarily forgotten
when another religion comes into con-
flict.
To all this has been added, largely
since the war, a new and broader
bond, a sympathy between the Orient
and the Mid-East, a resentment of
world domination by the white races
of the Occident.