The Enterprise. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 192?-1930, 1927-04-08
Arabs Are Worlds
Dirtiest People
CONTINUED from Page y

filled it resembles bloated goat
minus the head and tail; fezes; tur-
bans; hoods; yelled ladies'; with here
and there the latest style of motor
car In which some rich Moor. black
or white, is riding with his body
guard. and chauffeur; tourists. sing
ly or in parties, and smart looking
French officials. Overhead a huge
air-plane is humming. Verify a case
of the goth Century A. ID. rubbing
elbows with the Second Century b.
G.
Ku Klux Model
And so to the human ensemble,
how to describe 1t? The fittest de-
scription I can give is the following:
Imagine, II you will, a Ku Klux Kon-
vention-Ku Kluxers of every color
under the sun, from that of can
mel coal to the fairest blonde. Open
some of the hoods so as to disclose
from the eye to the chin, take away
the shoes, and have sandals or
bare feet, put in red faZ or tur-
ban here and there; a few Euro
peans, soldier and a policeman or
two, and one comes near to grasp
ing il.
Women's Faces Hidden
And as to the women they would
need only the shoes, for all that one
can see of them is their kohl-dark-
ened eyes. crimsoned finger-tips, and
bare heels, colord with red and
black. OF course, not all the native
women are thus swathed, but these
my interpreter told me, are not
''the good women" which includes
all Jews and Christians.
No Color Line
AS to "the color line one is Just
three thousand miles away from it,
westward as the crow flies. Europe,
Africa, Asia, meet here in one in
discriminate melange and have been
so meeting as far back as history
goes. The only present barrier to
unions of any kind is the religious
one. Readers OF Leo Africanus, the
famous Negro historian. who was
born near here, and of whom / shall
speak later, will recall that he ac-
counted for the swarthy color of the
people by attributing 1t to the mar
riage of white women and black
men, "a period prior to his own
time, the sixteenth century.
In this must not be included the
present European population. the
members of which, / am told, are
secretly hated. 1t will be recalled
that the French took this town by
capture in 1907, after a terrific
bombardment.
As to the faces, again and again,
would see a face strongly reminis-
cent of some colored person at
home. But communication was out
of the question, unless one spoke
Arabic. English and even French
was so much Dutch to them.
Everything White
The Arab, Moor, Moslem, Berber,
Arab are almost interchangeable;
has a passion for whiteness, not like
the American skin color. but of
clothing and buildings. The reason
is, no doubt. a hygienic one; the
richer Arabs look very clean, but
the poor, which swarm like flies, the
habit but accentuates the dirt.
Worlds Dirticst
To what shall / liken the indie
scribable filth and squalor of the
native poor? Perhaps this: go into
an American rag shop, take out the
dirtiest articles there, drag them
through the streets for a week, If
you like, then patch them up in
some sort of shroud to fit the body,
and you'll have some idea of the
state of the clothing the majority
of the poor / must insist that
am not exaggerating. For many
II is the only garment, which, when
once put on, is not taken off. but
falls off And the Arab. generally
speaking, does not sit on a chair,
he squats on the GROUND.
l have seen very. very dirty Ne
groes in the South. | have seen the
squalor of the Shoshone Indians, but
never before have | seen filthy hui
manity in such a mass. A democ-
racy of dirt My guide, who was
none too clean himself, and | had
10 be perpetually asking him not to
| touch me, told me that many had
never bathed from birth. Water,
| as l said is sold on the streets.
Head, leg, eye. and hand sores are
common. Scratch. scratch. scratch!
When ! expressed my wonderment
% friend who had been around
he world, he said: TITS nothing.
You ought to see Shanghai"
In my next story | will write of
some of the customs, about the har-
sms, domestic slavery, Leo Afrlcanus,
Of conversations / had with some of
the Senussi, the most powerful sec
ret organization in the world.