Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-03-01

audience IN the streets OF Cairo.
filth in the course of time. This is problem
too difficult for the visitor to solve.
To the man with q camera these streets
present a constant temptation to expend
Photographic film. Yet the conditions are not
good for camera work. The streets are too
narrow to admit enough light for snapshots
ing. The traffic is too dense to permit the
setting up Of a tripod and, moreover, the least
pause on the part of the photographer draws
a crowd of curious ones, obstructing the view
and reducing the light even further.
found that in photographing in Cairo I
was sometimes able to clear the perspective of
the lens by a wave Of my hand. Yet later
in many cases found my films marred by
obtruding heads and shoulders out of focus
because too close, as the bystanders, mostly
youthful, trespaSsed at the last moment upon
the field. The Cairenes are always willing
to pose for the camera, but they invariably, In
the poorer sections of the city, expect bal--
SheeSh, and to give to- one Is to invite claims
from many. The best course is to ask for no
subjects, but to shoot the shutter independ-
emily whenever conditions permit.
The loveliest views of Cairo are those which
include minarets in the vistas of the streets.
I took many of these, but not all Of them
turned out well, owing to the lack of adequate
light or to the intrusion of the populace, or
to the distortion of the narrowing aisles Of
tall structures. This last mentioned difficulty
is a real trial in the streets of Cairo, which
are by no means low-bordered The houses
are often four and five stories in height.
Modern structures are to be found In the midst
of the older quarters. But here and there
one gets straight and distant views of exquisite
minarets, which, it may be hoped, will never
yield to the march Of progress and disappear
from the scene.
PERHAPS the choicest of these gems is the
el-Muaiyad, in itself, though mostly in modern
construction, one of the most beautiful of the
religious establishments of Cairo. They are
visible from several points of view for the
greater part of their height. obtained one
especially satisfactory shot at them from well
down the Derb el-Ahmar, which runs to the
east.
These twin minarets are a marker for one
OF the most interesting places in old Cairo the
Bah zuweileh. Indeed they spring from the
massive towers of the gate itself. This portal
erected toward the close Of the eleventh CEN
tury, has sinister significance. From one of
the towers Tuman Bey, the last of the Cir.
cass1an sultans OF Egypt, was hanged by Sultan
Sel1m !, In 1917. To the modern visitor how
ever, 1t has an especial significance For at
tached to 1t is an ancient tradition that the
most highly revered saint, Kutb eI-Metwaln.
had his abode behind the west half of the
gate, where he sometimes makes his presence
ntAo"A Wy q SAcaIl VI uBuC. 10 the gate come
the sick and suffering, hoping for the healing
grace OF the saint. They rub their sores
against the metal studs of the gate and this
practice, it is believed, causes a wide spread
OF disease among the people, despite ofhciaI
prescriptions.
AT any hour may be seen groups of people
standing before the gate mothers holding faces
OF children to the studs, adults submitting
their ailments to this treatment. And every
supplicant for the benevolence Of the saint
usually leaves as a token Of his prayer a bit
Of cloth or a shred of wooden yarn tied to
one Of the studs Thousands of these votiye
offerings hutter in the breeze
An additional tragic note is sounded at this
point by the fact that down to the middle of
the nineteenth century all official executions
by stranglng took place at the grated window
of the Sebil of Sultan Farag, directly across
the little plaza south of the gate relic of
the gruesome past which still stands despite
modern changes in street alignment
A stroll through the market quarter of Cairo,
south and west of the Ezbekiyeh Park which
is the social center of the city, yields many
interesting sights. Donkeys by the dozen are
tethered in one small plaza near the great
retail food market. Vendors by the score shril
their wares from alongside sidewalk heaps
of vegetables and fruits. Great piles of green
Continued nm Sefenteenfh Pane