Moslem Woman of Cairo Wearing the Black Burko.
(Prepared by the National Geographic So
ciety. Washington. 1>. C.)
Cairo, where sleep scores of Egypt's
once mighty kings, not in the rook-hewn
<sepulchers that were prepared for
them, but in glass cases, open to the
gaze of the curious, will probably be
come the resting place of many of the
objects brought to light by the most
recent important tomb discovery, even
though ttie body of Tut-nnkh-aiuen is
left where it was found. For archeo
logical tinds In Egypt are the property
of the government, and at Cairo it has
set up the greatest museum of Egyp
tian antiquities in existence.
Yet the remains of the Pharaohs are
after all In alien bands, primarily
Arabic, secondurily cosmopolitan, for
Cairo is today what Bagdad was in
the days of Haroun-al-Hasehld. Just
as the uuintle of Koine passed west to
London and New York, so the mantle
of the metropolis of the Arabic speak
ing world has passed west and has
fallen on the great city of the Nile.
Cario Is a living kaleidosc?i>e ; its
colored fragments are tumbled into
place not merely from east to west,
but from north and south as well.
White-robed Bedouin, ill-clad fellah,
shiny-black Sudanese and central Af
rican negro, swarthy Turk, Persian, i
Hindu, Mongolian, dusky Moor, Ital
ian, (ireek, Armenian, and the whiter j
folk from Europe, America and the an
tipodos ? all are jumbled together In ;
Cairo, their various tongues making a j
babel t hat can hardly be duplic ated at ;
any other spot on earth.
Down the Centuries by Trolley.
The life of Cairo is almost what
you will. Do you want the finest of
European hotels with the last word in
luxury? They are there. Do you long
for the bazaars of the true East? \ ou
will find them just around the corner.
Would you see the. primitive life of
the humble city, dweller, the inn of
the desert wanderer, student life
among Mohammedan youth, the
crowds about .the mosques, the palaces
of eastern potentates ? they are all
within easy reach. And if you would
journey swiftly and cheaply into the
past you need only board an electric
trolley car and be whisked through
a few miles of sand to the Pyramids
of Glzeh and the Sphinx.
The life that ebbs and flows along
some of the sjxeets of Cairo presents
lights no less varied than its sounds.
Deliberate camels move along with
brightly-dressed riders perched upon
them or with suspended cars in which
are veiled damsels, while drummers
thunder their rhythm anil fife blowers
emit their shrill notes. Snake-charm
ers pass along with their bag of
snakes; magicians perform in some
nook ; bullock-carts and laden donkeys
compete for space with shining limou
sines.
Gorgeous colors of every hue and
shade assail the eve -a post- impres
sionistic fanfare of prehistoric color
schemes. The poorer the Egyptian
the more ragged ; the mere rags the
more colors. Then again the Arabs
denote their families and dynasties by
turbans of distinctive colors. To tell
a prophet's scion from a priest of to
day, or one dervish order f#r another,
or any of the countless dynasties and
sects apart requires a study of turban
lore as complicated as the numerous
Insignia worn by American soldiers
when they returned from France.
One thing is certain. If a turban
trails the ground it means that the
wearer has followed the orthodox cus
tom of having it seven "heads" long,
go that It may serve to shroud him
when he dies and keep him mindful
of that certain end while he lives.
The richer women, attended by
eunuchs, may be seen In carriages,
faces veiled to their eyes, eye lashes
and lids, fingers and exposed toes
darkened with henna, and bedecked
with earrings, anklets, beads and
bracelets. Poorer women go afoot, also
veiled, garbed in plain robes highly
suggestive of "Mother Hnbbards."
In the street crowds, too, are the
beggars whose baboons serve the pur
pose of the monkeys of our organ
"grinders, snake charmers, vendors of
the ubiquitous scarabs and tiny graven
Images, and the Berberine bead boys.
The al fresco cafe is one of the most
characteristic marks of Oalro. It is
not- the more or less well ordered
ailuir of the boulevards of Paris. Side
walks and streets in certain sections
overflow with sefemlngly innumerable
chairs and tables until often a single
file of i>edestrlans can hardly forte Its
way through. One gets the impression
that few people need to - work In
Cairo. Even in the mornings the
chairs are tilled with apparently pros
perous men sipping coffee or sweetened
water, putting cigarettes, ami talking.
Toward noon they disappear for their
siestas, but again at four or five
o'colck they are out in force and re
main far into the night. Among them
circulates a stream of peddlers offer
ing for sale almost every conceivable
ware from sweetmeats to mouse traps
and underwear.
The dweller in Cairo who nas not
his servant or his groufi of servants
is low indeed iu th* economic scale.
These serving men carry tiny bundles
for their employers ? masters, oue
rnlgl.v say. They run ahead of car
riages to clear the way ; they fan
away the flies; and one ofter another
they come in troops Into the presence
of the prosperous to bring smoking
materials or to offer a bewildering
succession of drinks and foods. Life
is hard and a t'ew cents a day satis
fies them. Kven the porters who carry
heavy bundles and the boatmen who
laboriously pole the Nile <*raft against
the current work twelve or fifteen
hours for little more than as many
cents.
Tho Oxford of Islam.
In Cairo is the Oxford of the Mo
hammedan world, the 1'nlversity of El
Azhar. It seems a queer "university"
to those familiar with the higher instl-^
tutions of learning of the West. Its'
classrooms are the halls and -niches
of a mosque. Its professors receive no
salaries but are primarily religious of
ficials, government employees, lawyers
and the like who teach In addition to
performing their regular duties. The
pupils, who at times number more than
o.UOO, squat on mats while their in
structors lecture. This premier college
of the Moslem world has been In
existence for nine hundred and fifty
years and hundreds of thousands of
students have passed through its doors.
It has been the center of the National
ist propaganda which has sought entire
freedom for Egypt. Moreover, it is
the hotbed of Pan-Islamlsm, which, like
its companion movement In the past ?
Pan-Germanism ? would combine its
own culture with militarism to dom
inate the world. But Pan-Islamlsm
would go further, and would bring the
world, as well, under the religion of
Mohammed.
At the dawn of history a city is
known to have existed near the site of
modern Cairo called Khere-ohe, place
of combat, because Horus and Seth, of
invthloglcal fame, fought there. Seth
found the body of his brother Osiris,
cut it into fourteen parts, and scat
tered the pieces; whereupon Isis. wife
of Osiris, hunted the fragments so
that she might erect a monument for
each. That is why references to so
many tombs of Osiris are encountered
in history.
Not until a century before the Nor
man corquest, a modern period of
Egyptian history, was the present
Cairo founded by Gonar, leader of the
troops of the Fatimite Caliph MuMzz.
following the Egyptian conquest.
In the year that Columbus discovered
America a plague swept Cairo which
is said to Wave killed 12, 000 citizens
in a day. It was a century before that
when Cairo, may 1* said to have at
tained its zenith. After the plague
a period of violence, rapine and mur
der set in, and sultans were enthroned
und assassinated with dizzying speed
anil informality. As early as the
Thirteenth century Christian persecu
tions took place. Since then the city
has been Islam. Only a dozen years
ago an excuse of the Grand Mufti for
declining to approve execution of a
murderer was that the crime was com
mitted with a revolver, a weapon not
mentioned in the Koran.
Napoleon's headquarters were at
Cairo in 17U8, following the "Battle of
the Pyramids." The commander whom
| Bonaparte left behind was murdered.
in 1811 the French family were dis
! lodged and Cairo's Independence was
1 re-established.
On the
Funny
Side
HUMAN AND HUMANE
"Now, Jimmy," said the teacher,
"what is the difference between 'hu
man' and 'humane'?"
Jimmy thought deeply for a moment.
"Well," he said at length, "suppose
j you had two pieces of candy and a hun
gry little dog grabbed one from you. If
I you gave him the other piece you would
j be humane, but if you threw a stone
? at him you would be human." ? Kvery
j body's Magazine.
Promoting Circulation.
"Haven't you stopped that poker
game?"
"No," answered Cactus Joe. "We've
got to keep it going as an economic
measure. A lot of these Crimson
? Oulchers won't work unless they're
broke." ? Washington Star.
Oratorical Difficulty.
"In order to make a, great speech
I you've got to talk about the things
nearest to the hearts of the people."
"Yes," rejoined Senator Sorghum;
"but a man In my position can't limit
his speeches to baseball and the mo*
tion pictures." ? Washington Star.
The Threat of a Teacher.
Said the stern young woman teach
er: "Tommy, If you cannot behave
yourself I shall have to take your
name?"
i Outside, Tommy confided to a
chum : "My teacher's threatened to
marry me If I don't look out." !
| Caeualties.
I "Why," asked the Man from Mars,
"do 1 see so many people lying about
In your streets and making piteous
sounds as If they were In great pain? j
Are they the victims of some disease?"
"Yes." replied his terrestrial host.
"They are victims of motormania."
A COMPLAINT
The Earth ? Drat It, but those filer?
are getting annoying.
Diplomacy.
The diplomat toils days and night
In confabs and conventions,
Evolving phrases most polite
To mask some rough intention*.
Sarcastic Spouse.
Huh (during quurrel) ? You don't '
have to toll me, I know all my short
comings ?nd my weaknesses and de?
fects.
Wife ? Then you know a grer.t deal
Making Her Angry.
"What do you do when your wife
catches you coming In very lute?"
'*Tell her I forgive her."
"Hey?"
"That always makes her so mad she
can't talk." (
No Fair, 'Tall.
Kathryn, age six. was explaining to
her father the absence of a tooth that
had bt*en loose when sh?? had started
a few days before, to visit her grand- j
- ther.
"Grandmother told mi: to open my
mouth so she could see my loose tooth, j
and when 1 did she took her fingers
and Jerked It out.
"That's no way to treat one, Is It,
dad?" said Kathryn.
Not in the Family.
Mrs. Brown ? So poor old Jones has
gone at last. Consumption, the doctor i
said it was.
Mrs. Pillbox? That's strange. There ;
never was any consumption in the
family.
i Mrs. Brown ? That don't make any
difference. My poor husband was car
ried off by gastric fever and we never j
bad any gas in the house; we always'
burned paraffin. ? London Tit-Bits.
So It Goes.
"Yes. he Is Intolerant."
"Oh, we must be tolerant."
"I can't be tolerant about a man
who is Intolerant."
He Got the Job.
"Suppose," said the bookseller to
the applicant for a Job, "suppose a
customer asked for a volume we didn't
have. What would you dor"
"Why," said the young fellow, "I
would book the order and then order
the book."
Killing Work.
Author ? 1 suppose the death scene
Is very trying?
Actress ? Oh, terribly so! When 1
finally give up the ghost I'm nearly
dead !
OUR COMIC SECTION
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. fftt> OF CARRV I N & A
'"CHIP Of/ THE 5H0ULDER*
1HE POPULAR VOGUE.
APRO*D THIS SPRING
[(Copyright, W- N. V.)
There's No Law Against Changing One's Mind
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