The Wahpeton times. [volume], September 19, 1907, Image 8

About The Wahpeton times. [volume] (Wahpeton, Richland County, Dakota [N.D.]) 1879-1919

Image provided by: State Historical Society of North Dakota

                
In Unspoiled
Tripoli
'By Mabel Loomis Todd
Tripoli Most Enchanting of Ori
ental Cities -Quaint Characters
and Costumes on the Streets—A
Silver City in the Moonlight—Life
in the Harem—Inmates Heavily
Jeweled and Tatooed—Weird
Wedding Celebration—Bride a
Concentrated Nightmare of Color
—Hands Covered with Gold
Leaf—Guests from the Desert.
(Copyright, by Joseph B. Bowles.)
CMrs. Mabel Loomis Todd, wife of Prof.
David P. Todd, the noted astronomer of
Amherst college, has enjoyed unusual
facilities for traveling in little known
i-orners of the earth, having accompanied
her husband on Journeys undertaken for
purposes of ustronomiciil research. Her
father was Ua\ id Loomis, astronomer of
Marv:ird university. Besides being a ta!
filr* 1 writer for the magazines and author
tpf several books, Mrs. Todd is a success
f'il let Lurer.)
Pedestrians have Tew rights in the
narrow thoroughfares of Tripoli. In
pursuing one's devious way, the tiny
iiocls of omnipresent donkeys perhaps
tu:!p sound enough to indicate their
::iiproanh, even if their drivers did not
I'onscientiously
10
shout "Ralik! Balik!"
tiie unwary- But they never swerve
from their course. If one succeeds In
i.imping out of the way in time, well
:nd ?ood. Xot even so much notice
i.i given of the soft-footed progress of
the camel. During my weeks in Trip
oli. most enchanting of unspoiled
oriental cities, the first indication of
the camel's presence was often the
1 ng, arched neck curving quite over
ray shoulder as he silently overtook
ni« and the supremely scornful face
dose beside mine. It was quite in
different to him where his next foot
.step foil, but not being equally so to
me. he immediately possessed the
treet in clear and unrestricted owner
ship. Four feet, not two, reign in
Tripoli.
Humauity Indeed is harder to dis
entangle. Nationalities multiply with
every step. Along the white walls and
buildings, Arabs, Bedouins and Moors
wrapped in white barracan flit swiftly,
while Greeks, Maltese, black Sudanese
and Fezzani—some polished like pat
t-nt leather, others finished in dull
tints like ebony—with fez and turban
rags and bronze limbs, Turkish trous
ers and Albanian drapery give still
further accent, and would absolutely
defy one to identify one's locality if
suddenly set down in the midst of it
all.
In Tunis the Arabian women hide
their facea, except the eyes, by a
tightly strapped black veil, otherwise
completely wrapped In a white bur
noose. In Tripoli no veil is worn, but
half of the left eye only is permitted
to remain unshielded, and the bar
racan is put on differently. I took
several lessons in adjusting it, attain
ing at last quite a degree of proficien
cy. But 1 fear the right manipulation
of all the complicated. If graceful,
folds would not be possible in a coun
try of tailor-made suits and sealskin
coats. One's mental fitness varies
•with environment. The peeping ad
vantage of one bright black eve, or a
small part of It, is rather an advantage
than otherwise, for one may imagine
all sorts of concealed beauty behind
the white folds. A suggestion of
eomethlng too choice and lovely for
'casual gaze envelops them, though
in all my Tripoli experience actual
.sight of the street shrouded faces
never failed to disenchant. American
udoption of the barracan might en
hance the attractiveness of our street
parades.
Looking out of my window one
morning—an entertaining employment
hardly to be resisted—I witnessed an
altercation which promised to turn
into A genuine encounter. The com
batants were apparently a jet-black
vender of bottles carried about in a
little push cart, and a lighter colored
and nore fully clothed and befezzed
person with a table on his head. A
crowd of all the nations of the earth
speedily collected, and the conversa
tion reached a pitch that suggested
the tearing out. of eyes and hair at
mice. But Arabic is curiously em
phatic, voices at best loud and hoarse
wilh a guttural "catch" in the throat
quite inimitable and this street fight
turned out to be merely an amicable
difference of opiuion soon adjusted by
hui'^h from a bystander.
Maltese women in the black head
cover and cloak combined, several
one-eyed Moslem dames and two aux
ious hioking Roman Catholic sisters
with a small brood of children whom
they seemed to be initiating into the
iliii'cult art of wearing Kuropean
clothas, were among the spectators
a Franciscan monk in brown robe and
rope girdle stopped a moment as he
passed, while a heavily turbaned Turk
in a gorgeous red robe looked scorn
fully upon these iuferior persons play
ing at emotions.
Days passed before I could intelli
gently study these types, or feel oth
erwise than that all were disporting
themselves with histrionic intent.
if these ordinary street scenes were
picturesque, how much more the great
Tuesday market or fair on the beach
or pianura, where all the inhabitants
for miles around from country and
desert having anything to sell assem
ble by sunrise and establish the ephe
meral but crowded city of tents close
to the gentle Mediterranean surf!
Thousands come every week, laying
out the seats and blankets in rows fac
ing each other like little streets. As
fti many oriental bazars, articles of
^ie kind are together. Next the wa­
ter a narrow way led between booths
where meat was displayed tn tempt
ing cuts the next showed vegetables
another showed fruits, apricots, mul
berries and a few belated oranges.
Farther back, rude rugs and saddle
bags were displayed by strange men
with wild but not unamiable faces,
while barbarous old women sold bead
bracelets and huge earrings, strings of
coral, silver chains and bandanna
handkerchiefs.'Plaid cottons, woven in
Tripoli, ia brilliant reds and yellows
—barracans for the poorer class, who
cannot afford the finer white ones—
gave attractive suggestion of their
utility as curtains and portieres in
summer houses. But as usual much
conversation on the subject was nec
essary before a bargain was made on
the basis of a proper price. The sell
ers spoke Arabic to our attendant—
the gorgeously Impressive cavasse of
the British consulate—who turned
their remarks into modern Greek for
the consul's daughter, she in turn re
constructing it all in French for me.
A row of Arab men made on the
spot the close-fitting white caps worn
under the fez by men, and wild desert
women, hardly a degree above four
footed animals, were selling embroid
ered head coverings for little girls
younger than four years. One of the
most picturesque groups was com
posed of desert women seated flat in
the sand surrounded by the woven
straw covers for the bowls of cus-cus,
a universal edible. These covers, like
rather flat yet conical hats, with bril
liant-colored strips of flannel woven
in them, and of all sizes, were endless
ly attractive, and I loaded the cavasse
and my patient donkey with the spoils
won by four languages.
But life in the harems, with the
inner courtyard as its chief theater,
is unique. My first morning spent in
these visits is most memorable. No
moslem young girl in Tripoli goes
into the street after early childhood
until she has been some time married
and then only after the customary
style of barracan shelter. And one
or two young girls with whom I talked
evinccd a good deal of curiosity about
the outer world, though never for a
moment deeming it possible that they
could see it for themselves before
marriage. The coming husband Is
distinctly a liberator.
In one house the daughter was mak
ing a sort of coarse lace with a cro
chet needle. Her mother seemed to
be washing some garment in a big
flat bowl on the tiled floor of the
court, her back bent double as she
leaned, standing, to her task. An
other middle-aged woman was seated
on the floor of a room opening on the
courtyard, sifting flour into different
grades of fineness, preparatory to cus
cus. A wizened little old woman
crouched in a corner, grinding coffee
in a tiny brass mill, and a few chil
dren seemed to be promiscuously scat
tered about. All the women were
heavily laden with necklaces and
bracelets and huge earrings. The
courts were quite clean, many beauti
fully lined with Moorish tiles, but
barbarously Injured by the omnipres
ent whitewash. A handsome black
woman from the Interior seemed to be
chief hostess in another harem, but a
number of young married women of
different nations hovered about with
babies, pounds of jewelry and tattoo.
One was quite covered with the blue
black symbols—face, hands, arms—
and, as she proudly announced, she
had done it all herself, though not
after the usual gunpowder method.
Our shoes were removed, as in
Japan, to go into the inner rooms, and
a white sheepskin was brought for me
to sit on. In one rather dirty little
patio a forest of thread after dyeing
was hanging overhead to dry in great
skeins of scarlet and yellow and a
pretty young girl was manipulating
reels and bobbins as she sat in the
shade. In another dwelling the chief
apartment was shown—full of fine
gold embroidery, on pillows and cush
ions and divans, hung on the wall,
spreal on the floor. Heavily curtained
beds at each end were piled high with
gorgeous cushions, it was still called
the bridal chamber, though the bride
showed her lusty babe of a year with
evident pride, while a second, three
weeks old, lay gurgling and meditat
ing in a cradle close by.
Sounds in Tripoli are almost as pic
turesque as its sights, and several
times, generally at night, one especial
ly joyous cry echoed through the
streets with a singularly penetrating
vibration. This happy scream some
times announces a birth, but it may
be used to proclaim a wedding as well,
or other fortunate happening. One
Wednesday evening three genuine car
riages passed, two containing Arab
ladies and the last filled with black
women, chanting weirdly, occasion
ally giving vent to the characteristic
resonant tremolo.
All this signified that a prospective
bridegioom's mother was announcing
to the town her approaching happi
ness. Glad tidings filled the air. The
next night, Thursday, a favorite night
for weddings, a large procession
passed up and down through the nar
row streets for hours. Arab men
closely wrapped in white barracans
like ghosts marched ahead of a com
pany of black men, beating drums,
burning red fire and exploding rockets
and fire crackers. Behind came Mos
lem boys swinging lanterns and occa
sionally singing. In the midst walked
the expectant bridegroom, taking this
emphatic farewell of bachelorhood.
Until two o'clock In the morning he
paraded the streets, entertaining his
friends and giving them a fine supper
at the end. Meantime, the little bride
would be brought by her relatives to
his house, with somewhat less flourish,
and placed In charge of his mother.
Some time dtirins the.day he has oeen
to the mosque, but it is not necessary
tor the bride to go.
The next day. Friday. I was invited
to the wedding festivities. The fam
ilies were of a far higher class than
those of the harems 1 haJ previously
seen. The pleasant courtyard was
lined with fine green tiles in good de
signs. the rooms opening directly upon
It and also from a gallery above. In
the center flat on the floor sat a dozen
black women with coarse tambourines
and small drums, keeping up an in
cessant though intermittent noise -of
chanting, but ranged about the sides
on a platform slightly raised sat the
chief female relatives and friends of
the high contracting parties, and their
effect was so theatrically dazzling that
It was some time before I discovered
which might be the bride. The love
of aniline dyes rather than the lovely
old soft oriental colors had infected
all ranks, and as each Arab lady in
Tripoli when indoors appeared in all
the seven colors of the spectrum and
a good many more not recognized by
the rainbow, the effect of 40 or 50 to
gether was overpowering. Jackets,
blouses, short skirts, Turkish trousers,
silk stockings, gold slippers and crim
son, p.'nk, cobalt blue, scarlet, yellow,
silver gauze and gold brocade distrib
uted liberally on each woman—words
convey little of the effect. Each face
was painted dead white, with startling
crimson triangles accurately set upon
the caeeks eyebrows were heavily
outlined in black and connected over
the nose and yards of gold sequins and
beads were looped around neck and
arms and forehead.
In the center of all this gorgeous
ness sat the little bride, rigidly erect
and immovable, with two especially
resplendent friends on each side to
fan and otherwise attend her. For
hour3 she must neither move nor
smile, nor even wink. Her hands
were spread stiffly upon her knees,
the Angers black with henna and gold
leaf thickly laid on up to her wrists
while as to costume, she was a con
centrated nightmare of color. Her
hair was braided down with blue silk
and silver, her vest was gold brocade,
her trousers were of blue velvet scar
let and crimson disported bewildering
ly among yards of gold coins and
chain ot some white-petaled flower.
Half a dozen holes in each ear sup
ported an Immense weight of orna
ments bracelets reached the shoul
der. In every detail her decorations
were bigger and brighter and more
amazing than those of the others.
Friday, from just before sunset, the
bride sits thus like a statue for an
hour or two, while the bridal chamber
is examined, the viands discussed and
much hilarity prevails among the as
sembled women. The father of this
particular bride had had but four
wives, and there had been but 50 chil
dren altogether. Of these 25 or 30
had died young, so the poor man had
not married into a very extensive con
nection. But he was grateful for even
so many relatives-in-law.
The most really Interesting figures
in all t'nls wedding party were a group
of Be'louins, who had come up from
the desert, strange, bright-eyed wom
en, with the great Sahara spaces
breathing from their weird personal
ity. They were draped in silver
chains and bangles, their dark robes
being held together by splendid old
silver clasps and buckles. Their ear
rings were so heavy that they had to
be atiached to the head covering as
well. These were the reai essence of
the orii,t, the breezy embodiment of
free rur. but showing, too, a shy dis
trust {.( ways other than their own.
Saturday, too, the little bride sits
for hours in state, but afterward the
ceremonies proper are over, though
she Is dressed and waited upon and
made the guest of honor in her hus
band' house for a month. After that
practical life begins.
Grotesque as are some customs, con
fused is are nationalities and races,
then? .a yet. a strange and inexplicable
cliarm about Tripoli. It took a perma
nent iiold upon my heart and imagina
tion. and when 1 saw its white minar
ets and domes grow less upon the
horizon, fading almost into the blue
of the incomparable Mediterranean, I
was glad to remember that I had sure
ly stopped upon the little plate of
brass .it the sea gate as came away,
which by a native superstition means
certain return to Tripolitan joys.
The Feeling Was the Same.
There is a little girl in a little town
"up the state" who has been brought
up most carefully, and whose father
and mother have taken the utmost
pains that she should hear nothing but
English, absolutely untainted by slang,
to say nothing of more forcible lan
guage. She was therefore kept from
the society of children of her own age,
and the weekly young people's meet
ings at one of the village churches
were the only form of entertainment
(if such they may be called) that she
had ever attended.
One evening she was playing all by
herself as usual, and had built on the
side porch an imposing edifice of
blocks. She sat looking at it, possibly
planning additional improvements,
when her elder brother, "a real grown
up young man," same up 'the steps
with one of his college friends. One
of them made a careless step, and In
an instant the house of blocks was in
ruins.
The little girl jumped to her feet
and stood a moment, struggling with
emotions that seemed too large tor
her. then she burst out:
"Christian Endeavor! Ra jc ot Ages!
Onward, Christian Soldiers!—I'm
swearing, brother Henr.
In the meadow o- field where sheep
are pastured during the day, is a small
pen, which is divided by a cross fence
and covered on the ton by strong slats.
Two gates are made so that they will
swing open of their own accord and
remain so, unless held closed or fas
tened. The gate is furnished with a
latch by which it is fastened when
closed. This gate is intended to ad
mit the dog into the part of the pen A
when he is attracted to it by a sheep
confined for the purpose in the other
part of the pen B. In the A part of the
pen is a heavy board reaching across
it. One edge of this board rests upon
THE CULTURE
OF ASPARAGUS
By W. R. Beattie.
This crop can be grown on almost
any well-drained soil, but will do best
on a deep, mellow, sandy loam. There
is little possibility of having the land
itoo rich, and liberal applications of
rotted barnyard manure should be
made before the plants are set. It is
usually more satisfactory to purchase
two-year-old roots from some seeds
man or dealer. The price of good
roots is generally about $1.25 per hun
dred, and 100 to 200 plants will be
found sufficient to supply the ordinary
family. The roots should be trans
planted during the late autumn or
early spring. Before setting out the
plants the land should be loosened
very deeply, either by subsoil plowing
or deep spading. It is a good plan to
remove the topsoil and spade manure
into the subsoil to a depth of 14 or 16
inches then replace the topsoil and
add more manure. There are two
methods of setting an asparagus bed,
depending entirely upon the kind of
cultivation to be employed in the gar
den. If horse tools are to be used,
the plants should be set in rows three
and a half feet apart and 14 inches
apart in the row. On the other hand,
if the garden space is limited the
plants should be set in a solid bed.
one foot apart each way, and culti
vated by hand. In setting asparagus
the crowns should be covered to a
depth of four or five inches. At the
north it will be desirable to mulch the
asparagus bed during the winter with
three or four inches of loose manure
or straw. In the south the covering
during the winter will not be neces
sary, but the bed should receive a
dressing of manure or fertilizer at
some time each year, preferably in
the autumn.
Hard Milking.—"Hard milking" oc
curs from varied causes. Sometimes
the trouble is due to an unnatural
construction of the entire length of
the canal of the teat, sometimes to
new growths along its course, and not
infrequently to little shot-like bodies
attached to a pedicle, which drop
down into the canal from above and
form a sort of a ball-valve obstruc
tion. Again, says Farm Journal, the
trouble may come from injuries to the
lower part (the sphincter of the teat).
These last causes usually arise from
injuries received from without, and
occasionally are due to warty growths
at the opening of the teat.
Needs a Separator.—The farmer
that has a good-sized herd of cows
and has no separator can well afford
to sell his poorest cow and buy a
separator. It will save him money ia
the end.
JL
Trap for Sheep-Killing Dogs
A Convenient Portable Fence
1 1
The panels in the portable fence
shown here are made of four-inch
fencing, 14 feet long, with six-inch
spaces between the boards, thus mak
ing a fence three feet high by allowing
the cleats to project two inches. If
the fence is fo be used for pigs the
lower space may be reduced to four
inches and the upper one increased to
I
the ground against two pegs, which
keep it from slipping backward. The
other edge is kept up by means of two
shaky, slender supports. A rope is fas
tened to the upper edge of this board
and to the gates so that one-half of it
when the board is propped up, allows
the gate A to swing open and the oth
er half holds the gate shut and thus
keeps the sheep confined. The trap Is
now set. A dog seeking entry into the
pen finds the gate open and rushes
over the board, thus knocking It down.
The gate A is closed by the rope and
fastened, while the gate is allowed
to swing open and set the sheep free.
EFFECT OF SOILS ON
PLANTS
By C. L. Alton.
While variations of climate produce
wonderful changes in vegetable forms,
it Is a well-established fact that any
vegetable grown in a given soil will
assume a very different form when
grown on either a heavier or a lighter
one. This has been shown in a re
markable degree "with the cabbage.
A given variety grown for a long num
ber of years on a heavy soil, with a
liberal supply of plant food, proper
care in growing the plants and in
transplanting them, and constant cul
tivation until the crop is matured,
will develop a type remarkable for
size and vigor, with excellent keeping
qualities, and be what is known as a
Late Flat Dutch or Drumhead cab
bage. On the other hand, take the
same stock seed, grow it on a light
sandy soil, under the same climatic
influences, with the same care in cul
tivation. always selecting with a view
to earliness and solidity, and the re
sult will be in the same number of
years a variety of the same general
form but of smaller size and very
much earlier. Again, a soil inter
mediate in character, from the same
stock, during the same period, with
the same care in selection, will give a
variety intermediate in character as
well as in period of growth.
Red Cedar.—Red cedar, from which
pencils are made, has become
BO
scarce that it enjoys the unique dis
tinction of being bought and sold by
the pound. Most of this cedar comes
from Tennessee, Alabama and Florida,
and the supply in Tennessee Is nearly
gone. Fence rails that weathered the
civil war have gone into pencils.
Stumps have been dug up and sold for
more than the trees which were cut
frim them to make railroad ties.
Fence posts have given way to newer
kinds of wood and have been carted
to the pencil factory to be sold tor
ten cents a hundred pounds. And yet
this red cedar will grow anywhere In
the United States where the soil does
not contain too much sand or clay
will flourish on land that is unfit for
agriculture, and will reach a size fit
for pencil making when 25 years old.
—Department of Agriculture.
Good Prices for 8tock.—The era
of cheap meat seems to be as far off
as ever and it looks as if consumption
has overtaken and passed production.
There is undoubtedly room for much
increase in the production of live
stock, but with the population increas
ing at the rate of 2,000,000 a year and
plenty of work in sight for everybody,
the possibility of any alarming sur
plus in the supply of food for many
years has been practically eliminated.
eight inches. The fence is held in
place by triangular frames. The ends
of the panel overlap about six inches
and fit into notches for the top and
bottom boards. The brace should be
on the out'side of the lot. It may be
necessary in some cases to stake the
panels at the braces to secure great
er stability.
HERITAGE OP CIVIL WAR.
Thousand* of 8oldiers Contracted
jChronle Kidney Trouble While
in the Service.
The experience of Capt. John L. Ely,
Ot Co. E, 17th Ohio, now living at 500
East Second street, Newton, Kansas,
will interest the thou
sands of veterans who
came back from the
Civil War suffering tor
tures with kidney com
plaint. Capt. Ely says
"I contracted kidney
trouble during the
Civil War, and the oc
casional attacks final
ly developed into a
chronic case. At one time I had to use
a crutch and cane to get about. My
back was lame and weak, and besides
the aching, there was a distressing
retention of the kidney secretions. I
was in a bad way when I began using
Doan's Kidney Pills in 1901, but the
remedy cured me, and I have been
well ever since."
Sold by all dealers. 50 cents a box.
Foster-Milburn Co, Buffalo, N. T.
Precisely Defined.
Kniclcer—What was the size ot the
fish he caught?
Bocker—Between a lie anil a fake.
Hard on Pop.
Pa—"Thomas, I'm disgusted at this
report of your teacher's. Why don't
you ever know your lessons?"
Tommy—"They're too hard."
Pa—"Nonsense! They're not too
hard for Johnny Jones, are they?"
Tommy—"Aw, that's different. John
ny has got a smart father, an' he In*
herits his brains."
Woman's Way.
"What an actress that woman Is!
She pretends to be glad to see me."
"But you were a match for her?"
"Indeed, yes! I pretended to bo
lust as glad to see her."
THREE B0Y8 HAD ECZEMA.
Were Treated at Dispensary—Did Not
Improve—Suffered Five Months
—Perfect Cure by Cuticura.
"My three children had eczema for
five months. A little sore would ap
pear on the head and seemed very
Itchy, Increasing day after day. The
baby had had It about a week when
the second boy took the disease and
a few sores developed, then the third
boy took It. For the first three months
I took* them to the N— Dispensary,
but they did not seem to Improve.
Then 1 used Cuticura Soap and Cuti
cura Ointment and in a few weeks
they bad improved, and when their
heads were well you could see nothing
of the sores. Mrs. Kate Kelm, 513
West 29th St., New York, N. Y., Nor.
1. 5 and 7, 1906."
KISSING DAYS.
Observance of Ancient Custom by an
English Fishing Town.
Yesterday, says a late issue of the
London Evening Standard, was "kiss
ing day" at Hungerford, a quiet com
munity on the western borders of
Berkshire, renowned for its trout fish
ery and its faithful adherence to the
ancient customs of Hocktide, which
have been observed since the days ot
John Gaunt, duke of Lancaster, who
granted the rights and privileges to
the commoners.
At daybreak the town crier, arrayed
in a new livery, took his stand on the
town hall balcony and blew his lusty
blasts on the historic horn, which Is
the symbol of Hungerfordian liberty.
Then the "tuttimen" went forth hew
ing staves garlanded with flowers and
made a perambulation of the town,
kissing every lady whom they met and
demanding a penny from every mni*
householder.
The sum thus obtained served to
purchase oranges for scrambling
among the crowd of children who fol
lowed in their footsteps. The ladies
took the kissing in good part, and the
males paid up smilingly.
Meanwhile the Hocktide jury was
transacting more serious business ia
the town hall, electing a constable,
who is both a coroner and a mayor,
also appointing keepers of the keys
of the common coffer, bailiff, por
treeve and other ancient officers
whose duties are rather obscure.
FOUND OUT.
A Trained'Nurse Made Discovery.
No one is in better position to know
the value of food and drink than a
trained nurse.
Speaking of coffee, a nurse of Wilkes
Barre, Pa., writes: "I used to drink
strong coffee myself, and suffered
greatly from headaches and Indiges
tion. While on a visit to my brothers
I had a good chance to try Postum
Food Coffee, for they drank It alto
gether in place of ordinary coffee. In
two weeks after using Postum I found
1 was much benefited and finally my
headaches disappeared and also the
indigestion.
"Naturally I have since used Postum
among my patients, and have noticed
a marked benefit where coffee has been
left off and Postum used.
"I observed a curious fact about
Postum when used among mothers. It
greatly helps the flo\p
0f
milk in cases
where coffee is inclined to dry It up
and where tea causes nervousness.
"I find trouble in getting servants to
make Postum properly. They most
always serve it before It has been
boiled long enough. It should be boiled
15 to 20 minutes after boiling begins
and served with cream, when It Is cer
tainly a delicious beverage." Read
"The Road to Wellvllle" In pkga.
"There's a Reason."